Director of IT Operations

Who are we?

Thesis, a digital agency in Portland, OR. We’re hell-bent on humanizing the relationship between people and brands, which starts with our teams: real people making real work.

Come as you are. Bring what you bring.

We've been around for 17 years. Thesis at its core is a full-service agency that believes our strength is in our approach—that the work we make is only as strong as the thought—and data—we put behind it.

That sounds intense. But make no mistake, we also play real hard.

The Job

The Director of IT Operations acts as part of our leadership team in collaboration and support with our teammates to constantly pursue an environment that far surpasses expectations. As IT Director, you will be responsible for managing and delivering on all aspects of IT operations and services, including strategic direction and day-to-day operations. You will own all employee-facing IT services and will ensure that end-to-end IT support is provided for all full time and contract employees. In partnership with Human Resources and the Hiring managers, you’ll help plan and implement all Thesis IT initiatives.

You should care intensely about your work without conflating work ego with personal ego. You’ll be working closely with our agency’s integrated teams, so it will be vital to collaborate equally and share accountability, in failure and success alike.

Be prepared to let the best ideas rise to the top.

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As a person, you are

You have a passion for technology in all its forms and enjoy working with your fellow employees to provide the support they need to be successful. You are an energetic self-starter with an entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to improvise and maneuver in a fast-paced environment.

As a worker, you will

• Be responsible for resolving issues in a timely manner and providing excellent service.
  Define communications strategy for all staff
• Manage 3rd-party vendor for day-to-day operations, including support desk, employee onboarding/offboarding
• Perform monthly audits to ensure compliance
• Define and maintain IT budget + strategy
• Collaborate with department heads to find ways that IT can make delivering client work more efficient and pain-free
• Ensure data security, backup systems, disaster recovery, and network access
• Provide on-call support when necessary
• Maintain compliance reports and documentation
• Build project plan to move into new office, including managing outside contractors, ongoing services, and testing

As for experience, you need

• 8+ years of experience in IT operations
• 4+ years managing a team
• Excellent hard skills in computer systems, network administration
• Calm under pressure
• Extreme empathy: internal teams are not customers, and they are definitely not adversaries -- they’re allies, and they depend on IT
• Ability to engage with employees across the company. IT can easily become insular - we need someone who will take the initiative to maintain interpersonal connections with the broader organization
• Strategic thinking - go beyond maintenance. IT is the fabric of internal culture, now more than ever. How can IT expand the capabilities of the entire organization? How can IT enable us to acquire more clients, deliver better work, and in general operate as a happy, cohesive unit?
• Ability to function independently and with a team
• Strong organizational and time management skills with multiple parallel work streams
• Personal passion for technology - stay up to date with the latest and greatest, and when new technology offers opportunity for the team, be able to pitch it in with enthusiasm

But even better, you have

• Experience in application development and/or enterprise architecture
• Experience in design and/or writing
• Experience in business strategy
• Experience in account management
• Ability to work in our Portland office

Critically, be hungry to learn and grow beyond this job description.

Still with us?

Cool! Let’s talk.

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Workplace equity is not a single checkbox.

It’s a new way of thinking, of working, and of moving through the world. At Thesis, we prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion. You’ll see this in our hiring practices, growth plans, and workplace programs—because our agency, our work, and our society are better when diverse perspectives come together.

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