Global It Infrastructure Leader

Company: Mattr Ltd. (formerly Shawcor Ltd.)

Title: Global IT Infrastructure Leader

Location: (in order of preference): Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton or Houston

COMPANY BACKGROUND

For 50+ years Mattr has delivered highly engineered technologies and solutions to support infrastructure projects around the world. From the lab to the field, the Company develops solutions that have generational impact. Mattr is a growth-oriented, global $1 Billion+ materials technology company broadly serving critical infrastructure markets, including transportation, communication, water management, energy and electrification. The Company is home to thousands of committed employees and operates through a network of fixed and mobile manufacturing facilities. Its three business segments, Composite Technologies, Connection Technologies and Pipeline & Pipe Services enable responsible renewal and enhancement of critical infrastructure while lowering risk and environmental impact.

The Company has seen growth in demand and profit in all three segments in 2022 and expects this growth to continue throughout 2023 and into 2024. The Company also has a strong cash balance as well as a healthy and growing project and contract backlog.

Mattr, having traded as a public company for over 50 years, is one of Canada’s few global leaders with revenues greater than $1 Billion. Its financial foundation remains strong, giving the company the opportunity to grow its Composite Technologies and Connection Technologies business segments.

On June 7th, 2023 The Company proudly announced its rebranding to Mattr. For additional insight and information on the Company, please visit www.mattr.com.

POSITION SUMMARY

Important to the CEO, the CFO and the entire organization is a focus on further developing a strategic and impactful approach to technology and systems management. The Global IT Infrastructure Leader and their team play a critical role in leveraging Mattr’s systems platforms for the delivery of global IT infrastructure services across the business, including the business divisions and the corporate office. This new leader will work closely with the Corporate team and the Business Units to identify and implement infrastructure strategies and programs which focus on lowest unit cost, sustainability, and the ability to scale effectively to meet Corporate and Business Unit needs.

POSITION MANDATE

Reporting to the Vice President, Information Technology, this global infrastructure leader is accountable for the delivery of global IT infrastructure services while holding responsibility to manage a globally dispersed IT infrastructure team (North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific) to achieve business objectives. The position is accountable for IT infrastructure assets and corresponding performance, team performance, compliance, service quality and corresponding operational budget. With an annual operating budget of $12 million, they will prioritize IT opportunities related to productivity enhancement, cost reduction and standardization, driving corresponding projects, training and standards development.

Along with a goal to execute on the Company’s commitment to further leverage external IT service providers and to strike a measured outsourcing/in-house balance as the IT organization adopts more of an IaaS (infrastructure as a service), DaaS (device as a service) strategy, the Global IT Infrastructure Leader will help to further develop multi-year IT roadmaps and, specifically, develop and implement an aligned multi-year IT infrastructure plan. Additionally, they will:

• Partner with the IT Procurement Manager to Manage and nurture critical vendor relationships required to deliver infrastructure programs (Microsoft, ISP’s, Contractors, SaaS providers, etc.) and to ensure Mattr is receiving the best value
• Support business case and IRR analysis for all projects, initiatives and spend; manage balance between internal and external resources
• Support infrastructure integration and technology transitions as organizational structure evolves
• Ensure IT infrastructure effectively protects system and data security from external threats
• Lead and develop global IT operations staff ensuring the correct skills and resource levels are available to complete operational and continuity tasks to agreed service levels; manage a globally dispersed team with various IT backgrounds
• Identify and adopt industry best practices, standards and approaches
• Manage by the numbers and proactively pass this discipline to your team
• Partner with the Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) department to mature security tool sourcing and utilization for Mattr’s IT infrastructure (on-premise and cloud)
• Quickly respond to requests to ensure the end-user knows expectations
• Set, communicate and mange IT infrastructure operations direction, plans and priorities
• Provide team leadership – people, financial/budget and projects; challenge and direct the IT infrastructure team and respectfully present educated opinions and vetted recommendations to senior leadership
• Drive standardization of software and cloud adoptions
• Ensure IT infrastructure operations are represented in project reviews (technology selection and support)

In doing so, they will perform the following specific duties

IT Infrastructure Operations (50%)

• Manage critical vendor relationships in conjunction with IT Procurement Manger for required to deliver infrastructure programs and service levels
• Responsible for global IT Infrastructure operations including network services (LAN/WAN/Internet), active directory and email services, cloud services, server hosting, shared storage and data center services, back-up/recovery programs and disaster recovery programs Control expenses within department and is responsible for meeting budget objectives
• Make decisions on personnel actions; assign personnel to projects and directs their activities; review and evaluate work; consult with personnel in other IT teams to coordinate activities.
• Lead and develop global IT operations staff ensuring the correct skills and resource levels are available to complete operational and continuity tasks to agreed service levels; accountable for capacity and resource planning for IT Infrastructure Services
• Provide input to policy level direction regarding standards and budget constraints

Project Prioritization, Planning and Execution (25%)

• Actively manage and execute infrastructure projects across all regions; accountable for ensuring IT Infrastructure projects are correctly scoped and appropriately resourced (People, CAPEX, OPEX)
• Develop and manage strategic global programs, prioritizing regional projects to achieve functional objectives (IT Operations)

Continuous Improvement Prioritization, Planning and Execution (15%)

• Evaluate and prioritize opportunities for productivity enhancement, cost reduction and standardization
• Demonstrate a proficient understanding of global IT infrastructure systems and architecture

Governance and Compliance (10%)

• Identify and adopt industry best practices and approaches
• Accountable for continuity planning and testing for all IT Infrastructure Services
• Develop and publish applicable standards, procedures and policies with GRC

ORGANIZATION SCOPE

Organization Unit: Global IT Shared Services

Reporting in: 6 - 10 direct reports – infrastructure department

10 – 20 indirect It regional staff

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

From a professional perspective, the ideal candidate will have/be:

• Experience as head of IT infrastructure for an organization or a key business unit
• Experience managing and leading teams of 20+, including geographically dispersed team members
• Solid financial acumen and expertise in managing operating/capex budgets of $7MM/$12MM, respectively, and building/recommending business cases for investment approval
• 10+ years’ experience working within IT infrastructure departments and, ideally, progressing to a leadership role of an IT infrastructure team
• Able to accommodate up to 30% travel following slightly more frequent travel during onboarding.
• Exposure to the assessment and applicability of developing IT initiatives e.g. moving to a leased hardware model or implementing an Infrastructure as a Service platform
• Well versed in change management and communications experience (ADKAR)
• Superior business acumen, planning/organizing, strategic thinking, team management, communication and presentation skills
• Complements foundational strength in IT infrastructure with breadth of experience across additional IT disciplines i.e. enterprise software applications, IT user support, IT security, etc.
• Experience in a complex organization working with a variety of stakeholders
• Expertise in scaling an organization’s or a division’s infrastructure to accommodate anticipated growth based while also leveraging standardization offerings
• 6 – 10 years’ demonstrated managerial/leadership experience of a function with a focus on professionalism, teamwork, development and business impact
• Experience with multi-facility, growth-oriented organization(s) while keeping to a protocol of standardization; experience/exposure to industrial settings is helpful, but not a necessity
• Experience managing key vendors and corresponding infrastructure spend with these partners
• Proactive mindset
• Ability to work and collaborate effectively with executives, IT and business services leaders and vendors to advance a shared agenda

EDUCATION/PROFESSIONAL ACCREDITATIONS

A University degree, preferably in Computer Science, Information Technology or other technical degree. Strong Microsoft skills. Ideally accredited as a Project Management Professional (PMP).

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