Sr Technical Manager

The Sr Technical Manager is responsible for the overall technical direction, quality, and integrity of the organization’s IT services and internal systems. This role has final authority over technical standards, architectures, platforms, and security practices used in service delivery.

The Technical Director ensures that all technology decisions align with business goals, are scalable and supportable, and can be delivered profitably. They oversee technical execution across managed services and projects, enforce operational and security standards, and are accountable for service quality, reliability, and compliance.

This role bridges strategy and execution setting the technical roadmap while ensuring day-to-day delivery meets defined standards, SLAs, and client expectations. The Technical Director also acts as the senior technical authority in sales, approving what can and cannot be sold and ensuring commitments made to clients are technically sound and deliverable.

Success in this role is measured by service stability, security posture, consistency of delivery, team alignment to standards, and the organization’s ability to grow without increasing technical risk.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical Strategy and Architecture - Define and Implement Technical Roadmap

o Ensure technology is aligned with the business' goals

o Accountable for what technologies are used, when they are adopted, and how they evolve over time

o Ensure solutions scale, are supportable, and profitable

o Document direction clearly so staff is aligned

o Establish and maintain timelines for what will change and when

o Regularly audit new technology and suppliers to ensure the Stack and Practices used by SAI are effective and competitive.

The Technical Director has final technical approval authority for standards, platforms, and architectures used in service delivery.

Oversight of Service Delivery

o Own technical quality of managed services and projects

o Establish SLAs and SLOs

o Ensure proper tracking of performance against SLAs/SLOs

o Perform root-cause analyses and enforce corrective actions when targets aren't met

o Establish and Enforce Operational Standards. Mandatory rules that dictate how technical work is performed, documented, approved, and measured.

o Manage and control technical delivery costs for client environments, ensuring services are delivered within defined cost models.

Security and Compliance

o Define, Document, and Enforce security baseline for all clients

o Oversee incident response readiness and post-incident analysis

o Ensure alignment with supported frameworks (CMMC, ISO, etc.)

o Maintain Technical Risk Register across the MSP

Operational Excellence

o Design, Document, and Optimize service delivery processes

o Enforce configuration management and change control discipline

Team Leadership & Development

o Define and enforce role-based skill standards for engineers (Skills Matrix)

o Lead structured performance reviews focused on capability gaps, accountability, and progression

o Design, document, and execute a training and certification strategy

Sales Leadership

o Serve as technical authority in sales cycle

o Provide technical cost of delivery for services and products

o Define standard service bundles scope, cost, exclusions, and assumptions

o Provide fact-based assessment of risk when customers push for non-standard solutions

o Ensure scopes, assumptions, and technical risks are stated explicitly

Documentation & Knowledge Management

o Define what good documentation means and perform regular audits

o Enforce accurate client and internal documentation

Internal Platforms & Strategic Initiatives

o Identify, propose, and justify internal technical initiatives that improve service quality, security, scalability, or cost efficiency.

o Develop business cases for internal projects, including scope, timeline, resource requirements, cost, and expected ROI.

o Obtain executive approval prior to execution and ensure alignment with company priorities.

o Lead execution of approved initiatives, delivering outcomes on time and within approved budgets.

o Track progress, manage risk, and report status and variances to leadership.

Reporting - Regular reporting of key metrics for MSP and Project work

Required Qualifications/Experience

o 10+ years of experience in IT infrastructure, systems, and security.

o 5+ years of experience in a leadership / management role

o Experience leading managed services (MSP) and project-based delivery

o Proven ownership of technical standards, architectures, and service delivery outcomes

o Direct accountability for service quality, reliability, and client satisfaction

Technical Expertise - Deep, hands-on knowledge of:

• Cloud platforms (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Azure/AWS fundamentals
• Identity, access control, and endpoint security (EDR, ITDR, MDR)
• Network architecture (firewalls, gateways, switching, wireless
• Backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity
• Ability to design solutions that are scalable, supportable, and cost-controlled
• Strong understanding of technology lifecycle management and vendor evaluation

Security & Compliance

o Demonstrated experience defining and enforcing security baselines

o Working knowledge of compliance frameworks such as CMMC, ISO 27001, NIST, PCI

o Experience leading or supporting incident response, post-incident analysis, and corrective action plans

o Ability to maintain and communicate a technical risk register

Operational & Financial Acumen

o Proven ability to design and enforce operational standards and processes

o Experience defining SLAs/SLOs and holding teams accountable to them

o Strong understanding of cost of delivery, including licensing, infrastructure, labor, and overhead

o Ability to balance technical excellence with profitability and business constraints

Leadership & Communication

o Experience defining role-based skill standards and mentoring engineers

o Ability to lead performance reviews focused on accountability and progression

o Strong written documentation skills

o Ability to clearly communicate technical decisions to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Sales & Business Support

o Experience acting as technical authority in sales cycles

o Ability to evaluate non-standard customer requests and articulate risk

o Experience defining standard service bundles, scope, exclusions, and assumptions

o Comfortable pushing back on sales when technical or delivery risk is unacceptable

Personal Attributes

o High ownership mindset with willingness to make and defend decisions

o Strong judgment under pressure and during incidents

o Detail-oriented, process-driven, and standards-focused

o Pragmatic approach to technology.

Why Join SAI Systems?

· SAI provides a wide range of customer environments. We have several clients with offices around the world.

· SAI is a growing company where you can make a direct impact.

· Collaborative team that values innovative solutions which contribute to our customer’s success.

· Competitive compensation, benefits, and flexible hours.