Director Network Operations Jobs in Elgin, IL (NOW HIRING)

Job Description

Reporting to the SVP, Enterprise Architect - Infrastructure & User Enablement, the VP, Lead Engineer - Infrastructure Operations is a senior technical leadership role responsible for the design, operation, and continuous improvement of Antares' enterprise infrastructure services - including cloud-hosted server environments, endpoint management, identity services, and network operations. This position carries full accountability for end-to-end infrastructure operations, combining deep technical expertise with people leadership and operational ownership.

Antares' infrastructure leverages cloud-hosted environments to support enterprise application services. The Lead Infrastructure Operations Engineer is responsible for managing server and endpoint environments at the operating system level - including patch management, software installation and configuration, permissions management, troubleshooting services, and connectivity - while partnering with cloud engineering teams responsible for resource provisioning and connectivity. This clear separation of duties ensures operational focus and accountability between teams.

This role oversees onshore and offshore engineering resources supporting day-to-day infrastructure operations. For network operations, this role serves as the primary internal technical counterpart to managed services partners, coordinating operational support, incident response, and network monitoring. The Lead Infrastructure Operations Engineer is expected to be the highest-level technical escalation point within Infrastructure Operations - navigating complex incidents, coordinating vendor response, and driving accountability for service delivery across systems, cloud, and networking domains.

This role operates under a segregation-of-duty model from application teams, providing direct infrastructure support while ensuring proper cross-functional coordination.

Responsibilities

Infrastructure Operations

• Lead the day-to-day operation, support, and continuous improvement of enterprise infrastructure services - spanning cloud-hosted server environments, endpoint management, identity services, and enterprise application infrastructure.
• Manage and maintain cloud-hosted servers running enterprise directory services, database platforms, and business applications - owning the operating system layer while cloud engineering owns resource deployment and connectivity.
• Lead patch management, software installation, configuration management, permissions management, and services troubleshooting across all server and endpoint environments.
• Ensure reliable operation and patch compliance of server operating systems through enterprise patch management tooling and oversee endpoint management platforms to maintain a consistent and secure end-user computing environment.
• Lead vulnerability management prioritization and standard remediation workflows for infrastructure assets, operating under segregation of duty from application teams while ensuring proper cross-functional coordination and system availability.
• Oversee identity and directory services operations including service account management, group lifecycle, certificate-based authentication, and related operational processes in partnership with Cybersecurity.
• Monitor infrastructure health, capacity, and performance across all environments - proactively identifying risks, capacity constraints, and improvement opportunities before they become incidents.
• Coordinate with cloud engineering to ensure resource deployments, connectivity configurations, and infrastructure changes are aligned to operational requirements and do not disrupt production services.

Network Operations

• Own routing and network-level operations across enterprise firewall, remote access, SD-WAN, switching, wireless, and network access control platforms - coordinating with managed services partners for operational support and incident response. Partner with Cybersecurity, for access control policies, firewall rule management, policy changes, and platform upgrades - providing technical expertise and operational insights to support seamless cross-team execution.
• Serve as the primary internal technical counterpart to managed services partners for network operations - driving monitoring, escalation management, and continuous service improvement.

Leadership, Governance & Vendor Management

• Serve as the highest-level technical escalation point for complex infrastructure incidents, outages, and critical changes - coordinating resolution across internal teams, managed services partners, vendors, and offshore resources.
• Establish and enforce domain engineering standards: configuration baselines, change management guardrails, operational documentation, and infrastructure-as-code patterns across systems and network disciplines.
• Coordinate incident response, problem management, and root cause analysis activities - driving recurring issue reduction and operational maturity across the team.
• Lead disaster recovery and business continuity planning for infrastructure services - ensuring DR runbooks are current, tested, and aligned to recovery objectives.
• Partner with enterprise governance bodies and Cybersecurity to ensure infrastructure changes are governance-approved, compliant, and aligned to enterprise architecture.
• Manage service provider and vendor relationships - tracking licensing, support contracts, renewals, and professional services engagements.
• Lead and develop onshore and offshore engineering resources through coaching, mentoring, performance management, and technical guidance - building independence, accountability, and technical maturity across the team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in enterprise infrastructure engineering spanning systems administration, cloud infrastructure, and network operations.
• 5+ years of experience leading technical teams, projects, or operational functions with direct people management responsibility, including experience managing offshore or distributed resources.
• Strong experience with enterprise server operating system administration, directory services, group policy management, and enterprise patch management platforms.
• Demonstrated experience managing server workloads in cloud-hosted IaaS environments, including OS-level management, patching, software installation, and configuration.
• Experience administering enterprise endpoint management technologies.
• Experience with enterprise identity and directory services, including service account management, group lifecycle, and certificate-based authentication.
• Experience with enterprise monitoring and observability tools for infrastructure health, capacity planning, and performance management.
• Strong hands-on experience with enterprise-grade switching, wireless, firewall, remote access, and SD-WAN platforms.
• Strong knowledge of routing protocols, VLANs, DHCP, DNS, and network access control solutions.
• Experience managing managed services provider relationships for network monitoring, incident escalation, and operational support coordination.
• Experience serving as a senior escalation resource for complex, multi-site infrastructure environments.
• Proven ability to independently research, diagnose, and resolve complex technical issues - including in unfamiliar technologies and without existing documentation.
• Strong knowledge of change management, operational governance, and risk-aware engineering practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Cloud platform certifications (e.g., Azure, AWS, or equivalent).
• Endpoint management certifications.
• Experience with database platform administration in support of enterprise application infrastructure.
• Experience with infrastructure automation, scripting (PowerShell, Python), and Infrastructure-as-Code concepts.
• Experience supporting hybrid identity and directory services across cloud and on-premises environments.
• Experience with enterprise monitoring and observability platforms.
• Experience supporting Linux-based systems including enterprise workloads.
• Experience with disaster recovery planning, testing, and business continuity operations.
• Experience operating within financial services or similarly regulated environments with audit, compliance, and segregation-of-duty requirements.
• Multi-site infrastructure experience includes new office buildouts and telecommunications coordination.

Core Competencies

• Infrastructure & Cloud Operations - Deep expertise in cloud-hosted server environments, endpoint management, enterprise directory services, and application infrastructure - able to manage, troubleshoot, and optimize at the operating system and services layer.
• Technical Breadth & Depth - Able to operate across systems, cloud, identity, and networking domains with sufficient depth to lead troubleshooting, design decisions, and vendor conversations in each.
• Operational Excellence - Drives disciplined delivery: operational readiness, documentation standards, ticket hygiene, and clear definition of done across the team.
• Incident & Crisis Management - Leads complex incident response, coordinates cross-team and cross-vendor resolution, and ensures root cause analysis drives lasting improvement.
• Vendor & Managed Services Partnership - Effectively manages managed services for network operations and other vendor relationships, ensuring SLA adherence, escalation clarity, and continuous service improvement.
• Problem Solving & Learning Agility - Independently resolves complex issues across familiar and unfamiliar technologies; researches, evaluates, and adapts without waiting for documentation or direction.
• Accountability & Ownership - Takes full ownership of infrastructure outcomes, operates with high autonomy, and escalates appropriately within governance frameworks.
• Team Development & Coaching - Builds technical maturity and independence across onshore and offshore team members through mentoring, performance management, and structured technical guidance.
• Governance & Compliance Alignment - Partners effectively with governance bodies, Cybersecurity, and audit functions to ensure infrastructure operations meet enterprise standards.
• Communication & Stakeholder Management - Translates technical complexity for leadership audiences, represents infrastructure in governance forums, and maintains clear cross-team communication during incidents and projects.
• Continuous Improvement - Proactively identifies and drives initiatives that improve reliability, reduce risk, optimize cost, and eliminate operational toil.

What Success Looks Like

• Cloud-hosted server environments, directory services, database workloads, and endpoint operations are maintained with consistent uptime, patch compliance, and security posture.
• Clear operational boundaries between Infrastructure Operations and Cloud Engineering are maintained - minimizing overlap, confusion, and service disruption.
• Vulnerability management and patch cycles are executed on schedule with clear prioritization and segregation-of-duty adherence across application and infrastructure teams.
• Infrastructure incidents are resolved within the operations team without executive escalation - leveraging onshore, offshore, and managed services resources appropriately.
• Managed services operates as a seamless extension of the internal team for network operations - with clear escalation paths, SLA adherence, and proactive monitoring coverage.
• The handoff between Infrastructure Operations and Cybersecurity on network security platforms is well-defined, operationalized, and friction-free.
• Disaster recovery runbooks are current, tested, and recovery objectives are consistently met.
• Operational documentation, change management compliance, and ticket hygiene are maintained as standard practice across the team.
• Recurring issues are reduced through root cause analysis and continuous improvement - measurable quarter over quarter.
• Onshore and offshore team members demonstrate increasing independence, accountability, and technical maturity over time.

The Fine Print

• Must have unrestricted authorization to work in the United States.
• Must be willing to comply with pre-employment screening, including but not limited to drug testing, reference verification, and background check.
• Must be willing to work from the Chicago, Atlanta, or New York office.

A reasonable estimate of the current base salary range at the time of posting is below. Base salary does not include other forms of compensation or benefits. Actual base salary within the specified range is comprised of several components, including but not limited to applicant's skill, prior relevant experience, specific degrees and certifications, job responsibilities, market considerations and the location of the position.

This role is eligible for a discretionary annual bonus (based on company, business unit and individual performance).

Our benefit offerings include medical, dental and vision coverage, employer paid short & long-term disability and life insurance, 401(k), profit sharing, paid time off, Maven family & fertility benefit, parental leave (including adoption, surrogacy, and foster placement), as well as other voluntary benefits.

Base Salary Range

$175,000 - $190,000

To learn more, visit www.antares.com. Antares is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.