Vice President of Technology - FLA Live Arena
The Florida Panthers are a community focused organization led by an authentic management team that served our country and now serves the South Florida community. The organization is on the rise and is experiencing success both on and off the ice. Led by General Manager Bill Zito, the Panthers are coming off their best season in franchise history. Off the ice, the business is experiencing growth across all key metrics and our revenue is at an all-time high. The organization is expanding outside of FLA Live Arena via the renovation of the FTL War Memorial in downtown Fort Lauderdale. This state-of-the-art ice facility will feature two regulation-size rinks, new team practice rink with stadium seating, and a 4,000-capacity music theatre for live entertainment. The future is bright, and we are very proud of what we are building in South Florida.
Job Title: Vice President, Technology
Department: Information Technology
Reports To: Chief Operating Officer
FLSA: Exempt
Employment Type: Full-Time
Location: FLA Live Arena
Job Summary:
The Vice President, Technology is responsible for the overall design, planning, organizing, installation, integration, sustainment and execution of all IT functions throughout the organization. This includes directing all IT operations to meet customer requirements as well as the support and maintenance of existing applications and development of new technical solutions. The Vice President, Technology will provide guidance and consultation for senior leadership, and other operating departments, in the development and implementation of technology solutions. The Vice President, Technology will develop and execute creative strategies for cost-effective technology service delivery and will be accountable for the effective management of all related vendor partnerships.
Job Functions:
Essential Functions:
- Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- Provides strategic leadership in the creation and support of an overall technology infrastructure plan for Sunrise Sports & Entertainment and associated companies, department and business units.
- Directs and manages IT plans, schedules, policies and programs for the organization’s data processing, network communications, business operations, computer services and management information systems etc., according to established goals and objectives.
- Identifies emerging information technologies to be analyzed, assimilated and integrated across the organization.
- Oversees the development of mission-critical applications and technology to support the company’s long-term goals
- Drives the implementation of development best practices throughout the organization, while governing control and ensuring objectives are achieved.
- Oversees all technology projects in collaboration with managers, staff, contractors and departmental stakeholders.
- Leads and mentors the technology management team towards a service orientated, customer focused function that supports ongoing operations to drive efficiency, quality, customer service and growth.
- Actively manage all external technology partners and suppliers to ensure they are delivering optimal value.
- Serves as a committed and responsible member of the Senior Leadership Team, contributing to the strategic planning process.
- Actively lead and mentor the IT Team, with a focus on service orientation, customer service, business partnership and professional development.
- Analyzes complex business needs presented by the user community and/or clients and recommends technical solutions.
- Oversee the evaluation, selection, implementation and/or development of applications, infrastructure and technology to support the organization’s objectives.
- Drive the implementation and adoption of technology service delivery best practices throughout the organization.
- Ensures the consistency and maintainability of existing applications by creating, maintaining, and enforcing standards/procedures for implementing technical solutions.
- Directs operations in executing production tasks according to a documented schedule that meets or exceeds customer expectations.
- Establish and maintain essential technology governance and control framework, with a focus on transparency, accessibility and pragmatism.
- Produces detailed timeline for each application release and implements effective project control by monitoring the progress of the software release and reporting the status.
- Directs and prioritizes the workload of subordinate personnel.
- Reviews all designs, code and unit test plans where applicable.
- Approves all business requirements prior to the technical solution.
- Participates on all hardware and software evaluations and maintains vendor contracts.
- Represents the IT function at customer review meeting when appropriate.
- Directs education programs for her/his staff.
- Perform liaison duties between users, operations, and programming personnel in the areas of systems design, modifications or trouble shooting.
- Performs departmental budget and salary administration and conducts interviews and makes recommendations for new hires, consultants and/or replacement personnel.
- When required, possesses the technical ability to provide troubleshooting and network outage remediation.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Technology or business-related discipline, and a minimum of 10 years of progressive technology leadership roles
- Minimum 5 years direct responsibility for building and managing technology operating budgets.
- In depth understanding of data-networking, telephony and system administration. Experience with Cybersecurity Hospitality/Retail POS technology and Audio-Visual technologies (ie. Broadcast media, scoring and video boards, IPTV, press/media distribution and audio/visual)
- Strong and supportive leadership style and demonstrated ability to develop staff.
- Excellent communication skills and the ability to affectively translate complex technology concepts into understandable business terms.
- Aptitude for independent decision making, creative thinking and innovation for technology.
- Demonstrated logical, practical and customer focused approach to problem solving.
- Excellent organizational skills with the ability to handle multiple competing priorities.
- Proven record of developing and maintaining strong partnerships and collaborative spirit with peers in all lines of the business
- Experience with migrating workloads to cloud infrastructure providers and a deep understanding of the economics of cloud service contracts.
- PMP, ITIL or PROSCI would be an asset
This position manages all employees of the department and is responsible for the performance management and hiring of the employees within that department.
Work Environment
This position works in an arena where the noise level is generally high, crowd traffic is heavy, temperatures are variable – often cold; lights are bright or dark with occasional exposure to flashing lights and pyrotechnics.
Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:
This is a Full-Time position. Must be able to work flexible hours including evenings, weekends and occasional holidays.
At the Florida Panthers Hockey Club, Arena Operating Company, Panthers Ice Den, Sanza Food Service, War Memorial Benefit Corporation, and FLA Team Shop, we strive to make every employee feel valued and respected for who they are and the unique contributions they make. We believe that a diverse and inclusive company is a more innovative and successful company, which is why we aim to infuse diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) into all aspects of our culture and our business.
We welcome all to apply and join our team.
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.
FLORIDA PANTHERS