Manager, Platform Services (Virtualization, Operating Systems & Middleware)

Manager, Platform Services (Virtualization, Operating Systems & Middleware)

Country: United States of America

It Starts Here:

Santander is a global leader and innovator in the financial services industry and is evolving from a high-impact brand into a technology-driven organization. Our people are at the heart of this journey and together, we are driving a customer-centric transformation that values bold thinking, innovation, and the courage to challenge what’s possible.  This is more than a strategic shift.  It’s a chance for driven professionals to grow, learn, and make a real difference.

If you are interested in exploring the possibilities We Want to Talk to You!

The Difference You Make:

The Manager, Platform Services is responsible for leading the strategy, governance, administration, and support of the organization's virtualization, private cloud, operating system, and middleware environments. This role oversees a team responsible for delivering highly available, secure, scalable, and compliant infrastructure platforms supporting enterprise applications and business services.

The Manager drives platform modernization, operational excellence, automation, and infrastructure lifecycle management while ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, and business objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead and develop teams supporting virtualization, operating systems, and middleware platforms.
• Establish service delivery standards, operational metrics, and performance goals.
• Manage staffing, succession planning, coaching, and employee development.
• Foster collaboration across infrastructure, application, security, and architecture teams.

Virtualization & Private Cloud Services

• Own governance and operational oversight of VMware and private cloud environments.
• Ensure platform availability, scalability, performance, and resilience.
• Lead virtualization capacity planning and optimization initiatives.
• Define standards, procedures, and operational controls for virtual infrastructure.
• Support infrastructure automation and cloud transformation initiatives.

Operating Systems Management

Provide leadership and oversight for:

• Linux environments
• Microsoft Windows Server environments
• AIX systems

Responsibilities include:

• Platform lifecycle management
• Patching and upgrades
• Vulnerability remediation
• Capacity planning
• Performance optimization
• Incident and problem management

Middleware Services

• Oversee middleware platform administration and operational support.
• Ensure middleware availability, performance, security, and compliance.
• Coordinate middleware upgrades, maintenance, and modernization initiatives.
• Support application teams in resolving infrastructure-related issues.

Platform Engineering & Automation

• Drive automation initiatives to improve operational efficiency and reliability.
• Promote Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and platform standardization where applicable.
• Implement proactive monitoring, alerting, and health management processes.
• Identify opportunities to reduce operational risk through automation and self-service capabilities.

Governance, Risk & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with enterprise security, audit, and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with Cybersecurity and Risk teams to address vulnerabilities and platform risks.
• Maintain operational procedures, standards, and documentation.

Strategic Planning

• Develop platform roadmaps and modernization strategies.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and infrastructure capabilities.
• Contribute to cloud and infrastructure transformation programs.
• Manage platform-related budgets, forecasts, and technology investments.

Vendor Management

• Manage vendor relationships supporting virtualization, operating systems, and middleware technologies.
• Coordinate support escalations and service-level reviews.
• Participate in software licensing, contract renewals, and vendor evaluations.

What You Bring:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education:

• B