Vice President of Information Technology

Title: VP OF IT

Division: Support | Department: IT | Reports to: CEO | FLSA Status: Exempt

Here we do more than just provide the world with the healthiest proteins on the planet. We are a family-owned, excellence-driven organization committed to being the brand of choice in the marketplace and the employer of choice in the community. We believe in servant leadership, investing in our team members’ personal and professional growth, and rewarding performance. We live by the core values of our Diamond Philosophy: Teamwork, Productivity, Quality, and Excellence—which means consistently doing your best and always striving to do better.

The VP of IT is a member of the PSG Executive Leadership team , supporting efforts to create strategies and implement solutions that enable continual growth, expansion and optimizes the company’s operational strategy while ensuring business continuity. This position involves being fiscally responsible, business-oriented, strategic, and technical and is ideal for someone who is adept at building positive relationships across multiple departments, working collaboratively to communicate tasks, implement changes, improve business performance, and resolve issues. The VP of IT is responsible for building and maintaining sustainable systems which deliver the required information across the entire enterprise. .The VP of IT leads the IT Department and is responsible for setting and implementing the strategic direction and effective implementation of flexible, scalable, and adaptable systems. This role is also responsible for all aspects of CyberSecurity as well as IT support.

At a minimum, the following roles report to the VP of IT:

• Director of Network Infrastructure

• Director of DevOps

• Manager of Support

• Administrative Assistant

• ERP Application Manager (position currently being defined)

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• People Management: Provide strong leadership and vision to the IT team, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and excellence in execution.
• Identify gaps in the IT team, direct and oversee the recruitment, training, and development of IT staff, ensuring the team has the skills and resources needed to succeed.
• Conduct regular performance evaluations, provide constructive feedback, and support professional growth and career development within the team.
• Implement succession planning and talent management strategies to ensure the continuity and growth of the IT department.
• Challenge IT team members to frequently work collaboratively with technology consumers in all divisions.
• Instill and grow the PSG Diamond Philosophy within the IT team. Ensure the IT team sets a good example and helps develop strong leaders within the department and throughout the enterprise.

• Business Administration: Oversee the daily operations of the IT department, including network management, development and/or systems administration of enterprise applications, cybersecurity, and helpdesk support.
• Ensure the availability, reliability, backup/recovery and security of IT systems and infrastructure.
• Develop and enforce IT policies, procedures, and standards to maintain data integrity, security, and compliance with regulations.
• Continually reach out to enterprise through customer satisfaction surveys and other means to verify that the department has a good understanding of areas where they can improve and how other employees view the service level of the IT team.
• Ensure that the IT team is effectively communicating with the rest of the enterprise.

• IT Specific Strategic Growth: Develop a deep understanding of our strategic plan, business model and the multiple vertically integrated business units.
• Develop and maintain a multi-year IT strategy/roadmap identifying key operational initiatives to optimize and drive efficiencies in the current business environment, in an atmosphere of cost consciousness, while allowing for substantial growth, change and innovation in the future.
• Oversee and effectively manage the global Information Technology portfolio.
• Successfully deliver all projects on time and on or below budget, ensuring that they meet or exceed the needs of the business.
• Oversee the management of risk related to business continuity planning, security, infrastructure, and crisis management.
• Develop and maintain strategic and tactically relevant partnerships with vendors that may help offer solutions based on specific company needs.
• Consistently updates the executive leadership team on the changes in industry trends. This includes planning, budgeting, purchasing and accounting solutions that will help further the strategic goals of our Group.
• Continuously seek ways to add value, provide security, and anticipate business/market changes by providing timely solutions for the company.

• Financial Management: Provide the necessary technology support to the financial management of the enterprise, including financial planning, budgeting, FP&A and BI/Reporting.
• Develop, manage, and monitor the IT department’s budget, ensuring that financial resources are used efficiently and effectively.
• Analyze and report on IT expenditures, identifying opportunities for cost savings and optimizing resource allocation.
• Manage contracts with vendors and service providers to secure cost-effective services without compromising quality.
• Lead financial negotiations for IT-related purchases, contracts, and service agreements.

• Technical:Ensure the IT function meets industry standards in all areas. Seek outside expertise as necessary to identify gaps and consider recommendations.
• Identify, report and mitigate IT risks to the organization, including physical and cyber security, systems performance and availability, single points of failure, backup and recovery.
• Keep the IT function is up to date on technology and innovates to advance the company’s mission in a sustainable way.
• Work with functions being supported to ensure IT solutions adequately meet functional requirements and fit the function’s culture and necessary methods of operation.
• Maintain IT systems, whether on-premise or hosted/cloud, with standardized solutions for hardware, servers and networks, and manage repair, upgrades and replacements on regular cycles.
• Identify and manage software update processes using internal and external resources. Collaborate with the organization to minimize operating impact and business risk.
• Maintain plans underlying the IT roadmap which define the scope, resources, timeline and budget for IT projects.
• Select, measure and manage contractors and vendors providing products and services to the IT mission.
• Manage IT projects using standardized, professional grade project management methods.

• Leadership Team:Participate in Executive Leadership sessions including communicating and confirming IT strategy as well as supporting peer executives in their missions.
• Work collaboratively with the leadership team in all matters to act as a change agent across all functions.
• Stay up to date on the current tactical needs of each function being supported.
• Set IT strategy and make sure the leadership team understands the IT strategy, roadmap, and mission as it may evolve.
• Work with leadership to measure and report on the health and status of the IT function and to make tactical decisions affecting other functions.

Additional responsibilities may be assigned as deemed necessary to support the overall goals and objectives of the position.

Core Competencies and Skills

1. Leadership/People Management
2. Change Agent
3. Technology proficiency
4. Regulatory Management
5. Financial/Business Acumen
6. Product Knowledge
7. Strategic Planning
8. Project Management
9. Communication Skills
10. Risk Management

Education and Experience Required

1. BA/BS degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Management, Engineering, or related field.
2. 10+ years of progressive Information Technology management/leadership experience.
3. 3+ years of experience in a similar role within a similar sized company with distributed locations and systems complexity
4. Strong technical project management skills.
5. Experience in systems analysis; people development
6. Ability to travel up to 25% of the time or more, as required.

Preferred

1. Prior experience in e-commerce, logistics, distribution and manufacturing technology solutions.
2. Prior LEAN management and constant process improvement experience.
3. Master’s degree in Business Administration is preferred.
4. Food processing experience is a plus