Senior Manager, IT

Who we are Aquila, a group within Constellation Software Inc., one of North America’s largest and most respected software companies, invests in category-defining B2B and B2G software businesses globally, providing long-term support and strategic guidance. Emphasys Software has been part of Aquila since 2008. Operating across five specialized divisions, Emphasys provides mission-critical software that modernizes and streamlines complex processes for housing authorities, lenders, and government agencies in nearly every state. Through both products and services, Emphasys helps house roughly half of the families most in need in the country. At Emphasys HFA (Housing Finance Agency), a division of Emphasys, we build and support the only end-to-end financial software in the U.S. dedicated to affordable housing. As the largest full-service provider in this space, we enable State Housing Finance Agencies and other public organizations to administer programs that help families access affordable homeownership or rental housing. Our solutions power the financial backbone that processes funding, manages compliance, and ensures every dollar of support is tracked and maximized. Who we need Reporting to the General Manager, we are hiring a Senior Manager, IT to drive the strategy, delivery, and operations of enterprise SaaS hosting and cloud infrastructure supporting mission-critical platforms used by 40+ Housing Finance Agencies nationwide. As a senior infrastructure leader with deep expertise in enterprise cloud hosting, security compliance, and SaaS platform operations, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring our platforms are secure, scalable, resilient, and cost-optimized, supporting the growth of our enterprise hosting solutions and strengthening client trust. This role owns the infrastructure strategy behind our hosted SaaS platform, working directly with client IT teams to ensure secure, reliable, and compliant delivery of our solutions. This is a full-time, fully remote position within the US working Eastern Standard hours. What’s in it for you Purpose-driven impact. Your work will support Housing Finance Agency (HFA) clients by enabling secure, reliable access to software that powers critical housing programs and financial services across the United States. You will collaborate directly with client IT teams to solve infrastructure challenges, strengthen security, and ensure regulatory compliance. You will also lead cloud cost optimization across Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services environments, improving infrastructure efficiency while maintaining performance and reliability. Autonomy and technical leadership. You will own the cloud infrastructure strategy supporting our enterprise SaaS platform across 79 client environments, shaping architecture decisions that impact scalability, security, and reliability. With authority to make key hosting and infrastructure decisions, you will influence platform resilience, compliance readiness, and the overall client experience while applying and expanding your expertise across identity management, security frameworks, disaster recovery, and large‑scale cloud operations. Career growth. You will lead a small but highly impactful infrastructure team while building operational maturity across our hosting environments. With a clear path toward Director‑level leadership and potential progression to a CIO track, this role offers the opportunity to expand your influence across infrastructure strategy, security governance, and enterprise platform operations. As our new Senior Manager, IT, you will: Lead IT & Cloud Strategy. You will define and execute the IT and cloud infrastructure strategy aligned with company goals, the product roadmap, and customer needs. You will drive improvements in uptime, platform resilience, and infrastructure efficiency across hosted environments. Drive cloud cost optimization. You will monitor hosting expenditures on Azure, identify inefficiencies, and implement strategies to improve infrastructure cost performance while maintaining reliability and security. You will introduce FinOps practices that improve cost visibility, accountability, and governance. Oversee enterprise hosting platforms and environments. You will manage Azure environments to ensure high availability, redundancy, and security, supporting enterprise SaaS hosting. You will enable containerized hosting environments using technologies such as Kubernetes to support scalable application delivery. Collaborate with internal and external teams. You will partner with client IT teams as a trusted technical advisor, supporting onboarding, troubleshooting, testing, and performance optimization for hosted environments. You will work closely with product, engineering, and support teams to ensure infrastructure supports reliable and scalable SaaS deployments. Implement resilient operations and regulatory compliance. You will strengthen the infrastructure security posture by overseeing patch management, vulnerability remediation, and compliance reviews aligned with SOC 2 requirements. You will establish backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity strategies while ensuring cloud operations align with applicable regulatory frameworks such as HIPAA and GDPR. Lead identity, access, and data governance. You will oversee identity and access management including Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory), SSO, MFA, and infrastructure monitoring systems to ensure secure access to critical environments while protecting client and corporate data. Lead and mentor teams. You will lead and mentor a cloud infrastructure team responsible for hosting environments, networking, and platform reliability. You will foster accountability, technical excellence, and continuous improvement across infrastructure operations. Implement SLA-driven operations and vendor optimization. You will define uptime, response time, and incident resolution metrics while managing vendor relationships and optimizing costs across hosting, networking, and cloud services. Strengthen infrastructure governance and operational transparency. You will ensure infrastructure environments, processes, and operational procedures are documented and standardized to support knowledge transfer, audit readiness, and operational continuity. You bring The experience. You have progressive IT leadership experience managing enterprise cloud infrastructure and SaaS hosting environments. You have overseen cloud infrastructure supporting SaaS platforms, hybrid deployments, and regulated environments, delivering improvements in reliability, security, and operational performance. You are comfortable working directly with client IT teams to troubleshoot infrastructure issues and ensure reliable platform delivery. The technical skills. You have deep expertise in Azure, AWS, and hybrid hosting environments, including virtualization platforms such as Azure Virtual Desktop, Citrix, or Parallels. You have experience managing identity and access through Microsoft Entra ID and implementing infrastructure security controls aligned with frameworks such as SOC 2, FedRamp, HIPAA, and GDPR. You have supported or led compliance initiatives such as SOC 2 audits and have experience designing resilient cloud operations including monitoring, disaster recovery, backup strategies, and infrastructure automation. The interpersonal skills. You are a collaborative communicator who builds strong relationships with clients, internal stakeholders, and vendors. You can translate complex technical strategies into clear business outcomes, explain infrastructure decisions to non-technical stakeholders, and advocate for client needs while balancing operational priorities. The flexibility. You are comfortable leading in a dynamic, client-facing environment with multiple priorities. You can make strategic infrastructure decisions, adapt to evolving requirements, and maintain operational excellence while supporting multiple client institutions. Certifications and credentials. You hold or are pursuing an Azure certification (Az‑104 or higher). You leverage industry-recognized frameworks and best practices to ensure secure, compliant, and efficient IT operations. Join us. As an Aquila company, Emphasys Software brings together bright, talented people who aspire to excellence and share a commitment to upholding our mission: To be a company of outstanding people delivering vertical market software solutions through long-term partnerships with clients. Our entrepreneurial culture, lean environment, and people come together to form a dynamic organization where purpose drives our growth. With the autonomy to be creative and curious, we collaborate and iterate to achieve real impact in the communities we support. Apply now. Diversity and inclusion are not mere words on paper to us. We welcome and appreciate candidates with a range of backgrounds and experiences. If you have 70% of the qualifications we are looking for and want to play an integral role in changing an industry, apply to express your interest. What you can expect from our interview process: A virtual interview with a Talent Advisor discussing your interest in the role, the team’s culture and your experience. The conversation will be recorded using BrightHire, an AI-powered video interview tool. More details will be shared when you are invited to interview. A virtual technical interview with the VP Operations and General Manager, Emphasys. This conversation will focus on your technical expertise in cloud infrastructure and SaaS hosting, as well as your ability to collaborate with client and internal teams. You will also learn more about our IT environment and infrastructure strategy. A final virtual interview with the VP of Technology at Aquila. This discussion will focus on the technical leadership and the impact of this role in the broader Aquila framework. You will have the opportunity to ask additional questions about the team, the platform, and the organization. Aquila and Emphasys Software promote equal employment opportunities for all. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, veteran status, marital status or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities and accommodations are available on request. #J-18808-Ljbffr Aquila