Les Schwab Tire Centers

Job Description:

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Director of Platform Products & Services and their team of technology professionals are central to enabling the effective and efficient delivery of business technology solutions. This role is responsible for leading and directing the entire lifecycle of foundational technology products and services spanning physical infrastructure, cloud, analytic & operational data, proprietary applications, and enterprise support. This position will champion a product management mindset, treating our foundational technology as a portfolio of products with distinct roadmaps, service level objectives, and a clear value proposition for their internal customer, the IT Business Products & Services (BPS) team. This leader will partner closely with the BPS team to ensure the underlying platform products are reliable, scalable, and secure, enabling them to meet their business objectives and support aggressive company growth. This role is instrumental in shaping and managing the company's technology foundation as a suite of well-defined products to enable future strategic initiatives.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

30% - Platform Product, Service Leadership & Lifecycle Management

• Define and execute the vision, strategy, and roadmap for the portfolio of foundational platform products and services.
• Instill a culture of product ownership within the team, where each platform service has a designated owner responsible for its entire lifecycle, from conception and design to deployment, operation, and retirement.
• Direct research, evaluation, and selection of platform technologies, framing decisions in the context of product value and total cost of ownership.
• Manage, assess, and communicate the health, performance, and roadmap of the platform product portfolio to all stakeholders.
• Collaborate with the BPS team to understand their needs and translate them into requirements for the platform product and service backlog.

30% - Service Delivery & Operations Excellence

• Ensure the successful delivery and continuous improvement of all platform products, overseeing their performance, reliability, and security.
• Define and implement robust service management frameworks (e.g., ITIL) with a focus on delivering a seamless and positive customer experience for the BPS team.
• Establish, monitor, and report on service level objectives (SLOs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) for each platform product.
• Manage relationships with key technology vendors and service providers as partners in our product delivery ecosystem.
• Maintain a current understanding of industry best practices and emerging trends in platform product / service management and operations.

20% - Team Management & Development

• Lead a diverse team of technology professionals, fostering a data-driven culture of innovation, product ownership, continuous improvement, and collaborative team work.
• Responsible for the performance management and career development of direct reports, including hiring, onboarding, and training in product-oriented principles.
• Structure the team to align with a product and service management model, ensuring clear ownership and accountability for each platform service.
• Empower the team to take end-to-end ownership of their respective platform products.

20% - Strategy & Governance

• Partner with the IT Strategy & Governance (ITSG) function to ensure platform product roadmaps align with enterprise standards and financial objectives.
• Provide input into the overall IT budget and long-range financial planning based on the platform product portfolio strategy.
• Ensure all platform products are designed and operated in adherence to cybersecurity policies and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Champion a culture of security and compliance as a core feature of all platform products.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

Educational/Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field. An advanced degree is preferred.
• 15+ years of experience in a senior technology leadership role within a large, complex organization, with a focus on infrastructure, cloud, application, data or platform services.
• 5+ years of experience leading and managing teams responsible for foundational technology platforms, with a strong emphasis on product and service ownership.
• Proven experience in retail or a similar distributed business environment is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing a strategic technology roadmap with a product-centric approach.
• Experience leading through significant organizational change and growth.

Required Technical Skills/Knowledge:

• A strong ability to manage a complex and diverse portfolio of technology products in a fast-paced setting.
• The ability to cultivate strong collaborative relationships with internal stakeholders, treating them as customers of the platform product portfolio.
• Extensive experience managing technology budgets and vendor relationships with a focus on product lifecycle costs.
• A proficient understanding of modern platform product management principles and how they apply to technology services.
• The ability to resolve complex technical challenges and manage risk within a dynamic environment.
• A "systems thinking" approach to understanding the interplay between foundational platforms and business-facing applications.
• Hands-on experience with public cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), modern infrastructure-as-code practices, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience with enterprise networking, data center operations, and disaster recovery planning.

General Knowledge and Abilities:

• Business Acumen and Agility: Excellent analytical and decision-making skills with a proven ability to identify root causes and manage complex tasks; demonstrated learning agility to absorb information and apply it to emerging technologies and situations.
• Communication: Excellent ability to communicate technical product concepts to non-technical audiences and business requirements to technical teams; a strong active listener who can foster collaboration across all levels of the organization.
• Initiative: The ability to strategically organize, manage, prioritize, and budget for large-scale technology initiatives with a product-oriented mindset.
• Leadership: An excellent ability to manage, inspire, and develop employees to achieve organizational goals; the ability to delegate effectively and set clear performance expectations.
• Service Excellence: A commitment to creating a culture of service excellence where the BPS team is viewed as a valued customer of the platform products.
• Teamwork: The ability to build and maintain cooperative and high-performing teams centered around product ownership.

Physical Requirements: Primarily desk position; regularly required to sit, occasionally required to stand and walk. Requires frequent and repetitive use of hands and fingers to operate computer, mouse, keyboard, and office related equipment and the ability to reach with hands and arms. This position requires lifting no more than 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close visual acuity and the ability to adjust focus. Requires the ability to communicate verbally and exchange information by phone and in person.

Work Environment: Office, non-manual work; the worker is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions. The worker must be available when urgent issues arise that require their coordination or escalation. Urgent-availability needs are rare but the worker is expected to comply when they occur. This may include performing work outside of regular hours and/or supporting teams performing off-hours work by checking in remotely and/or in person as necessary.

BENEFITS:

• Annual profit-sharing bonus
• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
• Company-funded retirement plan - no cost to employee
• Paid holidays
• Paid time off
• Hybrid arrangements available (work 1 day per week from home)
• Tuition Assistance
• Employee discount

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions/primary responsibilities. This job description is not all inclusive and is subject to change. Additional duties, responsibilities, and tasks may be assigned, as necessary. Employment remains “AT WILL” at all times.