Sr Manager Core Technologies Connectivity Platforms

Who We AreAt Academy Sports + Outdoors our vision is to be the best sports + outdoors retailer in the country — but what truly sets us apart is our people. We’re a passionate, purpose-driven team that’s as committed to each other as we are to our customers.We’ve spent over 80 years building a culture that puts people first. We believe in creating opportunities for growth, fostering meaningful connections, and supporting every Team Member’s journey. What fuels us? Our belief in the power of fun.Here, you won’t just help customers gear up for their next adventure — you’ll launch one of your own. Whether you're starting out or leveling up, Academy is a place where fun can’t lose! What You Will Work OnIn this role, you lead the connectivity platforms that support corporate, retail, and supply chain objectives. Your work provides a resilient, secure, and reliable foundation across enterprise network, firewall, cloud networking, wireless, SD-WAN, and voice services. By connecting platform strategy, service delivery, and operational performance, you help the business operate effectively while advancing scalable and cost-conscious technology solutions.Working across strategy and execution, you develop and deliver the annual operating plan and technology roadmap for network, firewall, and telecom platforms. You oversee solution evaluation and design, monitor platform health, drive automation and process improvement, and lead major incident response, root cause analysis, and problem management. You also manage budgets, vendors, service levels, success metrics, project portfolios, cross-functional technical programs, compliance, stakeholder communication, and executive reporting while building and developing a high-performing technical team.Who You Will Work WithYou will partner with IT and business leadership to understand objectives and translate them into scalable, secure, supportable, and cost-effective connectivity solutions. You will work across Security, Cloud, Store Operations, and other IT teams, coordinating with business stakeholders to plan and execute projects, manage risks, and align technical priorities with operational needs.You will lead network engineers and analysts, define team structure and resource priorities, and support recruitment, onboarding, performance evaluation, and professional development. You will also manage strategic and tactical relationships with vendors and managed service providers, establish performance expectations, negotiate contracts and statements of work, and hold partners accountable to service level agreements.What You BringBring your energy, your ideas, and your love for sports and the outdoors.Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related discipline, or equivalent work experience10+ years of progressive experience in IT infrastructure, with a deep focus on enterprise network and telecom engineering4+ years of proven managerial and leadership experience, with a track record of building, mentoring, and leading high-performing technical teams; experience managing other managers is strongly preferredDemonstrated experience developing and executing annual technology roadmaps and strategies that align with core business goalsProven track record of architecting, implementing, and managing innovative, highly available, and fault-tolerant network architecturesProven experience in leading IT operations, incident response, and problem management functions at scaleExtensive experience in strategic and tactical vendor and Managed Service Provider management, including contract negotiation, defining statements of work, and driving partner performance to defined service level agreementsDemonstrated experience directly linking technical operations and infrastructure investments to financial outcomes, including budget, total cost of ownership, and return on investmentAdvanced industry certifications are highly preferred, such as CCNP or CCIE, PCNSE, or cloud-specific networking certificationsExpert-level knowledge of enterprise network architecture, including switching, routing, BGP or OSPF, VLANs, firewalls, and wide-area networking such as MPLS and SD-WANDeep knowledge of modern wireless networking, including Wi-Fi 6 or 6E, mobility, and BYOD, for large-scale retail and corporate environmentsDeep understanding of cloud networking across GCP, Azure, and AWS, including hybrid-cloud connectivity, VPC design, transit gateways, and cloud-native securityAdvanced knowledge of network security principles and systems, including next-generation firewalls, network access control, Zero Trust concepts, and SASEDirect experience with the Fortinet platform, including FortiGate and FortiManager, is highly desiredExpertise in modern voice platforms and a comprehensive understanding of telecom infrastructure and cost managementProficiency in leveraging network monitoring and observability tools, such as SolarWinds and Dynatrace, to drive operational stability and rapid root cause analysisExcellent communication skills, with a proven ability to report technical status, project delivery, and incidents to leadershipStrong understanding of IT governance frameworks and experience managing environments subject to regulatory compliance, including PCI and SOXStrong financial acumen with experience managing large operational and capital budgetsMethodical problem-solving skills, with the ability to lead high-stakes incident response and drive root cause analysisA team-first attitude; while your core duties are your priority, you're happy to step in wherever you're neededWork Style and Physical RequirementsUp to 5% travel requiredRegular in-office attendance is requiredAcceptable level of hearing and vision to perform job dutiesAbility to adhere to company policies and professional standardsKey SkillsBudgeting and Forecasting, Coaching and Developing Others, Negotiations Management, Process Improvement, Project and Program Management, Root Cause AnalysisEqual Employment OpportunityAcademy is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate with regard to employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by law.​SummaryLocation: Headquarters - Katy, TXType: Full time