Director, GDS Technical Services Operations

Job Summary:

The “Director, GDS Technical Services Operations” is part of a group of gTLD technical experts in ICANN org. They lead a group of engineers that operate technical systems related to gTLD registries and registrars, provide technical input and expertise to other departments in ICANN org. The “Director, GDS Technical Services Operations” is someone with multiple years of experience in the technical side of a registry and/or registrar of domain names and has experience as people manager.

Key Responsibilities & Duties:

• Manage a team of operations engineers.
• Oversee the operation of multiple systems and services by the team, including interactions with internal areas, contractors, and Internet community volunteers for the operation of such systems and services.
• Provide systems engineering and technical expertise to address operational issues impacting gTLD (generic Top-Level Domain) registries and registrars.
• Operate the Registry Service Provider Evaluation Program part of the next round of new gTLDs.
• Operate other systems and services that facilitate the interaction between the Registries, Registrars, Data Escrow Agents, Trademark Clearing House (TMCH), etc.
• Provide technical advice for the gTLD registry accreditation/application process, the evaluation and consideration of new services through the Registry Services Evaluation Process (RSEP), review of registry transition processes, and other services.
• Oversee the production of detailed documents to report test results, document processes, charter projects, report progress of projects, etc.
• Implement and improve processes to streamline operational activities.
• Provide level 1 and/or level 2 support to the Contractual Compliance team to facilitate gTLD Registry compliance with the technical aspects of agreements and ICANN policy, to the Policy team for implementation of new gTLD registry policies, and to other ICANN teams to resolve issues impacting gTLD Registries and Registrars.
• Prepare detailed technical documentation, reports, presentations, and speeches for both internal and external audiences.
• Mitigate and resolve questions or issues raised by Internet registries, registrars, and community members.
• Serve as a technical expert on Internet system registry and registration services, Domain Name System (DNS) issues, and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs).
• Attend and participate in regional and international Internet technical forums and community meetings.
• Participate in 24x7 on-call weekly shifts. If an emergency impacts the availability of gTLDs’ critical services during the scheduled shift, the participant is expected to be reachable via mobile phone to provide troubleshooting and escalation activities.
• Other duties as assigned or requested.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):
(Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions)

• Experience managing technical teams.
• Experience managing operation of technical systems and services.
• Experience developing and implementing operational procedures.
• Experience in system development ideally as product manager.
• Broad knowledge and experience in system development methodologies and processes.
• Broad knowledge and experience in Domain Name System (DNS), DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC), Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP), WHOIS, Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP), and Data Escrow standards.
• Experience in Software development. Agile development knowledge desired.
• Demonstrated ability in at least one high-level programming language (e.g., Perl, Python, Java).
• Experience as power user of Unix systems.
• Very good English-writing skills particularly regarding technical documents.
• Experience using XML and JSON.
• Network routing (BGP) knowledge desired.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor's or equivalent degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Information Systems, or related field, plus minimum 12 years of progressive, post-baccalaureate experience in the job, or in technical capacity with a Top-Level Domain (TLD) registry or domain name registrar.
• Alternatively, will accept a master's or equivalent degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Information Systems, or related field, plus 8 years of experience in the job, or in a technical capacity with a Top-Level Domain (TLD) registry or domain name registrar.
• Ideally, experience with Internationalized Domain Names for Applications (IDNA).
• Minimum 8 years of progressive work experience in technical capacity with a Top-Level Domain (TLD) registry or domain name registrar.
• Must include at least 5 years of management experience.
• ICANN values diversity and gives preference to candidates with demonstrated skills in languages in addition to proficient written and spoken English.

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements:

• Work is performed in a normal office environment with limited privacy and some exposure to background noise.
• Work Location is Flexible.
• Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally 5% of the time.