Network Program Director

Role Summary

The Technology Projects Portfolio Leader is a senior leadership role responsible for owning, governing, and assuring delivery of a portfolio of high-impact network and infrastructure initiatives across BAU, transformation, and growth programs.

This role combines technical authority, portfolio/program leadership, and executive‑level stakeholder management to ensure predictable outcomes aligned to fixed business milestones (e.g., acquisitions, manufacturing go‑lives, site transitions, and major cutovers).

The leader acts as the single accountable owner for technical direction, delivery assurance, governance rigor, and customer confidence across complex, multi‑workstream initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

1. Portfolio Leadership & Governance

• Build and operate portfolio‑level governance for network and infrastructure programs, including demand intake, prioritization, dependency management, capacity planning, and executive review cadence.
• Translate non-negotiable business milestones (M&A close, factory go-live, cutovers, refresh deadlines) into executable delivery plans with clear ownership and sequencing.
• Ensure consistent application of delivery discipline across multiple concurrent programs (scope, RAID, change control, schedule integrity).
• Establish repeatable playbooks (templates, checklists, lessons learned) for acquisitions, site builds, and transformations to improve predictability and operational handoff.

2. Technical Leadership

• Partner with client technical architects and internal SMEs to validate readiness for complex network initiatives.
• Ensure all solutions align with enterprise standards, security policies, and best practices across data center, manufacturing IT/OT, and corporate environments.
• Identify repeatable technical work and drive automation strategies, including the adoption of internal automation platforms to enable scalable network build automation.

3. Program & Delivery Assurance

• Lead multiple concurrent programs and complex workstreams, defining scope, success criteria, integrated schedules, RAID, and milestone controls.
• Proactively identify delivery risks and early warning indicators; drive corrective actions with clear escalation paths, options, and impact analysis.
• Ensure clean execution and transition from project delivery to BAU/operations with well-defined handover criteria.
• Represent MSP and the customer environment during critical/major incidents, especially those impacting manufacturing, data centers, or business continuity, acting as the senior spokesperson.

4. Cross-Functional & Vendor Orchestration

• Coordinate closely with client-side program managers, business leaders, and dependent teams (real estate, EUC, servers, applications, and security) to align infrastructure delivery to the overall master plan and critical path.
• Manage complex multi‑vendor ecosystems, including telecom providers, cabling partners, hardware vendors, and system integrators.
• Navigate and resolve cross‑team conflicts through structured governance, transparency, and outcome‑focused decision‑making.

5. Customer & Executive Stakeholder Management

• Engage senior business and IT leaders with crisp, fact‑based updates on status, risks, trade‑offs, and recommendations.
• Maintain customer confidence through visible leadership, decisive action, and disciplined execution.
• Develop proactive roadmaps and innovation ideas to strengthen strategic relationships and support future growth.
• Support commercial and financial governance, including budget tracking, forecasting, and identification of incremental scope or growth opportunities in partnership with sales and account leadership.

6. People Leadership & Continuous Improvement

• Mentor project managers, technical leads, and engineers; drive skill development and leadership maturity across the portfolio.
• Foster a culture of ownership, proactive risk management, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure sustainable support and delivery models for manufacturing and mission‑critical environments, continuously reviewing and improving turnaround and quality.

Required Skills & Competencies

Technical & Domain Knowledge

• Understanding of enterprise network technologies:
• Cisco SD‑WAN, LAN, Wireless, Juniper Mist Wireless, Cisco DNAC / Catalyst Center
• Palo Alto Firewalls, DDI solutions (Infoblox preferred), Audiocodes
• Broad understanding of Data Center, Manufacturing IT/OT, and Corporate Networks.
• Familiarity with network observability and troubleshooting tools (e.g., NetBrain, ThousandEyes, LiveAction).

Program & Portfolio Leadership

• Proven capability in portfolio and program management, including schedule control, dependency management, RAID, and governance cadence.
• Ability to translate technical complexity into business‑aligned delivery plans.
• Strong financial and commercial acumen to support margin, cost, and growth objectives.

Automation & Transformation Mindset

• Ability to identify automation opportunities and drive adoption of template‑driven and automated delivery models.
• Experience improving scalability and consistency through standardization.

Communication & Leadership

• Exceptional executive communication and presentation skills.
• Strong stakeholder management and conflict‑resolution capability in matrixed environments.
• Proven people leadership, coaching, and talent‑development experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience.
• 15 years of experience in network infrastructure and/or IT program leadership roles.
• Demonstrated success leading business‑critical programs (M&A integrations, site builds, migrations, transformations).
• PMP / PgMP / PRINCE2 or equivalent program delivery credentials preferred.