Sr. Director, Infrastructure

Lead the strategic direction, design, and management of ICANN’s on-premise, hybrid, and cloud-based infrastructure and IT operations. Ensure the reliability, scalability, performance, and security of systems that support ICANN’s workforce, community, and applications.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the E&IT infrastructure and operations roadmap, ensuring alignment with ICANN’s strategic objectives.
• Lead digital transformation initiatives, including cloud adoption, automation, and modernization of legacy systems.
• Partner with senior executives to understand their needs and provide scalable and resilient technology solutions that support their objectives.
• Operate Infrastructure as a product portfolio, with clearly defined roadmaps, service ownership, SLAs/SLOs, and success metrics.
• Oversee all aspects of IT infrastructure, including data centers, network services, storage, disaster recovery, databases, and end-user technologies.
• Manage IT operations and service delivery, ensuring high availability and performance of business-critical systems.
• Ensure infrastructure is scalable, resilient, secure, and observable, supporting business continuity and future growth.
• Establish strong operational practices, including incident management, problem management, and post-incident reviews focused on systemic improvement.
• Execute IT service management (ITSM) processes to enhance the quality and performance of core IT services.
• Mandate Infrastructure as Code as the default and required approach for all environments.
• Ensure all infrastructure changes are managed through version control systems (e.g., Git).
• Partner with Information Security leadership to maintain a secure infrastructure environment.
• Ensure compliance with regulations, industry standards, and IANA audit requirements.
• Lead and grow a high-performing Infrastructure & Operations team, including systems engineers, network engineers, cloud specialists, and IT operations staff.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Manage relationships with key infrastructure and cloud service providers.
• Oversee budgets for infrastructure projects, ensuring cost-effective investments.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, IT, Engineering, or a related field.
• 15+ years of progressive IT leadership experience, including 5+ years in a senior infrastructure leadership role.
• Minimum eight (8) years of supervisory experience.
• Strong understanding of networking, systems, storage, and enterprise IT operations.
• Expertise in improving IT operational efficiency, managing budgets, and implementing ITIL-based processes.
• Deep hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code and modern cloud platforms.
• Proven ability to run infrastructure teams as engineering organizations, not ticket-driven support functions.
• Strong expertise in version control systems and pull-request–driven operational models.
• Experience with disaster recovery, business continuity planning, and ITIL or similar frameworks.
• Demonstrated success in managing cross-functional technology teams and strategic vendor partnerships.
• Strong communication, executive presence, and ability to influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
• Experience with security technologies, including SIEM, IDS/IPS, and managing incidents and crisis response.
• Familiarity with DevOps and modern infrastructure automation practices.
• Familiarity with AI-driven security solutions and emerging threat landscapes.
• Fluency, both written and spoken, in English is required.
• Industry certifications such as TOGAF, ITIL, AWS, CCSP a plus.
• Preference given to candidates with demonstrated skills in additional languages besides English.

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements

• Work is performed in a normal office environment with limited privacy and some exposure to background noise.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand and walk.
• The employee regularly is required to sit.
• The employee is frequently required to talk or hear; use hands and arms to reach, handle or feel.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.

Pay

Targeted base salary range: $180,000 – $245,000, plus 20% bonus and benefits. Note: The salary range provided is a general estimation based on the primary location. Final compensation packages consider a variety of factors, including geographic region, work experience, knowledge, skills, and other compensable factors.