IT Operations Manager

Department: IT (CT)

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Chester, CT

Reporting To: Ashley Pye

Description

Whelen Engineering is a manufacturing company looking for an experienced IT Operations Manager to lead our IT support and infrastructure teams at our manufacturing facility. Reporting to the Director of IT Operations, this role will oversee daily IT operations, manage help desk services, and supervise system and network administrators. The ideal candidate will be a strong leader with a solid foundation in IT service management, infrastructure technologies, and support delivery.

Most importantly, the candidate must be passionate, energetic, and experienced. The position offers a competitive salary and an excellent benefits package. It requires you to work full-time on-site at our Chester, CT location. This is not a remote position.

Monday – Friday (8:00 am – 4:30 p.m.) Working hours are flexible, with occasional after-hours or weekend work required for maintenance or urgent issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

Lead and mentor the IT help desk, systems,and network teams, ensuring high performance and professional growth.
Oversee the day-to-day delivery of IT services, including incident response, service requests, system availability, and infrastructure support, while prioritizing and maintaining production systems uptime
Manage work in the ticketing system (Jira), ensuring timely response, prioritization, and resolution of issues.
Monitor service metrics, identify trends, and implement process improvements aligned with ITIL best practices.
Collaborate with the Director of IT Operations and other stakeholders to align IT support and infrastructure with business objectives.
Ensure effective documentation, knowledge sharing, and asset management practices across IT teams.
Participate in the planning and execution of IT projects, upgrades, and maintenance windows.
Assist with compliance, security, and risk mitigation efforts in partnership with other IT leaders.
Maintain strong vendor relationships for infrastructure and support tools as needed.
Maintain the annual budget and ensure cost effectiveness across IT infrastructure

Qualifications and Education:

5+ years of experience in IT operations or support, with 2+ years in a leadership or management role.
Experience managing IT help desk and infrastructure teams (systems, networks, or both).
Strong working knowledge of IT service management principles (ITIL) and best practices.
Proficiency in Jira Service Management or other enterprise ticketing systems.
Solid understanding of IT infrastructure, including networking, servers, Active Directory, and cloud services.
Excellent problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills.
Manufacturing industry experience is a plus.

All Employees Shall

Comply with the EH&S Policy and applicable regulatory and company EH&S rules
and requirements
Report to supervision conditions or practices that are either unsafe or that may
adversely impact the environment, to ensure prompt resolution of potential hazards
Attend scheduled EH&S training program
Actively support the organization’s efforts to meet or exceed EH&S goals and plans
Recommend improved EH&S practices
Must be able to communicate effectively with co-workers, supervisors, and third
parties. This ability to communicate requires the employee to be conversant in English as the majority of our workforce and the third parties that we encounter only speak English.

The incumbent is responsible for complying with the policies in Whelen’s “Employee
Handbook.”
Whelen Engineering is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sex, ancestry, citizenship status, mental or physical disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, veteran status, or military status.

This Job Description is to serve as a guide. It is intended to be flexible and will continue to evolve over time with business needs and demands and may be updated periodically and at the Company’s discretion. Nothing in this position description changes or is intended to change the employment at-will relationship with the Company. Employment at-will means that an employee or the Company may terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any reason or no reason at all, with or without notice.

Duties and Responsibilities

Qualifications and Education:

All Employees Shall

About Whelen Engineering