Job Information
Valent BioSciences Associate Director, IT Infrastructure - Valent North America LLC in Libertyville, Illinois
About Us:
Valent North America LLC is the shared services organization of Valent U.S.A. LLC and Valent BioSciences LLC, which are part of the Valent group of companies. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., Valent North America unites the corporate Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal, and Environmental Health & Safety functions to maximize service delivery practices across the Valent group of companies.
Valent U.S.A. engages in the development, registration, sales, and marketing of integrated technological solutions for crop production and pest management that deliver value for customers and stakeholders. Valent BioSciences is a worldwide leader in the research, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of biorational products for the agriculture, public health, and forest health markets. Sumitomo Chemical is one of Japan’s leading chemical companies, offering a diverse range of products globally that support a wide variety of industries and help enhance peoples’ daily lives.
General Description:
This role will be accountable for management of all IT Infrastructure components such as AWS Cloud, LAN, SDWAN, Switches, Servers, Firewall, IT service/help desk, etc., throughout the organization. The head of Infrastructure is responsible for short-term and long-term planning, developing and recommending strategy to the CIO and IT SLT, architecture planning, and delivery of all IT Infrastructure and related IT operations to enable business capabilities and services across the organization. Also, in partnership with the CIO this position will support and implement IT Infrastructure, digital transformation (D/X) and employee support (service/help desk) initiatives on behalf of Regional (SCAI) and Corporate (SCC) leadership.
Principal Responsibilities:
Define, rationalize, and set the IT Infrastructure team’s mission, vision, and strategy for the organization to maximize the success of IT function’s initiatives and ensure clear and efficient operations.
Assess the current Infrastructure environment, identify gaps and improvement opportunities (e.g., using SWOT analysis or another assessment tool), and define short-term and long-term plans to achieve those improvement opportunities.
Understanding of the latest technology tools and best practices to improve overall efficiency, including in partnership with D/X initiatives.
Manage Enterprise Infrastructure team, third-party offshore outsourcing providers, and IT Service Desk teams.
Experience in managing 1000+ users across multiple sites, including international locations.
Experienced in reducing IT costs, implementing efficiency measures and building a scalable IT Infrastructure to support future business growth.
Define and communicate Infrastructure Service Level Agreements (SLAs) within IT and to business partners/leaders across the organization and ensure system availability according to the agreed Infrastructure SLAs.
Work collaboratively with outsourcing service providers, head of Enterprise Applications, PMO, IT/Data Security, CIO and other IT teams to ensure efficient and collaborative operations.
Experienced working with SoX (J-SOX is a plus) - Sarbanes Oxley compliance and in a strict internal IT audit control environment.
Works with the IT senior leadership team on the service portfolio and governance required to prioritize resources, including budgeting. Works with key stakeholders to measure and prioritize technical debt remediation.
Defines, develops, and manages a comprehensive and integrated IT Service Management (ITSM) landscape, based on best-practice processes, disciplines, and related toolsets. This includes delivery of a comprehensive IT asset management program.
Collaborates with the IT Enterprise security resources to ensure IT contributes to, embraces, and applies IT Enterprise security strategies.
Operates a formal governance mechanism to establish and monitor effective controls for the processes and functions performed by Infrastructure teams. Supports periodic reviews by audit teams, compliance teams and other risk-related functions as required.
Develops (in partnership with the CIO) and executes a strategy to improve awareness of the business value that the Infrastructure and Operations function provides, openly communicate with business partners and continuously seeks to ensure alignment to (internal) customer needs.
Improves IT credibility by executing strategies that improve reliability, risk tolerance, and disaster recovery readiness.
Keeps track of trends, analyzes and provides direction on what emerging technologies should be incorporated into infrastructure products and services to successfully deliver (in partnership with the CIO and IT SLT) overall IT strategy.
Drives the adoption of (and commitment towards) service improvements through a programmatic approach to continuous improvement (CI) which also measures impact and shares results.
Continuously evaluates the business value of IT Infrastructure including the use of metrics such as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Outcome Driven Metrics and Objectives/Key Results.
Collaborates with peer IT Leaders (including CIO, Valent N.A. IT SLT, and corporate / SCC regional leadership) to ensure knowledge and insight can be freely shared.
Develop and maintain comprehensive disaster recovery and business continuity plans, ensuring rapid recovery from disruptions to critical operations.
Education & Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree required, (master’s degree preferred?) in computer science, information systems, related field, or equivalent work experience.
Fifteen or more years of progressive hands-on infrastructure work experience developing strategic IT plans and managing 24X7 (continuous) infrastructure operations in a high availability environment across multiple locations.
Skills & Experience
Senior IT Infrastructure leader experienced in deploying best-in-class multi-year Infrastructure strategies (in partnership with direct leader and IT Leadership Teams), IT operational processes, and supporting variety of IT tools.
Progressive hands-on infrastructure experience and ability to provide ongoing direction to the team. Experienced in stabilizing IT Infrastructure and network operations.
Exceptional people leadership skills, with the ability to develop and communicate an infrastructure vision that inspires and motivates staff and aligns with the IT and business strategy. This includes the performance management of direct staff and overall IT Infrastructure/Service Desk teams.
Ability to work in a fast-paced work environment and assist the team in managing work-life balance.
Consolidating operations capabilities in large, complex organizations to deliver improved efficiency, while balancing customer preferences for agility and SLAs.
Ability to build consensus, make decisions based on numerous variables, and gain support for major business initiatives related to systems infrastructure (directly within this role’s own team, and the broader IT function) in a fast-paced business environment.
Experience developing and recommending strategies to a CIO and executive leadership team, leveraging fusion teams (in a cross-department, efficient manner) that embrace business technologists.
Strong business acumen, including industry, domain-specific knowledge of SCC, the organization, and its business units.
Delivery of hybrid working excellence to improve customer and user experiences.
Creating self-service mechanisms to streamline infrastructure provisioning and ongoing management.
Other duties, not listed above, as assigned.
Physical Demands and Work Environment (OFFICE Position)
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical Demands include constant sitting, walking, standing, simple grasping and fine manipulation with hands; frequent bending at the neck and waist; and occasional squatting, climbing, kneeling, crawling, twisting at the neck and waist, power grasping, pushing and pulling with hands, reaching above shoulder level, lifting and carrying up to 25 lbs.
Work Environment includes exposure to or working in or around equipment and machinery including a computer keyboard and mouse.
Frequency Definitions: Occasional = Up to 10%
What We Offer:
You’ll enjoy competitive compensation, consisting of base pay plus an incentive program available to all eligible full-time employees, and a comprehensive benefits package including high-quality healthcare options, 401k matching, life and disability insurance, generous time off (with time off to volunteer) and much more! Additionally, we offer several Flexible Work Arrangements to support a healthy work-life balance.
We work together to power our sustainable future. Here's what drives us: Valent North America LLC has a strong commitment to both sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). In fact, being a responsible corporate citizen has been ingrained in our culture since the company’s founding. Today, it remains at the forefront of everything we do.
- Valent North America LLC is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation and/or identity, national origin, citizenship, immigration status, disabilities, or protected veteran status.
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