Managing Director, Technology Operations

At Associated Electric Cooperative, we're committed to providing reliable energy to the communities we serve with passion and precision. We're a tight-knit team dedicated to keeping the lights on and the energy flowing smoothly across our expansive network!

From technical to operational to professional disciplines, our team brings a wide variety of skills, talents, and expertise to the table. We believe in both dedicating ourselves to excellence and investing in your growth.

We're building something new at Associated. Most organizations approach IT operations by creating separate operations centers for everything: network ops, cyber ops, infrastructure ops, cloud ops, 24-7 service desk…you get the idea. The result is many teams, many platforms, many approaches, and no one able to see the full picture of the enterprise.

We’re throwing that playbook away. We’re going to do what’s never been done before. We're going to build one unified technology operations center—a single control room for all Associated’s technology.

And we need you to lead the effort.

Associated Electric operates one of the most technologically sophisticated electric systems in the country for our members. Two data centers. Cloud platforms. Modern enterprise applications. AI in the hands of our employees. Hundreds of critical technology systems supporting 24-7 generation, transmission, and energy trading along with many other business functions. We’ve even built two operations centers for cyber and physical security, with our cyber operations center providing managed services to over 50 member cooperatives.

Our foundation is strong and ready to be taken to the next level through your transformation of our IT operations. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, you will form our new Technology Operations function, responsible for the reliability and performance of the technology of Associated, the continuity of business functions, and the productivity of our users.

This will be a tough problem to solve. Control rooms rely on control systems, but there is no commercial product on the market that we can deploy to be the control system for enterprise technology. Every product on the market sees just a small picture: network, hosting, applications, devices. Therefore, in addition to building the operations functions, you must build something that doesn't exist anywhere else—the platform it all runs on.

You won’t be starting from scratch. Associated’s CIO sponsored a cross-functional team that has spent the past nine months forming the vision for TechOps. They validated a minimum-viable business model, built the business case, and secured initial funding. We’re now set to form the TechOps organization itself with the two existing operations centers, additional support and engineering talent moving onto this team, and many of the people who built this vision in the first place. All that remains is you to lead it.

Here’s what you'll do:

• Form Technology Operations: Bring cyber operations and physical security operations together for the first time, and fuse them with platform, product, and workforce technology support into one organization with a shared mission and culture. Help some already great teams become one great organization.
• Run the Operation: Lead operations from day one so nothing pauses while you build, then grow the operation as you onboard systems. Ensure the business can trust TechOps when our grid control center or trading floor technology degrades at 3 a.m. — or when SharePoint goes down and hundreds of employees face losing a morning of productivity. Make TechOps the organization that handles an issue, an incident, or a genuine crisis with the same steadiness.
• Define the Operating Model: Define how the work happens across teams that have never worked as one — tiers and escalation, handoffs between protection and business operations, what the central floor handles versus field response at our locations, and the service definitions the business can depend on. Create one model from many.
• Build the Control System: Own the platform that powers Technology Operations: vision, roadmap, funding, and long-term evolution. Your organization builds the pipelines, alarms, and dashboards that let you understand the health of the enterprise in real time—and the AI-infused playbooks and automation that power response and recovery.
• Onboard the Enterprise: Hundreds of systems don't arrive under monitoring at once. Build the intake path — consulting services to help product teams instrument their systems, define ownership, thresholds, and runbooks — and ensure correct onboarding priority. Every system onboarded makes the picture more complete.
• Expand the Services: Grow beyond monitoring and response into what the business needs next — enterprise business continuity, disaster recovery, operational readiness, proactive health and capacity management, and coordination with the technology partners our operations depend on. Build the roadmap to serve the business better.

What we're looking for:

This will take a unique leader, someone who enjoys building organizations as much as running them. A person who brings the growth mindset of a startup leader, with the experience to weave and work inside an enterprise that has sustained its mission of providing reliable and affordable electricity for over seventy years for our members. Someone with the following attributes.

• Startup Mindset — You've built something from nothing and convinced people to adopt it. Not simply a project you sponsored or a team you inherited, but a capability that exists today because you created it. You know how to begin before every answer exists, make thoughtful tradeoffs, and keep moving without leaving operational risk behind.
• Customer Centric — You measure success by what customers experience, not what your dashboards report. You've led organizations that actively partnered with customers, built roadmaps together, and maintained trust even when saying no.
• Operationally Disciplined — You know what it takes to run twenty-four-hour operations. You build disciplined teams, clear operating procedures, strong incident management, and leaders who remain calm under pressure. You learn from every incident and steadily improve both the operation and the customer experience.
• Security Driven — You've led security operations and understand both cyber and physical security. You know how analysts work, how detection improves over time, and how operational discipline reduces risk. You can build credibility across both disciplines while helping them become stronger together than apart.
• Product Builder — You think in terms of products, capabilities, roadmaps, and adoption. You've defined vision, partnered with engineers, and built solutions that people genuinely wanted to use — not simply selected and implemented someone else's software.
• Culture Enhancer — You enjoy developing people. You've helped leaders grow beyond the roles they originally excelled in, guided organizations through meaningful change, and left teams stronger than you found them. You are excited to work inside an IT culture of Creativity, Craftsmanship, Community, Communication, and Change. A culture that you are expected to model and enhance over time.

What You'll Need:

• Bachelor’s degree in technology, business, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of experience and relevant certifications.
• 10\+ years of progressively responsible leadership experience in technology operations, security, infrastructure, or enterprise-scale technology environments, including experience leading through managers.
• 7\+ years of people leadership experience with full responsibility for direct reports.
• Demonstrated success leading and improving 24/7 monitoring, incident response, and support capabilities across complex systems.
• Proven experience leading high-stakes incident and crisis response, coordinating cross-functional teams, and restoring operations under pressure.
• Strong understanding of cybersecurity, infrastructure, and enterprise systems, including networks, identity, hosting environments, and endpoint technologies.
• Experience building and evolving operational systems and capabilities, including observability, automation, and incident management platforms.
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to make decisions in ambiguous, time-sensitive situations and communicate clearly with technical teams, business leaders, and senior and executive leadership.

What Associated provides:

• We are committed to rewarding talent with top pay. Your efforts will be recognized with a total compensation package that reflects your experience and contributions.
• Plan for your future with confidence! We offer a robust 401(k) program with a generous employer match to help you build the financial future you deserve.
• We know how important work-life integration is. Recharge with PTO and enjoy paid holidays, ensuring you have time to unwind and pursue your passions outside of work.
• Your health matters to us! Stay covered beginning on your first day of employment with our premier healthcare plan that includes medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your family.

At Associated Electric Cooperative, all of our 700\+ employees across MO/AR/OK territory play a crucial role in powering our mission! Whether you're an experienced professional or just starting your career, you'll find endless opportunities for career development here. Join us in an environment where your contribution is valued, and your career can thrive as we work together to keep the lights on!

Ready to Energize your career? Visit our website at www.aeci.org/careers to learn more about Associated and apply for a position.

Equal Opportunity Statement:

AECI is fully committed to the concept and practice of equal opportunity in all aspects of employment. Please reference the contact information below if you require assistance in filling out an application. Individuals with disabilities should request reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act prior to an appointment.

An equal opportunity employer and provider/disability/veteran.