Cloud Platform Manager

About Our Company At Lids Sports Group, we don’t just sell hats — we fuel fandom. As the largest licensed sports retailer in North America, we bring sports, fashion, and culture together in more than 1,300 stores nationwide. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Lids delivers premium, fan-driven products and unforgettable retail experiences. Brief Description About Our Company At Lids Sports Group, we don’t just sell hats — we fuel fandom. As the largest licensed sports retailer in North America, we bring sports, fashion, and culture together in more than 1,300 stores nationwide. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Lids delivers premium, fan-driven products and unforgettable retail experiences. Our stores feature officially licensed headwear and apparel from collegiate and professional teams, alongside top brands like Champion, Nike, New Era, Lululemon Athletica, and Mitchell & Ness. We’re also the industry leader in on-demand customization, offering in-store embroidery that turns everyday gear into one‑of‑a‑kind statements. From specialty concept stores for the NBA and NHL to iconic clubhouse destinations for the Yankees and Dodgers, we create immersive retail experiences that celebrate the teams fans love. Through collaborations with brands like Marvel, Peanuts, and The Walt Disney Company, Lids continues to redefine how fans represent their teams — in style. General Position Summary The Cloud Platform Manager is responsible for leading Lids' enterprise cloud platform operations, governance, security, reliability, and optimization across Microsoft Azure and related cloud technologies. Reporting to the Director of CloudOps and Support, this leader directly manages a team that includes the CloudOps team and ensures cloud services remain stable, secure, scalable, cost‑effective, and aligned with business priorities. The Cloud Platform Manager establishes platform standards, operational practices, service objectives, and accountability across the cloud environment. This leader partners closely with Architecture, Security, Infrastructure, Data & Analytics, Application Development, DevOps, Service Desk, Support, and business stakeholders to enable modernization while protecting operational stability and business continuity. The ideal candidate is a hands‑on people leader with strong Microsoft Azure experience, sound operational judgment, and demonstrated success developing technical teams and improving enterprise cloud platforms. Principal Duties & Responsibilities Cloud Platform Strategy & Leadership Define and execute cloud platform and operational plans aligned with Lids' technology roadmap and business objectives. Establish cloud standards, operating practices, service objectives, performance measures, and governance expectations. Serve as a cloud platform advisor to technology leadership and cross‑functional partners. Organizational Leadership Lead and manage cloud platform resources, including the CloudOps team, with responsibility for hiring, coaching, performance development, workload management, and career progression. Develop team capabilities, role clarity, succession plans, and accountability for operational ownership. Build a culture of service, collaboration, documentation discipline, continuous learning, and measurable follow‑through. Cloud Operations & Reliability Own the health, availability, performance, reliability, scalability, and supportability of Microsoft Azure environments and supporting cloud services. Lead incident response, problem management, root cause analysis, escalation management, corrective actions, and service restoration for cloud services. Ensure appropriate monitoring, alerting, observability, runbooks, operational readiness, and on‑call coverage are in place. Establish, track and report on performance and reliability KPIs. Governance, Security & Compliance Drive Azure governance, including Azure Policy, Azure RBAC, management groups, subscriptions, resource organization, tagging, naming standards, and operational controls. Partner with Information Security to strengthen identity controls, cloud security posture, vulnerability management, compliance, and audit readiness. Support PCI, SOX, privacy, records‑management, resilience, disaster recovery, and business continuity requirements as applicable. Cloud Architecture & Modernization Partner with Cloud Architecture and Enterprise Architecture to support Azure Landing Zones, cloud adoption, platform modernization, architecture guardrails, and production supportability. Ensure new cloud solutions meet operational‑readiness requirements before production deployment. Support enterprise initiatives involving Microsoft Fabric, Power Platform, Microsoft Copilot, Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, and future cloud services. Financial, Vendor & Lifecycle Management Manage cloud financial operations, including budgeting, forecasting, capacity planning, cost optimization, and consumption reporting. Oversee Azure Advisor remediation, service retirement planning, lifecycle management, technical debt reduction, and evidence reporting. Support vendor and managed‑service relationships, service reviews, contractual performance, and platform investment decisions. Delivery & Executive Reporting Prioritize cloud platform work, operational risks, remediation activities, and cross‑functional dependencies. Provide concise leadership reporting on service health, delivery, risks, costs, escalations, and improvement plans. Drive continuous improvement through automation, standardization, proactive remediation, and measurable operational outcomes. Job Required Knowledge And Skills 3-5 years of experience leading cloud infrastructure, cloud operations, or enterprise platform teams, including direct people‑management or formal team‑lead responsibility. Strong hands‑on experience with Microsoft Azure, cloud infrastructure, networking, identity, or systems engineering. Strong understanding of Azure governance, Azure Landing Zones, Azure Policy, management groups, subscriptions, Azure RBAC, and cloud operating models. Demonstrated ability to coach employees, set goals, manage performance, delegate work, and support career development. Strong knowledge of cloud networking, including hub‑and‑spoke architecture, Azure Firewall, Private Endpoints, DNS, routing, and enterprise connectivity. Experience supporting enterprise‑scale cloud operations and business‑critical applications. Working knowledge of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Entra ID, compliance requirements, and risk‑management processes. Experience with cloud cost optimization, budgets, forecasts, vendors, and platform capacity. Strong incident, problem, change, and service‑management discipline. Strong communication, prioritization, decision‑making, and cross‑functional collaboration skills. Preferred Qualifications Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience. Microsoft certifications such as AZ-104, AZ-305, AZ-500, AZ-700, or SC-300. Experience with Azure Advisor, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Fabric, Power Platform, Microsoft Copilot, Dynamics 365, or Microsoft 365 administration. Experience managing cloud teams in a retail, ecommerce, or multi‑location enterprise environment. Familiarity with ITIL practices, Jira, ServiceNow, operational reporting, and governance programs. Key Leadership Competencies Strategic Thinking, Talent Development, Cloud Governance, Cross‑Functional Collaboration, People Leadership, Business Acumen, Service Ownership, Data‑Driven Decision Making, Operational Excellence, Customer Focus, Change Leadership, Financial Stewardship Success Measures The Cloud Platform Manager will be measured on the following outcomes: Cloud Service Reliability & Availability Incident Reduction & Restoration Performance Security, Compliance & Audit Readiness Cloud Cost Optimization & Budget Management Governance & Standards Adoption Operational Readiness & Lifecycle Management Team Development & Retention Stakeholder Satisfaction Automation & Continuous Improvement Cloud Modernization Progress What We Offer Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage Retirement plan 100% employer‑paid benefits, including short‑term and long‑term disability, life and AD&D insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program Paid Time Off Generous employee discount and exclusive perks Ongoing career development, including discounted secondary education courses A collaborative, innovative, and team‑oriented work environment Early Wage Access options Bonus eligibility depending on position level Physical Demands & Requirements Ability to operate a computer and work with digital systems for extended periods. Ability to communicate verbally and visually with internal teams and stakeholders. Ability to work in an office or remote environment with frequent task deadlines. Ability to occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision and depth perception This position requires less than 10% travel Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. For inquiries related to reasonable accommodations, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io. Work Environment Onsite office work environment. Standard business hours from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., flexibility may be provided upon request. Employment Requirements Candidates must possess the experience, skills, physical abilities, and qualifications, with or without reasonable accommodation, to perform the essential duties of the role and must be able to meet all applicable employment standards. Being legally authorized to work in the United States is a pre‑condition of employment for this position. Current or future employment‑based visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Equal Employment Opportunity We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Notice to Applicants In connection with your application, we collect information that identifies, reasonably relates to, or describes you (“Personal Information”). The categories of Personal Information we collect include your name, email address, mailing address, other contact information, employment history, and educational history. We collect and use this information for human resources and business management purposes, including identifying and evaluating candidates for employment or future contract opportunities, and maintaining recruiting and hiring records. Need Accessibility Assistance? Applicants who require accessibility assistance to submit an employment application may email View email address on click.appcast.io. A member of our Talent team will respond as soon as reasonably possible. This email address is only for individuals seeking reasonable accommodation when applying for a career at Lids. #J-18808-Ljbffr