Vice President, Infrastructure Engineering

Vice President, Infrastructure & Engineering

The Vice President, Infrastructure & Engineering provides executive leadership for the strategy, design, delivery, operation, and continuous improvement of enterprise infrastructure and technology operations. The role leads infrastructure engineering, platform engineering, cloud operations, digital workplace services, service management and design, production and support operations, and technology operations with an end-to-end systems perspective. This leader establishes multi-year priorities, service-level objectives, operating standards, and investment roadmaps that advance reliability, security, operational resilience, automation, scalability, cost effectiveness, and the employee and developer experience while aligning infrastructure decisions to enterprise business risk and value.

This role will require you to be onsite at least 3 days per week.

Responsibilities

Establish and execute the enterprise infrastructure and engineering strategy, operating model, roadmaps, standards, capacity plans, and investment priorities in alignment with business growth, risk tolerance, and technology objectives.

Provide executive leadership across infrastructure engineering, platform engineering, cloud operations, digital workplace services, service management and design, production and support operations, and technology operations, applying end-to-end systems thinking across infrastructure, network, security, application, and cloud dependencies.

Own operational excellence for critical services by establishing meaningful SLOs, SLAs, service-performance measures, observability, and incident and problem management practices; lead calmly through high-severity events with clear stakeholder communication, timely escalation, and accountable follow-through.

Lead the design, delivery, operation, and continuous improvement of secure, resilient, and scalable enterprise infrastructure, infrastructure applications, next-generation platforms, and production support capabilities; embed security and applicable control requirements into architecture, engineering, and operating decisions.

Drive infrastructure modernization through cloud and container platforms, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, automation and orchestration, self-service and self-healing capabilities, tooling consolidation, and reduction of manual operational toil to improve consistency, speed, and developer experience.

Oversee enterprise disaster recovery and technology continuity capabilities, including critical-service prioritization, recovery objectives, architecture, documentation, and recurring tests and exercises that identify gaps and drive measurable improvement.

Establish governance for capacity, asset and lifecycle management, service performance, change and release management, vendor risk, operational controls, runbooks, architecture documentation, change records, and knowledge management; balance the pace of change with reliability and stability.

Partner with Enterprise Architecture, Application Delivery, Cyber Risk Management, Data and Analytics, Product, Procurement, Finance, and business leaders to align cross-stack decisions, standards, investments, build-versus-buy choices, delivery priorities, and risk acceptance where authority is shared.

Lead financial and resource stewardship for the function, including portfolio prioritization, budget planning, cloud and infrastructure cost governance, capacity and licensing optimization, vendor strategy, contract performance, and material vendor escalations, without compromising required reliability or security.

Build a high-performing and resilient leadership organization through workforce and succession planning, talent development, sustainable on-call practices, performance accountability, psychological safety, and a blameless postmortem culture that converts failures into shared learning and durable corrective action.

Communicate infrastructure strategy, priorities, risks, service performance, incident impacts, trade-offs, and investment needs to executive stakeholders and governance forums, framing recommendations in terms of business continuity, customer and employee outcomes, risk reduction, and enterprise value while monitoring relevant market and technology trends.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Business, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience. Master's degree in a related field is preferred.

16+ years of progressively responsible technology experience, including 10+ years of supervisory or senior leadership experience.

Demonstrated experience leading complex enterprise infrastructure, engineering, cloud, platform, or technology operations functions.

Executive-level knowledge of enterprise infrastructure and technology operations strategy, architecture, engineering, service delivery, and modernization, with the systems thinking to understand dependencies across networks, cloud, security, platforms, applications, and workplace services.

Demonstrated reliability and operational-excellence discipline, including SLOs and SLAs, observability, incident and problem management, blameless postmortems, service improvement, and calm, transparent leadership during high-severity events.

Expertise in operational resilience, disaster recovery, business continuity, capacity and scalability planning, change and release management, risk-based controls, and balancing stability with the pace of delivery.

Knowledge of cloud platforms, platform engineering, DevOps, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, container technologies, automation and orchestration, self-service capabilities, and approaches that reduce manual toil and improve consistency.

Strong financial acumen and cost discipline, including portfolio and budget planning, cloud and infrastructure cost governance, licensing and capacity optimization, vendor and contract management, material escalation, and build-versus-buy analysis.

Ability to embed security and applicable compliance considerations into infrastructure strategy, architecture, engineering, change, and operational practices in partnership with risk and control stakeholders.

Ability to communicate a compelling technology vision, frame infrastructure investment in terms of business risk and value, set enterprise priorities, influence decisions without direct authority, and align stakeholders across technology and business functions.

Ability to build leadership capability, mentor technical talent, sustain resilient on-call teams, create accountability and psychological safety, and foster an inclusive, collaborative culture of learning and continuous improvement.

Discipline in operational documentation and knowledge management, including usable runbooks, architecture diagrams, change records, service ownership information, and practices that reduce dependency on individual knowledge.

Sound judgment in ambiguous, high-impact situations and the ability to evaluate trade-offs among reliability, security, speed, cost, scalability, compliance considerations, customer needs, and business outcomes.

Relevant cloud, infrastructure, service management, security, continuity, or program leadership certifications are preferred and nice to have.

Additional Information

Behind the smile! We are dedicated to safeguarding the health and financial stability of our employees and their loved ones. This commitment extends beyond the workplace to foster personal growth and holistic wellbeing. Our life-changing rewards package includes:

Competitive base and incentive pay

401(k) with robust matching and non-matching contributions

Rich medical & pharmacy benefits

100% employer-paid dental and vision benefits

Holistic wellbeing program with deep financial incentives

Generous paid time off plus 12 paid holidays and your birthday off

Culture of growth and learning: career development; tuition reimbursement; recognition program

Family support: adoption assistance, fertility treatment, child, elder & pet care assistance

Social responsibility and volunteer opportunities

Employee discount program

Fair Chance Ordinances and Criminal Background Considerations This position requires that the applicant undergo a background check. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with any applicable federal, state or local laws, including, but not limited to, the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and/or New York Corrections Law Article 23-A. Important Work Authorization Information Please note, Delta Dental will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.

About the Team

At Delta Dental, we're behind millions of smiles and counting. For over 68 years, we've served our communities by increasing access to affordable, quality care but that commitment to care extends beyond the people we serve, to the dedicated employees who make those smiles genuine. We've come this far by building fair programs that offer opportunities for advancement, create meaningful connections and improve the lives of our employees and their families. Because we know that when we take exceptional care of each other, we can make a positive impact for all. We champion an inspirational workplace through our commitment to trust, service, excellence and innovation. Joining us means working for a company that offers stability and balance, opportunities for leadership at all levels, and a work environment focused on teamwork and camaraderie. Discover the smiling faces behind Delta Dental and experience our values and culture in action by connecting with us on social media. Follow Delta Dental Ins. on Facebook and Instagram, #LifeatDDins on Facebook and Instagram, Delta Dental Ins. on Twitter and Delta Dental Ins. on LinkedIn. If you've got an appetite for innovation and want to be a part of a team that's transforming the future of health care, join us! Since 1955, we have offered comprehensive, high-quality oral health care benefits to millions of enrollees and built the strongest network of dental providers in the country. The Delta Dental of California network includes affiliates Delta Dental Insurance Company; Delta Dental of Pennsylvania; Delta Dental of New York, Inc.; Delta Dental of the District of Columbia; Delta Dental of