Sr. Manager, Systems Engineering

At Early Warning, we’ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze®, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.

Early Warning follows a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship.

Overall Purpose

This position directly manages a team of systems engineers and is involved in developing the strategy and standards of Early Warning Services technology platforms. Responsible for partnering with cross functional teams and providing input to a broad range of initiatives. Works with hardware and software vendors, evaluates options and provides recommendations to senior leadership. Possesses a general understanding of technical concepts and continuously learning and keeping abreast of new technologies and industry best practices and finding ways to bring those practices into the engineering organization. In addition to daily managerial duties, this position is expected to drive resolution to escalated IT support requests.

Essential Functions

• Manages Systems Engineering staff providing training, guidance, coaching, mentoring, evaluation and problem resolution.
• Masters the ability to prioritize daily work and projects for staff to enable on-time delivery of IT infrastructure with high availability resiliency.
• Compile, submit and regularly review budget forecasts to ensure compliance with annual operating plan.
• Collaborates with technology and business leaders to develop the technology strategy and infrastructure standards. Establishes vendor relationships enabling the evaluation of various technologies and associated costs to ensure technology meets business requirements and budget forecasts. 
• Oversees end-to-end process of the installation, maintenance and troubleshooting of IT infrastructure in support of production and corporate environments and directs Systems Engineering staff to support these areas.
• Guides direct staff to deploy new releases or upgrades of software, utilities and operating systems in support of production and corporate environments.
• Engages with Security Technology to ensure department compliance of security policies for IT infrastructure.
• Drives infrastructure lifecycle management processes to ensure all IT infrastructure is in compliance with current software and hardware versions.
• Supports current vulnerability management and emerging/active threat processes. 
• Provide escalation support for direct reports to ensure customer requests are being addressed in a timely manner.
• Create and/or edit technology policies, procedures and associated documentation.
• Attend project meetings as needed to drive project timelines and ensure IT infrastructure deliverables are being met on time.
• Develop and publish technology on-call schedules and provide on-call escalation support as required
• Facilitate regular employee 1:1s and staff meetings.
• Provides effective leadership in developing highly engaged, high performance teams.
• Support the company’s commitment to protect the integrity and confidentiality of technology systems and data.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education or experience equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering or Information Systems or related field or equivalent experience.
• A minimum of ten years of information technology systems engineering experience with at least five years of management or related experience required.
• Progressive experience managing professional relationships with vendors/contractors is necessary. Proven ability to establish mutually beneficial relationships through negotiations, coordination, professionalism, courtesy and managing expectations is required.
• Proven ability to communicate across all levels of the organization is necessary; must be able to clearly articulate technical ideas to a non-technical audience both verbally and in writing.
• General knowledge of PC and server operating systems, networking and application support.
• General knowledge of Linux, Windows (workstation and server), MS Office.
• Knowledge of data migration, consolidation, and disaster recovery methodologies and their application.
• General system administration experience in Linux environments and data encryption.
• Ability to identify and quickly delegate resources to resolve system issues.
• Strong attention to detail, accuracy, policy compliance, and documentation.
• This position requires excellent verbal and written communication, interpersonal and customer service skills, including the ability to write in a clear and concise manner, present complex ideas clearly.
• Ability to identify complex problems, review information to develop and evaluate options then implement solutions is essential.
• The ability to work efficiently and accurately under pressure, meet deadlines, present a professional demeanor and work well independently is essential.
• Must possess strong organization skills, including the ability to multi-task and manage multiple projects to meet various deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Customer service skills including the ability to manage and respond to different customer situations while maintaining a positive and friendly attitude is essential.
• Collaboration, facilitation and negotiation skills are required.
• In addition, troubleshooting, organizational and problem-solving skills with a can-do attitude and the ability to adjust to changing requirements are essential.
• Maintaining confidentiality, treating others with respect and upholding Company values is key
• Background and drug screen

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading teams that deploy, secure, and support Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in enterprise environments.
• Hands-on knowledge of Ansible Tower or Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, including automation strategy, playbook governance, and job workflows.
• Experience with Thales CipherTrust data encryption at rest, including key management, access policies, and integration with enterprise systems.
• Ability to guide architecture decisions across Linux infrastructure, automation, and data protection while balancing reliability, security, and operational needs.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams, mentoring technical staff, and communicating risks and priorities to senior stakeholders.

The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow instructions and perform other related duties as assigned by their supervisor.

Physical Requirements

Working conditions consist of a normal office environment. Work is primarily sedentary and requires extensive use of a computer and involves sitting for periods of approximately four hours. Work may require occasional standing, walking, kneeling and reaching. Must be able to lift 10 pounds occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently. Requires visual acuity and dexterity to view, prepare, and manipulate documents and office equipment including personal computers. Requires the ability to communicate with internal and/or external customers.

Employee must be able to perform essential functions and physical requirements of position with or without reasonable accommodation.

The base pay scale for this position in:
Phoenix, AZ in USD per year is: $129,000 - $161,000.
Additionally, candidates are eligible for a discretionary incentive plan and benefits.

This pay scale is subject to change and is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, nor a promise of any specific pay for any specific candidate, which is always dependent on legitimate factors considered at the time of job offer. Early Warning Services takes into consideration a variety of factors when determining a competitive salary offer, including, but not limited to, the job scope, market rates and geographic location of a position, candidate’s education, experience, training, and specialized skills or certification(s) in relation to the job requirements and compared with internal equity (peers). The business actively supports and reviews wage equity to ensure that pay decisions are not based on gender, race, national origin, or any other protected classes.

Some of the Ways We Prioritize Your Health and Happiness 

•  Healthcare Coverage – Competitive medical (PPO/HDHP), dental, and vision plans as well as company contributions to your Health Savings Account (HSA) or pre-tax savings through flexible spending accounts (FSA) for commuting, health & dependent care expenses.

• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Featuring a 100% Company Safe Harbor Match on your first 6% deferral immediately upon eligibility.

• Paid Time Off – Flexible Time Off for Exempt (salaried) employees, as well as generous PTO for Non-Exempt (hourly) employees, plus 11 paid company holidays and a paid volunteer day.

• 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave

• Maven Family Planning – provides support through your Parenting journey including egg freezing, fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, postpartum, early pediatrics, and returning to work.

And SO much more! We continue to enhance our program, so be sure to check our Benefits page here for the latest. Our team can share more during the interview process!

Early Warning Services, LLC (“Early Warning”) considers for employment, hires, retains and promotes qualified candidates on the basis of ability, potential, and valid qualifications without regard to race, religious creed, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, protected veteran or disability status or any factor prohibited by law, and as such affirms in policy and practice to support and promote equal employment opportunity and affirmative action, in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws. The company also prohibits discrimination on other bases such as medical condition, marital status or any other factor that is irrelevant to the performance of our employees. 

Early Warning Services LLC is a proud participant in E-Verify, a federal program to help ensure a legal and authorized workforce. As part of our hiring process, we electronically verify the employment eligibility of all new hires through E-Verify. For more information on your rights and responsibilities under E-Verify please visit Home | E-Verify.