Job VP of Operations @ Bigstep

About the job

Bigstep was created by people passionate about cloud technology. We offer an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solution with our Bigstep Metal Cloud, Storage and Network. We're set out to provide a cloud that zooms, giving our clients the possibility to deploy in minutes and scale up on demand with highest performance, possible only with bare metal. Making it simple to use powerful servers, whether a single bare metal server or a complex infrastructure, is the number one goal of the Bigstep team.

As part of our team, you will be contributing to the shaping of the cloud and big data market, working alongside a very experienced team. Our bread and butter are cutting-edge technologies such as Cloudera, Kubernetes, Docker and we combine them in novel ways to enable data-driven, world-changing ideas.

We spare no effort to encourage a dynamic environment that supports continuous learning and development, so feel free to bring your heart to work.

Role Overview

We’re looking for a VP of Operations to be responsible for the analysis, design, planning, implementation, and maintenance of all facets of the Operations department, that is, the L1 &L2 Support, Systems, Internal IT, Billing &Collections and Capacity Planning. The VP of Operations will plan, coordinate, and direct all daily operational activities of these departments and provide direction and solutions that enhance mission-critical operations of the Operations department.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the Operation's department’s strategic road map, ensuring that information technology capabilities continually support the overall business’s goals and objectives;
• You're in charge of business continuity and disaster recovery within the department and company;
• Recommend and implement new investments within the technology infrastructure;
• Assume responsibility of oversight of the entire network and system infrastructure ensuring proper configuration, implementation, maintenance, and monitoring of security firewalls, sites/software, servers, data and file encryption, and internet connections;
• Play a mentorship role to key Operations personnel, promoting their professional growth;
• Coordinate the selection, implementation, and upgrade of the business’s software/applications and services;
• Implement and document a business recovery strategy for the purpose of resuming operations of system architecture in the event of a disaster.
• Establish security architecture and implement procedures and controls that ensure that information and data are secure and in compliance with the security and storage regulations of the business.
• Lead the process and team members in the analysis, enhancement, and tailoring of current practices and existing systems in order to increase operating efficiencies as well as reduce and cut costs within the business;
• Establish operational budgets in order to address the needs of various areas of the department, for example, system infrastructure, security, networks, and databases;
• Ensure adherence to overall financial objectives of the business and track the annual departmental expenditures;
• Assess the effectiveness of the existing software/applications, data, and processes developed by the department;
• Analyze complex business requirements and make recommendations to the Chief Technology Officer/President for technical solutions, ensuring that these solutions are aligned with the overall business vision, mission, and direction;
• Maintain knowledge within the operations department, coordinating the implementation of best practices and the adoption of suitable trends;
• Keep track of licensing on all IT related items;
• Negotiate contracts with IT service providers;
• Oversee Upgrades and Installations;
• Coordinate and oversee the activity of all departments under management.

Requirements

• Computer Science, Information Technology, or any other related field bachelor's degree;
• A minimum of 8 years in working experience in a senior IT position within a fast-paced and constantly evolving environment, preferably working as a Head of DevOps or Head of SiteOps;
• Strong experience with P&L and a very good understanding of finance and financial metrics
• Knowledge in managing Linux systems (CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, Gentoo): proprietary package management systems, filesystems;
• Backup software knowledge;
• Good knowledge with Load Balancing and caching webservers;
• SQL knowledge: MySQL, (noSQL databases is a plus);
• Good knowledge of centralized administration, orchestration and config management systems like ansible, Puppet, Chef;
• Experience with virtualization (VMware, XEN, KVM) and clustering/cloud;
• Good skills in working with, debugging and finding problems on enterprise hardware;
• Good knowledge of some VPN technologies;
• Advanced networking experience on Linux;
• Excellent customer service skills with a professional demeanor;
• Ability to work and derive creative and practical solutions to complex problems in independent work environment;
• Comfortable in writing Wiki based documentation;
• Ability to learn new technologies quickly;
• Excellent English writing and communication skills;
• Experience working with cloud, SaaS services;
• Demonstrable project management skills;
• Demonstrated ability to identify and follow a strategic goal to completion.
• Knowledge of data protection operations and legislation (e. g. GDPR)
• Leadership and organizational skills

Why choose Bigstep

Being part of a startup is a lot of fun. It offers rewards and responsibilities that are unheard of in corporate environments. You will work with excellent teams and you will have a chance to make a significant impact on your colleagues and the world around you through innovative products and services.

On top, we offer

• Flexible hours;
• Informal, nonconformist work environment, lots of fun;
• Freedom of using technology to ease your work efforts;
• A lot of variety in your work.

Note:

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