VP, Digital Infrastructure & IT Operations

Requisition ID: 108965

Share Our Purpose. Be Yourself. Feel Valued.

People are the heart of our business. As an American Water employee, you will be offered a competitive salary and health benefits package, along with opportunities to develop, grow, and evolve your career. Our benefits packages focus on key areas such as health & wellness, emotional & well-being, and savings for current & future goals.

We are Beautifully Different. We strongly believe having diversity across our company makes us more successful and helps us provide essential services to our customers. We are stronger because we embrace different ideas, viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds. American Water is the best choice for your next role! Click here for more information on our inclusion, diversity, and equity journey.

About American Water

American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886, We Keep Life Flowing® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people across 14 regulated jurisdictions and 18 military installations. American Water’s 6,500 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company’s national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders.

As one of the fastest growing utilities in the U.S., American Water expects to invest $40 to $42 billion in infrastructure repairs and replacement, system resiliency and regulated acquisitions over the next 10 years. The company has a long-standing history of executing its core operations, aligned with sustainable best practices, through its commitments to safety, affordability, customer service, protecting the environment, an inclusive workforce and strengthening communities.

American Water has been recognized on the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the fifth consecutive year, ranked 18th on Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies 2023 List, earned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security SAFETY Act designation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense® Excellence Award, among additional state, local and national recognitions.

For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Primary Role

The VP, Digital Infrastructure & IT Operations is responsible for ensuring the core infrastructure systems (cloud, network, data center, telephony) are operational, maintained, resilient, and optimized. They are also responsible for leading and delivering user experience technologies including mobile devices, laptops, audio/video conferencing and the Microsoft Office 365 suite of products and ensuring employees are properly supported through help desk and field support.

Key Accountabilities

- Design and implementation of security strategy for American Water which should include but not limited to emerging trends in security technologies in data securitization, application security , platform security , device security , sensors , SCADA and plant operations, data centers and network security, cloud security

- Lead the Infrastructure function with strategic and technical thought leadership, develop the infrastructure roadmap with a strong focus on delivering an elevated and enhanced technology experience to and optimize data centers, cloud environment, network management , identity management and access management

- Lead end to end Enterprise IT operations , SOC / NOC management implementation of best in class security operations models and customized to utility specific operations

- Participate in the strategic planning and evolution of internal and outsourced infrastructure and service desk functions, defining business continuity requirements that are scalable to meet American Water’s future growth initiatives

- Direct the negotiation and ongoing management of service contracts (SLAs) for IT infrastructure services between business functions, technology organizations and technology suppliers

- Build close working relationships with Internal technology organizations (other vertical technology functions), in order to ensure that IT infrastructure needs, and issues are understood, align with business users

- Responsible for ensuring the processes executed by technology service providers and strategic partners are effective and efficient with seamless integration

- Develop strategy for optimizing and harmonizing networking/cloud and direct projects to improve network/cloud services, achieve targets for availability and stability

- Oversee internet access infrastructure and remote access/VPN/dial-in solution operations

- Oversee the maintenance of computing and telecommunication infrastructure/environment resilience, hosting environments for enterprise applications and security protocols, ensuring compliance with industry standards

- Approve technology infrastructure services with appropriate warranty (availability, capacity, continuity and security) at the most cost-efficient level

- Establish a service culture and apply ITIL to achieve operational excellence

- Establish and administer the annual budgets and cash plans, and manage expenditures to operate within the approved budget

- Lead a hybrid and/or cloud infrastructure as a service model

Knowledge/Skills

Strong knowledge and experience with Cyber Security Architecture , Technology , Products , Operations and Management

- Strong knowledge and experience with Networks , Converging Computing Platforms , Computing Architecture , Runtimes and Upgrades

• Strong knowledge and experience with Networks of Data Center Operations and Cloud Computing • Extensive knowledge of ITSM and ITIL

- Extensive knowledge of Server Management and Optimization

- Extensive knowledge of Disaster Recovery and Information Security Compliance

- Strong experience with Physical Security Systems and Support Services

- Proven track record of innovation, both in internal problem solving and in fostering innovative uses of technology in the organization

- Ability to lead high performing teams, with a proven track record of successful team leadership and development

- Ability to effectively drive business, culture, and technology change in a dynamic and complex operating environment

- Strong customer and user experience focus

- Ability to understand detailed impact while keeping the eye on the big picture

- Ability to abstract real world scenarios into easy to understand models

- Ability to identify, prioritize and weigh different options and to recommend a value-add solution

- Ability to balance what is "right" with what is "realistic"

- Ability to stay focused on identified priorities

- Ability to make decisions in situations of ambiguity and the absence of complete facts

Experience/Education

- Bachelors in Computer Science / Information Technology / Information Systems or in a related field

- Masters or MBA preferred

- 20+ years’ of progressive experience with IT Infrastructure / Cloud / Servers / Networks / IT Support / SCADA

• 10+ years’ in leadership roles • Successful experience with implementing strategy across an organization

Travel Requirements

As necessary , up to 20%

Work Environment

Standard office environment

Other

Soft Skills:

- Excellent verbal and written communication skills

- Ability to analyze complex situations and to derive workable actions

- Strong strategic skills to develop long-term visions and the ability to translate them into actionable roadmaps that are broadly accepted

- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and proven ability to work effectively at all levels in the organization

- Strong strategic skills to develop long term visions and the ability to translate them into actionable roadmaps that are broadly accepted

- Proven track record of successful team leadership and development

- Strong customer and user experience focus

- Good presentation skills engaging a variety of audiences up to ELT

Certifications & Licenses:

- One or more industry certifications in security, infrastructure, compliance e.g. CPP,PSP,PCI,CISSP,GIAC will be a plus

Competencies

Drives Safety Culture

Drives Vision & Purpose

Strategic & Learning Agility

Political & Organizational Savvy

Builds Effective Teams & Network

Situational Adaptability

Persuades

Join American Water...We Keep Life Flowing™

American Water is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and prohibits employment discrimination for employees and applicants based on his or her age, race, color, pregnancy, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, marital status, citizenship, or because they are an individual with a disability, protected veteran or other status protected by federal, state, and local laws.