Director Infrastructure Engineering at Fanatics

Company Overview

Fanatics is building a leading global digital sports platform. The company ignites the passions of global sports fans and maximizes the presence and reach for hundreds of sports partners globally by offering innovative products and services across Fanatics Commerce, Fanatics Collectibles, and Fanatics Betting & Gaming, allowing sports fans to Buy, Collect and Bet. Through the Fanatics platform, sports fans can buy licensed fan gear, jerseys, lifestyle and streetwear products, headwear, and hardgoods; collect physical and digital trading cards, sports memorabilia, and other digital assets; and bet as the company builds its Sportsbook and iGaming platform. Fanatics has an established database of over 100 million global sports fans, a global partner network with over 900 sports properties, including major national and international professional sports leagues, teams, players associations, athletes, celebrities, colleges, and college conferences, and over 2,000 retail locations, including its Lids retail business stores. 

As a market leader with more than 18,000 employees, and hundreds of partners, suppliers, and vendors worldwide, we take responsibility for driving toward more ethical and sustainable practices. We are committed to building an inclusive Fanatics community, reflecting and representing society at every level of the business, including our employees, vendors, partners and fans. Fanatics is also dedicated to making a positive impact in the communities where we all live, work, and play through strategic philanthropic initiatives.

The Director, Infrastructure Engineering oversees the operation and strategic planning of the Fanatics collectibles Infrastructure to ensure workplace services, network/compute/storage, service management and cloud strategy and operations align with the business objectives. This leadership role will be a direct report to the Chief Information Officer of Fanatics Collectibles and will be expected to

bring deep information technology expertise in addition to a strong customer service orientation and focus on delivering business value and outcomes. Our infrastructure must be designed to be highly available and to maximize the day-to-day efficiency and productivity of our employees. They will plan, coordinate, and direct all activities related to the development and management of infrastructure to

enhance business operations and allows us to operate and scale the collectibles business. The Sr Director, Infrastructure Engineering will work closely with decision makers to identify, recommend, develop, implement, and support optimal technology solutions for our growing business. This individual is also responsible for supporting and assisting in the integration of existing and new infrastructure per Collectibles business objectives including M&A planning and integration. The Director of Infrastructure Engineering will work closely with the Sr Director, ERP and Sr Director, Technical Program Management to develop and drive delivery of the Collectibles IT Roadmap

• Responsible for the day-to-day management of the IT operations and infrastructure teams with a continuous focus on best-in-class customer service and delivery
• Responsible for enterprise infrastructure vision and strategy working with multiple executive and senior level stakeholders in creating a clear, convincing technical strategy that aligns to business priorities and objectives
• Evaluate the workplace technologies market, analyze the impact on employee production and regularly evolve roadmaps for these platforms.
• Develop an understanding of the workplace technologies currently in use and the business use cases that they serve; identify white spaces in them and evaluate how they can be mitigated.
• Ensure focus on continuous improvement of collaboration platforms, based on latest market trends, to develop a roadmap for a collaborative scalable organization.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement that proactively manages resolution of serious and complex problems, identifying underlying causes and performing corrective action appropriately.
•  Increase the use of conferencing technologies for business use cases (e.g., review meetings, interviews, corporate communications, etc.)
•  Define and deliver strategies and solutions for Endpoint Workplace transformation, including the vision, roadmap, and governance model.
• Implement an overarching, rein in emerging technologies, optimize capital and operating costs and provide new and enhanced customer experiences for employees and clients (i.e., Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, Citrix, Palo Alto Prisma and F5 Remote Access, etc.)
• Responsible for technical execution and for the scaling and building of enterprise infrastructure and operations
• Analyze business results, providing deep insight into on-going trends and performance
• Evaluate current technology capabilities, risks and roadmap against various department and company goals; Facilitate conversations across business units to drive agreement
• Overseeing team of engineers, technicians and helpdesk personnel to ensure that all patches, security updates, upgrades, projects, jobs and tasks are completed on time, within budget, to customer satisfaction and to company standards
• Responsibility for designing and implementing improved IT Support policies/procedures
• Recommending and implementing changes to products or services to fulfill the needs of the business and the customer
• Collaborates with members of the senior leadership team to identify ways IT can assist the company in achieving business and financial goals
• Ensures that IT and network infrastructure adequately support the company’s computing, data processing, and communications needs
• Development and oversight of IT policies, standards, and procedures to protect Company assets, comply with government and regulatory requirements, and ensure a well-controlled IT environment
• Oversee contract negotiations with IT vendors, contractors, and service providers
• Build and maintain strong and effective relationships with select executive and business leadership, project management, process improvement, strategy, and service delivery vendors to ensure service delivery standards are defined and appropriately governed
• Define and communicate project milestones, service level agreements, and resource allocation to CIO, department business leaders, support staff, and end users
• Overarching responsibility and provides guidance for best practices framework (ex. ITIL, and Life
• Cycle Management) for the support and sustainability of enterprise applications
• Develop business case justifications and cost/benefit analyses for IT spending and initiatives
• Manage strategic relationships between internal IT resources, distinct business units, end users, vendors, and partner organizations
• Manage financial budgets, resources, and relationships with stakeholders, vendors, and business partners
• Partner with leadership to proactively identify needs and resolve issues. This includes researching
• the background of issue(s), identifying root causes, quantifying the scope and scale of issue(s), identifying possible solutions, making recommendations, and executing the solution in accordance with desired business outcomes
• Actively lead M&A migrations efforts as it pertains to infrastructure
• Negotiate and administer vendor and consultant contract and service agreements
• Conduct regular compliance checks and test operating systems. Document findings with case scenarios, workflow diagrams, and data models
• Manage, train, and develop the technology team to inspire growth and innovative solutions
• Supervise recruitment, development, retention, and organization of the infrastructure staff in accordance with budgetary objectives and personnel policies

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, computer engineering, or related field of study
• Prior experience implementing/supporting complex infrastructure functions preferred
• Working knowledge of infrastructure architecture, database, cloud and network technologies required
• A strong business acumen and ability to maintain budgetary control
• Proven and demonstrated leadership, communication, organization, and effective management of technology projects
• Possess excellent interpersonal, change management and problem-solving skills combined with demonstrated team management capabilities
• 10+ years’ experience working with IT infrastructure strategy & operations
• Strong analytical and interpersonal skills
• Exceptional communication skills both written and verbal
• Rigorous attention to detail and highly organized, but able to operate with ease at all levels (from strategy to execution)
• Deep empathy for customer experience – always analyzing and assessing from the customers’ viewpoint
• Authentic people leader who invests in nurturing potential, as well as proven talent. Conscious and supportive of diversity & inclusion, and the value they bring to customers, business and the team.
• Collaborative, while firm on goals and driving the extended team toward actions (and deadlines) to achieve them
• Strong analytical skills looking broadly across the organization, with the ability to summarize large amounts of data from various inputs
• Strategic thinker with proven ability to operationalize the strategy. Strong problem-solving skills
• Clear and optimistic vision for what can be. Proven ability to execute with urgency and pragmatism in the current environment
• High curiosity – proactively seeking to learn more and ‘connect the dots’ for better solutions
• Affinity toward technology as a customer experience enabler

Ensure your Fanatics job offer is legitimate and don’t fall victim to fraud.  Fanatics never seeks payment from job applicants. Feel free to ask your recruiter for a phone call or other type of communication for interview, and ensure your communication is coming from a Fanatics or Fanatics Brand email address.  For added security, where possible, apply through our company website at www.fanaticsinc.com/careers

Tryouts are open at Fanatics! Our team is passionate, talented, unified, and charged with creating the fan experience of tomorrow. The ball is in your court now.

Fanatics is committed to responsible planning and purchasing (RPP) practices, working with its business partners across its global and multi-layered supply chain, to ensure that planning, sourcing, and purchasing decisions, along with other supporting processes, do not impede or conflict with the fulfillment of Fanatics’ fair labor practices.

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