Director, Information Systems, Infrastructure & Operations

Who We Are:
At Xenon Pharmaceuticals ( NASDAQ:XENE ), we are committed to providing a brighter future for patients suffering from neurological disorders. Our employees are smart, passionate, dedicated, and driven by their incredibly important work to discover, develop, and deliver innovative medicines for patients in need. We are looking for great people who thrive in a respectful, collaborative, inclusive, and productive culture to join the Xenon team.
What We Do:
We are advancing an exciting pipeline of neurology-focused therapies, with a focus on commercializing novel treatments for epilepsy. Building upon the positive results and compelling data from our XEN1101 Phase 2b “X-TOLE” study in adult patients with focal epilepsy, our XEN1101 Phase 3 epilepsy program includes studies in adult patients with focal onset seizures and primary generalized tonic clonic seizures. In addition, XEN1101 is being evaluated as a treatment for major depressive disorder in both a company-sponsored Phase 2 clinical trial, as well as an investigator-led proof-of-concept study. We are also proud of the leading-edge science coming out of our discovery labs, where many innovative, early-stage research programs are underway. In addition to these proprietary programs, our pipeline includes clinical-stage partnered programs. Backed by a strong balance sheet to support our growth plans, we continue to build a fully integrated, premier neuroscience company with strong discovery, clinical development, corporate, and commercial operations.
About the Role:
We are seeking a Director, Information Systems, Infrastructure & Operations, to join our team. This role will be responsible for designing, building and maintaining the company’s IT infrastructure, including cloud-based and on-prem servers, storage, databases, backups, network, etc. The Director will also own the company’s ITIL/ITSM process framework and associated technology platform, both of which require significant upgrades. S/he will work closely with the head of Security Engineering & Operations to ensure appropriate controls are in place and effectively maintained and monitored, and with the head of End User Computing & Collaboration to drive effective adoption of ITIL/ITSM processes. The Director will also partner with these two newly-hired colleagues and the SVP, Information Systems to design and implement a new model for Managed Service Provider (MSP) support that spans help desk, infrastructure support, and security operations. S/he will lead a team of approximately 3 Vancouver-based employees and will also play a hands-on role in building and supporting infrastructure solutions and in designing and implementing new operating processes. During this period of rapid growth and evolution, the Director may be assigned additional responsibilities (beyond the core responsibilities described above) based on company needs, the individual’s experience and expertise, and the availability of resources within IT.
This position reports to the Senior Vice President, Information Systems and will be located in either the Vancouver, BC, Canada or Boston, MA, USA location. The level of the position will be commensurate with the candidate’s education and industry experience.
RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Other duties as assigned.
• Define, implement and test the architecture, processes and tools for IT disaster recovery.
• Ensure compliance with internal processes and standards to support compliance with relevant regulations (e.g. GxP, SOX, privacy).
• Own peripheral system including physical access control, printers, etc.
• Take on additional responsibilities as the IT group grows and evolves based on company needs, relevant experience and expertise, and availability of resources within IT.
• Plan and manage budget proposals and approved budgets in accordance with the Company’s strategic and operating plans and Finance policies.
• Act in accordance with Company policies, including, for example, the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and ensure policies are understood and followed by direct reports, if any.
• Develop and implement the IT Business Continuity plan.
• Select, configure, and support enterprise infrastructure solutions including cloud-based and on-prem servers, storage, databases, backups, network, etc.
• Design and drive adoption of robust ITIL/ITSM processes for incident management, problem management, change management, etc. Lead the implementation and validation of a new service management platform.
• Manage vendor relationships (e.g. hardware, software and service providers) in the context of both project delivery and ongoing operations to maximize value to Xenon.
• Manage the internal team and external resources to design and deliver effective solutions (people + process + technology) and to seamlessly support those solutions.
• Define standards and processes (including testing) for system back-ups in line with evolving records retention requirements.
• Leverage data and metrics to understand performance trends, enable insights, and promote continuous improvement.
• Recruit, lead, direct, develop, coach and evaluate direct reports, if any, in accordance with the Company’s Human Resource policies and practices
• Contribute to the development and execution of the strategy to evolve the overall IT operating model, including new structure, processes, and ways of working.
• Design and implement tooling to support effective and agile management of cloud computing resources.
• Develop and propose short- and long-term objectives for the function in accordance with overall Company strategies and plans
• Own solutions primarily intended to facilitate external collaboration and information exchange – e.g. Egnyte, SFTP, MFT
• Maintain security of the IT infrastructure by ensuring that appropriate controls are fully implemented across the environment and operating effectively, and that alerts are investigated in a timely manner.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Ability to work flexibly in a fast-paced environment with a strong work ethic and positive attitude.
• Minimum undergraduate degree in Computer Science or related discipline and at least 10 years of progressive information technology experience in a similar role, of which at least 3 years of the experience is in a leadership/people management capacity.
• Expertise in IT operations including ITIL/ITSM processes and associated systems (e.g. ServiceNow). ITIL certification is a plus.
• Experience managing MSP’s for infrastructure support, with a track record of ensuring seamless service delivery to end users.
• Deep technical knowledge of common infrastructure platforms and could based offerings including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS).
• Ability to work independently, as a team member, and across the organization with colleagues at any level.
• Experience in the life sciences industries is preferred, including working knowledge of relevant regulatory requirements and compliance practices.
• Broad experience with the combination of backups, disaster recovery, and business continuity.
• Effective problem solving, with an emphasis on diagnosing and resolving root causes, and on building and supporting robust solutions.
• Demonstrated ability to lead continuous improvements in business processes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain highly technical information in a concise and effective manner to an audience of varying technical aptitude.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative mindset.

To apply for this position, click Apply Now to complete the application. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, due to the volume of applicants, only those chosen for interview will be contacted.
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