Work In Tech

Senior Manager, IT Operations

Remote - Kitchener, ON

Encircle is leading the $1.6 trillion dollar property insurance industry out of the dark ages of pen and paper processes, into the digital age of transparency and empowerment. Our easy-to-use software platform enables thousands of restoration contractors and insurance professionals around the world to process claims faster. We’re a remote-first company with a collaboration hub located in the heart of downtown Kitchener. We’re looking to add new members to our all-star team as we continue to grow and scale!

About the Role:

As the Senior Manager of IT Operations, you have a passion for delivering exceptional service, optimizing processes, and supporting technology that drives the business forward. Encircle is looking for an energetic, technically strong, purpose-driven IT professional to play a key role in ensuring the efficiency, effectiveness, and scalability of our daily IT Operations, supporting resilience and continuous IT services. You’ll leverage your expertise in IT Operations at a SaaS company to identify and address current gaps in IT Operations helping Encircle navigate from a Start Up to Scale Up.

As the Senior Manager of IT Operations you’ll play an equal role in being a hands on contributor executing the daily IT needs of the business, solving problems and providing stellar service delivery to employees in a remote first organization while developing Encircles IT priorities and strategy. Additional responsibilities include helping us meet industry compliance and standards like SOC 2 Type II certification, enhancing Encircle’s Cyber Security posture and developing/implementing a Data Privacy program.

What You’ll be Doing:

Operational:

• Service Desk Management: Oversee IT support services, ensuring timely resolution of user issues and continuous service improvement.
• Onboarding and Offboarding: Execute the activities required to onboard new employees into Encircle as well as the offboarding tasks.
• Capacity Planning: plan for scalability and resource allocation to accommodate organizational growth and changing technology needs.
• Vendor Management: develop a vendor due diligence process which documents the assessing, selecting, managing, and overseeing third-party vendors providing IT products and services. Key functions include vendor selection, contract negotiation, vendor performance evaluation, risk management, user access configuration, and relationship management.
• Asset Purchasing and Management: responsible for overseeing the purchasing and management of the organization's IT assets. This includes the procurement of hardware (laptops, phones) and software solutions. Keeping track of all hardware and software, ensuring everything is properly licensed, and managing asset life cycles.
• Collaboration with Stakeholders: Act as a liaison between IT and other business units to ensure alignment and seamless communication.

Security and Compliance:

• Cybersecurity Oversight: Implement and manage robust cybersecurity policies, tools, and practices to protect organizational data and systems.
• Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity: Develop and maintain disaster recovery and business continuity plans to minimize downtime during incidents.
• Data Privacy: Participate in designing, developing, implementing, enforcing and monitoring of Encircle’s posture for data privacy
• Regulatory Compliance: Ensure IT operations comply with industry regulations (e.g., GDPR, SOC 2) and internal policies.

Innovation and Optimization:

• Performance Optimization: Identify opportunities to enhance IT performance, reduce costs, and improve user experience.
• Emerging Technologies Exploration: Stay updated on industry trends and emerging technologies to drive innovation and maintain competitive advantage.
• Technology Roadmap Planning: Develop and maintain a roadmap to meet future organizational needs and technological advancements.

Strategic Planning and Budgeting:

• IT Strategy Development: Collaborate with the leadership team to define and execute IT strategies that align with business goals.
• Budget Management: Oversee IT budgets, ensuring cost-effective investments in technology, tools, and resources.

What You’ll Bring:

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in IT operations, internal help desk support with relevant experience in a SaaS scale up
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field or equivalent work experience.
• Strong IT Operations, Vendor and Asset Management experience (Vanta, BambooHR, or similar tools)
• Experience with key cloud providers (Azure, Google) and their respective IAM security products/solutions
• Demonstrated experience with Information Security Risk Management and Data Privacy Programs, specifically helping to define risks and threats to the organization. Previous experience managing a successful SOC 2 Type II audit
• Strong work ethic and ability to multitask, manage stress during periods of intense activity and handle a wide variety of projects and tasks
• Experience with leading discussions, establishing outcomes, and negotiate paths forward with stakeholders.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail
• Must be available as needed for on-call support during critical incidents and business continuity events.
• Ability to work in the Eastern time zone
• Please note this role is hybrid and will require at least one day per week in the Kitchener office.

From time to time this role will require working after hours during the week, on weekends or on statutory holidays.

Encircle is an equal opportunity employer that does not unlawfully discriminate against any employee or applicant based on race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion, gender identity, gender expression, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, record of offences, marital status, family status or disability. Encircle is committed to a fair and inclusive work environment. We will endeavour to accommodate the needs of qualified applicants in all parts of the hiring process.

At Encircle, we VALUE the team we’re building!

• Define your own BALANCE - we want our team to take the time they need with flexible work arrangements, and self-managed vacation time, so they're well-rested and energized.

• Work where you WORK BEST - we invest in creating both a comfortable work-from-home environment for our employees with the flexibility to join us in our co-working space (collaboration hub) in downtown Kitchener.
• We are PEOPLE-FOCUSED and our success is achieved through a culture of collaboration, trust and transparency.
• Choose your path and we’ll support your continued GROWTH along the way.
• Your personal WELL-BEING is important to us and we’ll provide the support you need to bring your best self to work every day.