Director, Platform Technology Services

Rich’s, also known as Rich Products Corporation, is a family-owned food company dedicated to inspiring possibilities. From cakes and icings to pizza, appetizers and specialty toppings, our products are used in homes, restaurants and bakeries around the world. Beyond great food, our customers also gain insights to help them stay competitive, no matter their size. Our portfolio includes creative solutions geared at helping food industry professionals compete in foodservice, retail, in-store bakery, deli, and prepared foods, among others. Working in 100 locations globally, with annual sales exceeding $4 billion, Rich’s is a global leader with a focus on everything that family makes possible. Rich’s®—Infinite Possibilities. One Family.

Job Summary

Rich Products, a $5.5Billion food manufacturing company, is looking for a Director, Platform Technology Services, to join our team in Buffalo, NY. In this position, you will play a critical role in scaling out services capability across the enterprise. 
This includes leading a team of product managers and platform engineers to ensure the successful delivery of IT solutions that meet business needs. This role is also responsible for developing and executing a product and platform strategy that aligns with the overall IT and business strategy. Additionally, this role is accountable for managing the product and platform lifecycle, including product roadmap, product development, product launch, and ongoing product support and maintenance.

The ideal candidate will bring their knowledge of managing delivery of CRM & ERP systems on an enterprise scale within a manufacturing environment and will have a track record of successfully delivering complex projects on time and in budget. 
You will also lead cross-functional teams (including offshore).

The role is based in Buffalo, NY, and we offer a relocation package for the successful candidate.

Key Accountabilities and Outcomes

•    Strategic Leadership: 
o    Define and execute the vision, strategy, and roadmap for IT platforms, ensuring alignment with business goals.
o    Lead cross-functional teams to deliver scalable, high-performing, and secure IT solutions.
o    Drive innovation to enhance IT capabilities, focusing on automation, efficiency, and user satisfaction.

•    Platform execution:
o    Oversee the lifecycle management of enterprise applications, ensuring they meet current and future business needs.
o    Collaborate with business units to understand requirements and implement solutions that improve operational efficiency and productivity.
o    Optimize software integration to ensure seamless workflows across the organization.
o    Ensure high availability, performance, and scalability of infrastructure to meet organizational demands.
o    Monitor and address infrastructure-related challenges proactively.
o    Implement best practices for IT service management (ITSM) and process improvements.
o    Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure operational success.
o    Develop and maintain robust security policies, procedures, and controls to safeguard IT systems and data.
o    Oversee compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards (e.g., GDPR, ISO 27001).

•    Platform lifecycle management: Instill a data-centric approach for solution development and a robust 'test and learn' framework for iterative solution measurement and delivery
•    Turn vision into outcomes: Convert strategy and vision into tangible platform features and offerings that balance impact on user adoption and business value. Ability to rapidly develop business cases and prioritize accordingly.
•    Business to IT translation: Leverage knowledge of IT and software delivery lifecycle to support in translating functional requirements into clear, comprehensive technical requirements. Be the bridge back to the business to set expectations regarding timelines, resourcing requirements, dependencies, etc.
•    Cultural leadership: Instill a strong product culture by establishing norms and systems that promote collaboration and innovation across all functions
•    Stakeholder management: Clearly communicate and evolve product vision, strategy and roadmap with executive stakeholders across all functions of the business.
•    Team development: attract and retain a diverse, high caliber, output-oriented platform team

Knowledge, Experience and Skills

Required:
•    Proven experience as a Director of Applications/ Infrastructure or in a comparable executive leadership role (consulting experience a plus)
•    Broad industry experience across manufacturing and consumer, spanning both digital and physical platforms
•    Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Informatio