Sr Director, Infrastructure and Network Services

Metra is one of the largest and most complex commuter rail systems in North America, serving Cook, DuPage, Will, Lake, Kane, and McHenry Counties. The agency links communities in Northeastern Illinois by providing safe, reliable, and efficient commuter service.

Information Technology is divided into four sections: Enterprise Applications, Railroad Applications, Network Services, and Systems Development. The Enterprise Applications team implements and supports applications used enterprise-wide, such as the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and HR, Payroll, and Timekeeping systems. The Railroad Applications team supports applications for Metra’s Transportation, Mechanical, and Engineering functions. The Network Services section maintains personal computers, CAD systems, point-of-sale terminals, servers, storage, data networks, email systems, and disaster recovery capabilities. Systems Development builds, maintains, and supports all in-house application systems across business functions.

About the role

Reporting to the CIO, the Senior Director, Infrastructure and Network Services serves as the enterprise authority for network, data center, cloud connectivity, and infrastructure resiliency. This role is accountable for secure, reliable, and compliant service delivery for ~4,000 users, ~4,000 endpoints, and 350+ locations in a 24x7x365 operating environment. The position holds final decision rights for infrastructure architecture and standards, owns availability, disaster recovery, and continuity outcomes, and serves as executive incident leader for major events impacting mission-critical services.

This position directs a $10M+ annual capital/operating portfolio, governs strategic vendors and telecom partners, and drives multi-year modernization roadmaps that reduce enterprise risk, strengthen cybersecurity posture, and enable organizational performance objectives.

Responsibilities

• Enterprise Infrastructure Strategy & Architecture Authority: Establish and enforce enterprise infrastructure reference architectures and standards across network, data center, cloud connectivity, and platform services. Serve as final design approval authority, balancing risk, resilience, cost, and performance; institutionalize architecture governance and technical debt management. Define multi-year capability roadmaps aligned to executive priorities; translate roadmaps into funded, sequenced programs with measurable outcomes.
• Service Reliability, Resilience & Continuity Ownership (SLA/OLA/DR): Own availability, performance, capacity, and resiliency outcomes for mission-critical infrastructure services operating 24x7x365 supporting ~4,000 users, ~4,000 endpoints across ~350 locations. Establish and govern service targets (SLA/OLA), reliability engineering practices, resilience metrics, and service assurance reporting. Accountable for disaster recovery strategies, continuity architectures, and restoration readiness (testing, exercises, failover validation).
• Enterprise Risk Leadership & Security-by-Design Governance: Embed cybersecurity and compliance requirements into infrastructure designs, operations, and vendor deliverables; ensure audit readiness and control effectiveness. Partner with SOC to manage infrastructure risk exposure, vulnerability remediation posture, and regulatory obligations. Define and enforce infrastructure policies and controls (e.g., segmentation, privileged access, secure configuration baselines) aligned to industry best practices.
• Operational Excellence (ITSM) & Major Incident Executive Leadership: Lead the infrastructure operating model using ITSM disciplines (incident, problem, change, configuration, knowledge) to improve stability and reduce repeat events. Act as executive escalation leader and incident commander for major incidents; drive post-incident root cause, corrective action, and systemic prevention. Govern change risk, release readiness, and operational maturity across distributed environments and vendor towers.
• Enterprise Program Delivery & Modernization Execution: Oversee large-scale modernization and lifecycle programs (refresh, expansion, cloud connectivity evolution, data center strategy) ensuring integrated delivery across teams and vendors. Ensure platforms meet current and future business demand while improving reliability, security, and operational efficiency. Provide executive-level reporting on delivery status, risk, dependencies, and service outcomes.
• Promote safe work practices and maintain and foster a safe work environment.
• Perform other related duties as assigned to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering or, in lieu of the specified degree, a combination of education and experience equivalent to four years in Information Technology.
• Fifteen plus (15+) years of progressive infrastructure leadership in large, distributed enterprise environments with 24x7x365 operational accountability, including network, data center, cloud connectivity, and service assurance leadership.
• Seven plus (7+) years leading managers, senior technical leaders, and complex vendor ecosystems; demonstrated ownership of enterprise reliability, continuity, and executive incident response outcomes.
• Demonstrated portfolio ownership experience for multi-million-dollar infrastructure investments, contract governance, and strategic sourcing.
• Knowledge of enterprise infrastructure governance, policy development, and design authority models across network, data center, and cloud connectivity in regulated environments.
• Knowledge of enterprise cybersecurity-by-design principles for infrastructure (segmentation, zero trust patterns, secure configuration baselines, identity-integrated controls, vulnerability and exposure management).
• Experience managing large-scale vendor and telecom ecosystems, contract governance, and licensing/consumption optimization across major infrastructure platforms.
• Knowledge of infrastructure financial management (multi-year budgeting, CAPEX/OPEX trade-offs, total cost of ownership, business case development, and investment prioritization).
• Ability to exercise final decision authority for enterprise infrastructure designs and standards, balancing risk, resiliency, cost, and performance across complex environments.
• Ability to lead executive stakeholder alignment—framing infrastructure risk, investment trade-offs, and service outcomes for CIO-level governance and cross-functional leaders.
• Ability to operate as executive incident leader—driving rapid restoration, cross-team coordination, and accountable post-incident remediation for mission-critical services.
• Ability to direct a multimillion-dollar portfolio (~$10M CAPEX/OPEX) and vendor ecosystem, negotiating contracts and licensing strategies (e.g., HPE, Microsoft EA, Cisco/Meraki) to optimize total cost of ownership and resiliency outcomes.
• Ability to stand, walk, and/or sit for extended periods of time.
• Ability to lift and move up to 20 pounds.
• Must be able to operate a vehicle.
• Must be willing to travel within and outside of Metra’s 6-county region.
• Must be available to work flexible hours in the early morning, late afternoon, evenings, or weekends.
• Must be available on-call 24-hours/day, 7 days/week, 365 days/year, including weekends and holidays.

Skills

• Expert skill in designing and governing resilient infrastructure platforms (network, cloud connectivity, data center services) with validated DR/BC capabilities in 24x7x365 environments.
• Advanced skill in security and compliance integration—policy enforcement, audit readiness, secure architecture patterns, and control assurance for infrastructure services.
• Executive skill in ITSM operating model leadership (incident, problem, change, configuration) to improve stability, reduce repeat incidents, and increase service predictability.
• Advanced skill in vendor governance, strategic sourcing, negotiation, and performance management for multi-million-dollar infrastructure portfolios.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in a computer-related technical field or an MBA.
• VMware Certified Professional.
• CCNA Security (Cisco Certified Networking Associate).
• CCNP Routing & Switching (Cisco Certified Networking Professional).
• MCITP Enterprise Administrator on Windows Server.
• MCSE Windows Server.

Pay

Salary Range: $160,346.00 - $240,519.00. The final salary will depend on the candidate's qualifications. Those with 8 years or more of required experience can expect offers up to the midpoint of the salary range.

Metra is a railroad employer subject to the provisions of the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, not the Social Security Administration.