Director of IT & Security - iOT / Infrastructure / Cloud / Security / Onsite OC

About the job

Our client is a global leader in the IoT space, specializing in retail loss prevention, operations management, and analytics, with its headquarters based in South Orange County, California. The company maintains a strong global presence, with offices in the UK, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Germany, France, and Canada.

This is a high-impact, high-ownership role for a hands-on IT leader who thrives in a fast-moving, PE-backed environment. The Director of IT & Security will report directly to the CTO and serve as the company’s primary IT and security leader — accountable for building the IT foundation required for operational excellence, security resilience, and growth readiness.

They are seeking a Director of IT & Security to lead corporate IT, infrastructure, cloud governance, and information security. This hands-on leadership role will improve employee support, strengthen security, and build an IT function that supports continued growth.

The ideal candidate can develop strategy while resolving technical issues, leading a distributed team, and holding vendors accountable. Initial priorities include assessing the IT environment and improving service reliability within 60 days, followed by a scalable team and technology roadmap within 90 days.

Responsibilities IT Operations & Employee Support

• Own employee support, onboarding and offboarding, device management, remote access, and service standards.
• Administer Microsoft 365, Entra ID, and Intune across Windows, macOS, and mobile devices.
• Lead a small India-based cloud and security team and support engineering labs, testing infrastructure, and regional IT needs.

Security & Compliance

• Own endpoint, network, cloud, identity, and data security, including monitoring, patching, vulnerability management, and incident response.
• Lead SOC 2 Type II readiness, security policies, audit evidence, and control reviews.
• Partner with engineering and legal on biometric and customer data governance supporting BIPA, CCPA, and GDPR compliance.

Cloud Infrastructure & Engineering Support

• Govern Azure and GCP environments, including access controls, security configuration, and costs.
• Partner with engineering on staging and QA environments, CI/CD reliability, and infrastructure standards.
• Implement centralized monitoring and alerting for customer deployments and connected devices.

IT Strategy & Vendor Management

• Assess technology gaps and develop the IT roadmap, staffing plan, and budget to support growth.
• Manage vendors, MSPs, contracts, service levels, software licensing, and hardware lifecycle.
• Maintain business continuity and disaster recovery plans and report risks and progress to leadership.

AI & Data Governance

• Establish enterprise AI standards covering approved tools, sensitive data access, identity, and security.
• Advise on infrastructure requirements and apply AI and automation to improve IT operations.
• Maintain data inventories, SaaS governance, and productivity tool licensing.

Required Experience

• 10+ years of IT experience, including at least 3 years in a senior leadership role with broad responsibility for IT operations.
• Direct ownership of endpoint security, cloud security, vulnerability management, and incident response.
• Strong hands-on Microsoft 365 and Azure experience, including Entra ID, Intune, Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, and cloud governance.
• Ability to troubleshoot, configure, and operate systems directly while setting technical direction.
• Experience managing IT vendors and MSPs, including contracts, service levels, and outsourcing decisions.
• Experience implementing security controls under SOC 2, ISO 27001, or a comparable framework.
• A track record of building or improving employee IT support and service delivery.
• Experience managing distributed technical teams across time zones, particularly India.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to explain technical risks and investment priorities to executive audiences.
• A proactive approach to resolving issues and building processes that scale.

Strongly Preferred

• GCP experience covering IAM, security configuration, and cost governance.
• Experience with BIPA, CCPA, GDPR, or biometric data governance.
• Direct ownership of a SOC 2 Type II audit.
• Experience in a private equity-backed or high-growth organization, including technical due diligence and acquisition readiness.
• Experience partnering with software and hardware engineering teams on infrastructure, staging environments, and DevOps.
• Experience deploying and governing enterprise AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot, Claude, or similar platforms.

The Offer

• Attractive total compensation package between 170-200k
• Comprehensive healthcare benefits including medical, dental, and vision coverage; Life/ADD/LTD insurance; FSA/HSA options
• 401(k) Plan with employer match
• Generous paid time off policy
• Observance of 11 paid company holidays