IT Service Director

Company Description

Alliance Animal Health is a fast-growing, private equity-backed Veterinary Service Organization that operates as a majority owner and business partner to hundreds of veterinary practices across the US. Our goal is to make it easier for our practices at every step by providing world-class business solutions like talent acquisition, marketing, human resources, finance, and operations, so they can focus their energy on providing incredible care for animals. In fact, our Core Values are (quite literally) written with PETS in mind: Passion, Engagement, Trust, and Service.

We want our doctor partners to choose what’s best for their practice because they are the experts in medicine, while we customize the support, the co-ownership approach, and business solutions based on their goals. We pride ourselves on maintaining a culture of open communication and collaboration to deliver innovative solutions to advance today’s veterinary environment, without disrupting the medical autonomy and what makes each of our hospitals unique. Because at the end of the day, our central support team exists to serve our practices. So if you’re excited about using your talents to make an impact on the health and wellness of pets, we’d love to talk with you!

Job Description

We have an immediate opportunity for an IT Director to join a lean, high-impact technology team supporting more than 250 veterinary hospitals across the United States.

Reporting directly to the Vice President of Technology, the IT Director will be responsible for leading day-to-day IT service delivery and helping execute key technology initiatives across Alliance Animal Health.

This is a highly hands-on technical leadership position. While the IT Director will provide leadership, direction, vendor oversight, and project management, this individual will also remain actively engaged in the technology environment, including troubleshooting complex issues, Microsoft 365 administration, escalations, infrastructure support, and direct engagement with practice teams.

The IT Director will have primary responsibility for the success of AAH’s newly established co-managed IT support model, working closely with our managed service provider, internal technology resources, hospital teams, Operations leadership, and other business stakeholders. This individual will be accountable for ensuring practices receive a consistent, responsive, and high-quality support experience while maintaining transparency, measurable service standards, and a strong customer-focused culture.

In addition to service delivery, the IT Director will have an active role in executing strategic technology initiatives across the organization. Strong project management skills are essential, as this position will lead and coordinate technology deployments, infrastructure improvements, practice onboarding initiatives, security programs, vendor implementations, and other enterprise IT projects.

The ideal candidate combines strong technical depth with service leadership, project management, business judgment, and an exceptional customer-service mindset. Experience supporting veterinary, animal health, or multi-site healthcare environments is strongly preferred.

This is a fully remote position with periodic travel required for hospital visits, vendor engagements, project implementations, leadership meetings, and strategic initiatives.

IT Support & Service Delivery

• Own day-to-day IT support and service delivery across Alliance Animal Health’s national hospital network.

• Provide leadership and direction for internal IT support resources and the co-managed IT service model.

• Monitor ticket queues, escalations, service levels, response times, resolution performance, customer satisfaction, and recurring support trends.

• Ensure practices receive consistent, timely, and customer-focused technology support.

• Serve as a senior escalation resource and remain actively involved in troubleshooting complex technical issues when needed.

• Establish and continuously improve support processes, escalation procedures, documentation standards, and service expectations.

• Partner closely with hospital and Operations leadership to understand technology challenges and proactively address recurring issues.

• Ensure technology support processes align with the operational needs of veterinary practices and minimize disruption to patient care and hospital operations. Co-Managed IT & Vendor Management

• Serve as the primary day-to-day operational leader for AAH’s co-managed IT partnership.

• Manage the relationship with the organization’s managed service provider and ensure the partnership operates as an extension of the AAH Technology team.

• Define and maintain clear responsibilities between internal IT resources and external technology partners.

• Hold vendors accountable to contractual commitments, service-level expectations, reporting requirements, and customer satisfaction objectives.

• Lead recurring service reviews and operational governance meetings.

• Review ticket trends, escalations, after-hours activity, recurring incidents, service performance, and opportunities for improvement.

• Coordinate onboarding, knowledge transfer, process improvement, and service expansion activities.

• Work collaboratively with technology vendors supporting specialized systems and equipment within veterinary hospitals. Customer Experience & Practice Support

• Serve as a senior advocate for AAH hospitals and ensure technology services remain focused on the needs of practice teams.

• Build strong relationships with Practice Managers, Regional Directors, Regional Managers, Operations leadership, and corporate stakeholders.

• Maintain regular communication with business partners regarding service performance, technology initiatives, risks, and improvement opportunities.

• Establish and maintain a culture of accountability, responsiveness, transparency, and exceptional customer service.

• Monitor Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and other experience metrics and develop improvement plans when performance falls below expectations.

• Identify recurring issues across practices and work proactively with internal resources and external partners to address root causes. Project & Program Management

• Lead and coordinate key IT initiatives from planning through implementation and operational handoff.

• Develop project plans, schedules, milestones, dependencies, risks, and communication strategies.

• Manage multiple concurrent technology projects across a nationally distributed organization.

• Coordinate internal stakeholders, MSP resources, vendors, Operations teams, and hospital leadership throughout project execution.

• Lead or support initiatives involving:

• New hospital onboarding and integration

• Network standardization and infrastructure modernization

• End-of-life hardware replacement programs

• Microsoft 365 initiatives

• Cybersecurity improvements

• Endpoint management and standardization

• Application implementations and migrations

• Vendor transitions

• Technology policy and process improvements

• Communicate project status, risks, decisions, dependencies, and outcomes clearly to Technology and business leadership.

• Create repeatable deployment playbooks and standards that allow technology initiatives to scale across the organization. Reporting & Analytics

• Own IT operational reporting and develop meaningful performance insights for Technology and executive leadership.

• Establish appropriate service delivery KPIs and ensure accurate, consistent reporting.

• Create and distribute monthly, quarterly, and annual IT performance reports.

• Monitor and report on:

• Ticket volumes

• First response times

• Resolution times

• Open and aging tickets

• Escalation metrics

• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)

• After-hours support activity

• Hospital support trends

• MSP and vendor performance

• Recurring incidents and problem areas

• Use service data and trend analysis to identify operational improvements and technology investment opportunities.

• Provide concise, actionable technology updates to senior leadership. Technical Leadership

• Maintain a strong working knowledge of the AAH technology environment and remain actively involved in technical operations.

• Serve as a senior technical escalation point for difficult or business-critical issues.

• Troubleshoot issues involving endpoints, networking, Microsoft 365, authentication, cloud services, and hospital technology.

• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to Systems Administrators and other internal technology resources.

• Work closely with MSP engineering teams on advanced infrastructure, network, security, and cloud issues.

• Support technology standards covering workstations, servers, firewalls, switches, wireless infrastructure, remote access, endpoint security, and monitoring.

• Partner with vendors supporting specialized veterinary equipment and software where coordination across multiple technology providers is required.

• Maintain high-quality operational documentation, architecture information, asset visibility, standards, processes, and technology inventories.

• Balance hands-on technical involvement with leadership responsibilities, escalating and delegating appropriately while maintaining ownership of outcomes.

Qualifications

• Required

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year institution in Information Technology, Information Systems, Information Technology Management, Computer Science, or a related field.

• 8+ years of progressive professional experience in IT support, systems administration, infrastructure, service delivery, or technical operations.

• 3+ years of IT leadership, service delivery leadership, or technology team management experience.

• Demonstrated experience leading IT operations within a multi-site or distributed organization.

• Demonstrated experience managing an MSP, technology service provider, or co-managed IT relationship.

• Strong project management experience with responsibility for planning and delivering technology initiatives involving multiple stakeholders and vendors.

• Advanced, hands-on experience administering Microsoft 365 environments.

• Strong technical knowledge of:

• Microsoft 365

• Entra ID

• Microsoft Intune

• Exchange Online

• Microsoft Teams

• SharePoint Online

• Endpoint Management

• Identity & Access Management

• Conditional Access

• Security and Compliance

• Working knowledge of networking fundamentals and technologies, including firewalls, switches, wireless access points, VPNs, DNS, DHCP, and internet connectivity.

• Experience with IT service management, ticketing systems, remote monitoring and management platforms, endpoint management, and remote support technologies.

• Demonstrated ability to manage service metrics, reporting, SLAs, escalations, and customer satisfaction programs.

• Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills with the technical depth to participate directly in complex escalations when required.

• Exceptional customer service, relationship management, and interpersonal skills.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with practice teams, technical resources, vendors, Operations leaders, and senior executives.

• Demonstrated ability to independently manage multiple priorities, projects, vendors, and operational responsibilities in a fast-paced environment.

• Ability to operate successfully within a fully remote organization and lead geographically distributed resources.

• Ability to travel periodically as business and project requirements dictate.

• Preferred

• Veterinary or animal health technology experience is strongly preferred.

• Experience supporting veterinary hospitals, animal health organizations, or other clinical environments.

• Experience supporting 1,000+ users and/or 100+ geographically distributed locations.

• Experience designing or operating a co-managed IT support model.

• Experience leading technology integration for newly acquired or newly onboarded locations.

• Strong understanding of cybersecurity operations, including EDR/MDR, SIEM, vulnerability management, security awareness, identity protection, and incident response.

• Experience working with:

• ConnectWise

• NinjaOne

• Auvik

• Liongard

• Huntress

• Microsoft Defender

• IT documentation and knowledge management platforms

• Experience supporting specialized veterinary or healthcare technologies, including practice management systems, imaging systems, payment technologies, and clinical equipment.

• Formal project management experience or certification such as PMP, CAPM, or equivalent demonstrated experience.

• ITIL Foundation or other IT service management certification.

• Relevant Microsoft certifications.

Additional Information

This is a fully remote U.S.-based position with periodic travel required.

Alliance Animal Health offers a competitive compensation package including salary, bonus opportunity, health benefits, paid time off, professional development opportunities, and the ability to make a meaningful impact across a rapidly growing organization.

This role is intended for an experienced technology leader who is comfortable operating at both the strategic and technical levels. The successful candidate will be expected to lead IT service delivery and major technology initiatives while remaining close enough to the environment to actively participate in troubleshooting, technical decision-making, and practice support when needed.