Director, End User Shared Services

REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.)•Seattle, WA

20d•Hybrid

About The Position

REI Co-op is united around discovering, building and celebrating better ways of working in this world, all so that folks can find and pursue a love of the outdoors. When you work for the co-op, you do your best work with the support to live your best life. And you play a part in shaping the future of the outdoors, for people and our planet. The Director of End User and Shared Services maintains, develops, supports, and optimizes key functional areas including desktop hardware, software and operating system, collaboration solutions, service desk, and service management. Key aspects of the role include evaluating new and emerging technologies and services and identifying opportunities for increased operational efficiencies. This role will drive the integration of AI technologies within Service Desk and Service Operations to increase automation and self-service capabilities and utilize analytics to predict contact volumes. Models and acts in accordance with REI’s guiding values and mission.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or business administration, or equivalent training and experience.
10+ years of progressive information technology management and leadership experience with Infrastructure and Operations Domain expertise.
10+ years information technology experience, including technology acquisition, applications development, infrastructure support, logistics and operations.
Practical understanding and experience with Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Information Technology Services Management (ITSM).
Experience leading technology capital projects for large multi-unit organizations.
Knowledge of retail, manufacturing and logistics and distribution processes .
Insight and experience planning and delivering systems in the competitive marketplace.
Ability to facilitate and develop IT and department strategic plans, business plans, portfolio programs and annual budgets.
Champions and leads cross functional and department level business process improvement initiatives.
Ability to influence and facilitate IT senior level personnel through IT portfolio management, annual planning, and investment decisions.
Ability to lead and direct highly-technical work teams to achieve superior performance.
Ability to negotiate contracts and agreements with information technology product and service vendors and providers.
Excellent understanding of release and change management techniques and methods.
Builds capacity of individuals and teams through effective employee development, involvement, communication, and supervision efforts.
Creates a strong, mutually supportive work spirit and culture where people can do their best.
Establishes trust and inspires others.
Makes effective organization and people decisions in a manner consistent with REI's values and ethics.
Delivers on commitments and holds others to same.
Champions the organization and advocates solutions in the overall Company's best interest.
Uses business knowledge, innovative thinking, and sound judgment in the solution of problems or the pursuit of business opportunities.
Consolidates information from various sources including feedback from others to reach sound decisions.
Considers the ultimate impact of decisions and actions on internal and external customers.
Champions IT Vendor Management and Negotiation.
Fosters change in company direction.
Effectively plans and executes changes.
Willing and able to work onsite in Issaquah, WA and/or Sumner, WA offices at least one day a week. May primarily work from home in Greater Seattle area aside from day in office.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of retail, manufacturing and logistics and distribution processes.

Responsibilities

Develops and updates multi-year plans for leveraging appropriate systems and resource strategies, (e.g. SaaS, IaaS, Paas, DaaS, in-house resourcing, and commercially-available-off-the-shelf products)
Champions the consolidation of systems and solutions with overlapping functionality.
Evaluates and implements delivery models that provide efficient and effective infrastructure and operations responsibilities.
Ensure the technology well-being of the organization by adhering to established strategies and technology and architectural standards.
Develop, track and control, the End User and Shared Services annual operating and capital budget
Work with customers to ensure that services and service levels are aligned to business needs.
Deliver against service level agreements or service level objectives
Identify and report on service quality & efficiency measures and initiate activities to pro-actively improve service quality and efficiency
Directs the delivery of support services through the Service Desk and service management program (WayPoint)
Lead architecture and capacity planning disciplines to ensure that End User and Shared Services develops and maintains capability and capacity to meet short, medium and long term business demand
Demonstrate a strategic mindset in leading the organization this role supports. Informally and formally benchmark End User and Shared Services against industry standards in support of REI goals and objectives.
Proven ability to design and implement AI-driven solutions for service desk automation, predictive analytics, and intelligent self-service.
Proactively address problems and incidents and ensure proper communication and escalation procedures are in place in support of end customers.
Develops and maintains key performance indicators for computing performance, network performance, and internal and external service levels.
Assists with the architecture planning and deployment of IT security measures in collaboration with Information Security.
Ensure equipment and software operation adheres to applicable laws and regulations.
Oversees the development, installation and configuration of vendor product tools and systems that promote collaboration within the Company, such as mobile devices, the employee portal or intranet, and instant messaging.
Oversees purchasing of hardware and operating system software, and hardware and systems management.
Leads cross-division collaboration to ensure coordination and integration of business needs and solutions.
Conducts effective negotiations with major technology vendors and ensures contractual performance standards are met or exceeded.
Develops professional relationships with internal and external peers, fostering these relationships through industry associations and providing education on how best to use division services to satisfy Company needs.
Ensures that division programs, policies and procedures meet regulatory requirements and industry best practices.