Sr. IT Manager

Sr. IT Manager

Location: Houston, TX

Voted one of the Nation's Best and Brightest Companies to Work for, Kuraray America, Inc. (KAI) is a global leader in specialty chemical, fiber, and resin production. With top-of-the-line research and production facilities and a vast network of supplies from around the world, Kuraray leads the industry in specialty dental, fiber, resin, and elastomer products. Kuraray America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuraray Company, Ltd. Based in Tokyo, Japan. Kuraray has operations in 32 countries and employs more than 12,000 employees, including over 800 in the United States.

Kuraray is building a better tomorrow, today. Our team members are dedicated to expanding our business with committed professionals who share essential values such as integrity, excellence, teamwork, and accountability.

As a part of Kuraray America, Inc., our team shares the advantages of working for the leader in specialty chemicals, resins, and fibers. Our international presence and resources allow us to be a world-leading innovator in the industries we service. Yet, despite our size, our people are more than just a number. As a new team member, you can expect to earn responsibility quickly. Our commitment to our people is visible in our comprehensive benefits package. As a Kuraray team member, you will have the opportunity to enjoy competitive salaries and benefits, incentive opportunities, and an excellent work environment.

The Senior IT Manager provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for Kuraray America technology capabilities, including enterprise applications, infrastructure, IT operations, cybersecurity, data management, ERP systems, end-user support, and digitalization. The role translates global IT and digitalization strategy into locally executable plans, ensuring secure, reliable, scalable, and cost-effective technology services that support business growth and manufacturing performance.

This role serves as the link between global IT governance and local business outcomes. The Senior IT Manager partners with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), business stakeholders, global technology counterparts, peer regional IT leaders, and central advisory teams to prioritize initiatives, validate local requirements, optimize business processes, and deliver measurable value. The role operates with calibrated autonomy, applying enterprise standards while advocating for justified local differentiation where regional business needs, regulatory requirements, risk, or manufacturing realities require adaptation.

The Senior IT Manager leads multiple IT disciplines through managers, supervisors, technical leads, internal team members, vendors, and service providers. The role is accountable for technology decision quality, operational service delivery, change adoption, local capability development, and contribution to global standards and shared platforms, including ServiceNow, ERP, Microsoft Power BI, cybersecurity frameworks, and enterprise infrastructure.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the development and execution of the organization's IT strategy, technology roadmap, and investment plans to support business objectives, global IT direction, and long-term growth.
• Actively contributes to global IT and digitalization strategy by sharing regional requirements, business priorities, implementation learnings, and operational constraints.
• Partner with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to identify technology opportunities, prioritize initiatives, and align IT investments with organizational goals and value realization.
• Develop and maintain enterprise architecture standards, governance frameworks, technology policies, and decision rights that balance global standardization with local responsiveness.
• Collaborate with global technology counterparts and peer regional leaders to align standards, leverage shared platforms, reuse best practices, and prevent regional silos.
• Evaluate emerging technologies, industry trends, and digital transformation opportunities to improve business performance, cyber security posture, and manufacturing outcomes.
• Provide strategic oversight of enterprise infrastructure, cloud environments, networks, end-user computing, plant and office technology, and business applications.
• Ensure daily availability, resilience, stability, and security of systems and services that support business and manufacturing operations.
• Drive modernization initiatives that improve reliability, scalability, security, user experience, and operational efficiency.
• Oversee the development, enhancement, integration, lifecycle management, and maintenance of enterprise applications and systems.
• Establish and monitor service levels, operational metrics, technology performance indicators, and service improvement plans across the IT environment.
• Provide senior-level guidance and escalation support for complex technical issues, technology decisions, and cross-functional incidents.
• Partner with global IT teams to support enterprise technology initiatives, infrastructure projects, shared services, and outsourcing or managed service arrangements.
• Serve as the strategic leader for the ServiceNow platform, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives, global standards, and IT Service Management (ITSM) best practices.
• Drive continuous improvement of IT service delivery processes, including incident, problem, change, request, asset, knowledge, and service level management.
• Lead the implementation of ServiceNow workflows, automation initiatives, reporting capabilities, governance standards, and service catalog improvements.
• Utilize ServiceNow analytics and reporting to measure service performance, identify trends, improve operational effectiveness, and increase transparency with business stakeholders.
• Partner with business stakeholders to expand platform capabilities and maximize organizational value where ServiceNow can streamline work beyond IT.
• Provide strategic direction and governance for ERP systems, ensuring alignment with business priorities, global process standards, and enterprise technology strategy.
• Collaborate with business leaders and global counterparts to identify opportunities for process improvement, system optimization, integration, automation, and data quality opportunities.
• Partner with the ERP Manager to establish priorities, oversee major initiatives, and support long-term ERP roadmap planning.
• Lead or sponsor ERP upgrades, enhancements, integrations, and transformation initiatives that improve operational effectiveness and user adoption.
• Maintain strong knowledge of manufacturing company business processes, including operations, quality, maintenance, supply chain, procurement, sales, finance, and regulatory needs as applicable.
• Implement a business partner concept that connects IT capabilities to local business value, capability development, and digitalization priorities.
• Establish and oversee enterprise data governance practices to ensure data quality, security, accessibility, ownership, and compliance.
• Promote the use of business intelligence and analytics platforms, including Microsoft Power BI, to support data-driven decision making, operational visibility, and KPI management.
• Partner with business leaders to develop KPIs, dashboards, and reporting solutions that provide actionable insights, and support value realization.
• Ensure compliance with cybersecurity standards, internal controls, data protection requirements, governance practices, and risk management practices.
• Lead technology risk assessments, cybersecurity awareness initiatives, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning efforts.
• Continuously optimize IT security and governance in line with global frameworks and local risk conditions.
• Lead, coach, and develop managers, supervisors, technical leads, and IT professionals across multiple technology disciplines.
• Create an inspiring, modern, accountable, and collaborative working environment that supports innovation, customer service, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Assess current IT and digitalization capabilities, identify capability gaps, and prioritize development activities that support the mid-term plan and business priorities.
• Support workforce planning, succession planning, employee development, and technical training initiatives.
• Promote strong partnerships between IT, ERP, business functions, and global technology teams.
• Establish performance expectations and provide ongoing coaching, feedback, and performance management.
• Inspire the team to generate ideas and concepts that support local execution, global strategy, and value-adding activities.
• Develop, manage, and administer departmental operating and capital budgets in alignment with organizational priorities and global guidance.
• Forecast technology expenditures and ensure effective allocation of resources across operational, strategic, and transformational initiatives.
• Evaluate technology investments, develop business cases, and recommend solutions that maximize business value, align with global standards, risk reduction, and return on investment.
• Present budget forecasts, project status updates, risk tradeoffs, and investment recommendations to senior leadership.
• Establish and manage strategic relationships with technology vendors, consultants, outsourcing partners, and service providers.
• Lead vendor selection, contract negotiations, renewals, and performance management activities.
• Coordinate with global procurement and technology teams to leverage enterprise agreements, shared service models, and vendor partnerships.
• Monitor project and service performance to ensure externally delivered solutions meet business objectives, service levels, timelines, security expectations, and budget requirements.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems, or a related discipline; Master's degree preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive IT experience supporting enterprise technology environments.
• Minimum of 5 years of leadership experience managing technical teams, supervisors, managers, vendors and/or managed service providers.
• Broad