Director Of Infrastructure at Neofinancial in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Join us to build a more rewarding financial future for all Canadians At Neo, we’re on a mission to build a more rewarding financial future for all Canadians. Life at a rapidly scaling tech startup isn’t for everyone. It’s complex, fast-paced, high-pressure, but also incredibly fulfilling. Since its founding in 2019, Neo has gained incredible traction and is one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in Canada. - #1 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 for 2023, 2024, and 2025 https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/neo-financial-achieves-first-ever-three-peat-win-as-number-one-on-deloitte-s-technology-fast-50-list-889692540.html — the first company ever to achieve a three-peat at the top! - #1 Fastest Growing Company in Canada for 2024 by Globe & Mail https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240927952651/en/Neo-Financial-Ranks-No.-1-on-The-Globe-and-Mail%E2%80%99s-2024-List-of-Canada%E2%80%99s-Top-Growing-Companies - Top-ranked mobile apps and credit cards - Team of 500+ people - 1M+ customers - 10K+ retail partners ABOUT THE ROLE The Director of Infrastructure provides strategic leadership and oversight for Neo's entire technology foundation. This is a senior-level role designed to bridge the gap between technical day-to-day operations and the high-level business goals of the company. You will ensure that all technology infrastructure—including servers, networks, cloud services, and data centers—is reliable, scalable, secure, and cost-effective, allowing the entire business to operate without interruption. Additionally, the Director of Infrastructure maintains strong relationships with all business partners and peers to understand their needs and friction points. You will be responsible for making the appropriate adjustments to team structure and processes, ensuring that Neo supports its highest-value initiatives in a way that delivers value to customers quickly, securely, and with an industry-leading level of reliability. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Strategic Planning & Leadership - Define and own the long-term strategic roadmap for all IT infrastructure, including on-premise, cloud, and hybrid environments. - Translate business needs and goals into clear, actionable technical requirements and a long-term plan for the infrastructure team. - Advise C-suite and executive leadership on technology trends, opportunities, and risks. Team & People Management - Lead, mentor, and manage a team of infrastructure professionals, including systems administrators, network engineers, and DevOps specialists. - Define the hiring strategy, manage performance, and foster a culture of operational excellence, innovation, and accountability. - Periodically adapt and align processes and team structures to meet current business needs and priorities. Operational Governance & Reliability - Be ultimately accountable for the performance, reliability, and uptime of all technology infrastructure, ensuring adherence to critical Service Level Agreements (SLAs). - Oversee and refine IT governance frameworks, policies, and procedures to optimize service delivery, including the continuous collection of evidence and periodic review and execution of key testing processes. - Lead and orchestrate the response to major incidents and system outages, ensuring rapid resolution and minimal business impact. Budget & Vendor Management - Develop and manage the IT infrastructure budget, making strategic decisions on technology investments and resource allocation. - Manage and negotiate relationships with key technology vendors and cloud service providers to ensure cost-effectiveness and service quality. Security & Risk Management - Partner with the Information Security team to implement robust security controls, policies, and practices across the infrastructure. - Oversee the development, implementation, and regular testing of disaster recovery and business continuity plans. - Identify and mitigate infrastructure-related risks to protect the company's data and systems. SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS Experience - Over a decade of advanced background in technical infrastructure, cloud-native operations, or DevOps, featuring at least five years in executive-level leadership overseeing managers and diverse engineering departments. - Proven capability in managing large-scale infrastructure within highly regulated sectors, such as fintech, healthtech, or the broader financial services landscape. - A history of establishing and executing multi-year technical roadmaps that substantially improve system stability, security protocols, fiscal efficiency, or development speed. - Extensive background in directing 24/7 technical operations, encompassing command of major system incidents and the management of comprehensive post-mortem evaluation programs. - Experience assisting in the development of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) frameworks. Technical Expertise - Significant proficiency with major public cloud ecosystems—including AWS, Azure, or GCP—focused on network topology, IAM frameworks, cost management, and complex multi-region designs. - Comprehensive mastery of contemporary infrastructure technologies, specifically Infrastructure-as-Code (such as Terraform), container orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes, ECS), automated CI/CD workflows (e.g., GitHub Actions, CodePipeline), and full-stack observability tools. - Deep understanding of core networking concepts like VPC architecture, DNS management, edge computing, and zero-trust security models, complemented by expert-level Linux administration. - Familiarity with the complex regulatory landscapes affecting finance (including SOC 2, PCI-DSS, RPAA) and the ability to convert these into concrete technical controls. - Practical knowledge of integrated security strategies, including secret rotation, identity governance, vulnerability mitigation, and the rigorous testing of recovery procedures. Leadership & Business Acumen - Ability to synthesize commercial strategies into actionable technical plans while effectively articulating architectural trade-offs to executive boards and non-technical partners. - Experience overseeing substantial infrastructure budgets, with a focus on resource forecasting, cloud financial governance, and the negotiation of strategic vendor agreements. - Effective people management skills, including talent acquisition, professional development, and cultivating a workplace centered on extreme ownership and continuous operational refinement. - Sophisticated communication abilities, with the confidence to deliver high-impact presentations to C-suite leadership, external auditors, and board members. Education - University degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline, or an equivalent level of industry experience. Nice to Have - Experience assisting in the development of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) frameworks, platform engineering units, or error-budgeting models. - Background in expanding technical foundations within rapid-growth startup environments or scale-up organizations. - Prior involvement in managing infrastructure for financial institutions operating across multiple jurisdictions or specifically within Canada. - Advanced professional certifications such as AWS Professional Architect or CISSP. WORKING AT NEO: The people who thrive at Neo are resourceful, growth-oriented, and driven to win. We hold ourselves to high standards because we’re on a mission that matters: to build a more rewarding financial future for all Canadians. As individuals and as a team, we constantly challenge ourselves and each other to raise the bar and deliver exceptional experiences for our customers. Our commitment to customer success drives everything we do, from building world-class products to providing exceptional support at every step of their journey. If this resonates with you, keep reading. We trust, respect, and support each other. This means honest conversations, constructive input, and empowering each other to move fast and think big. You’ll be surrounded by people who push you to be your best. We primarily collaborate in person across our Calgary, Winnipeg, and Toronto offices, where ideas move quickly and teams build momentum together. As we continue to scale and evolve, we’re looking for builders, innovators, and problem solvers who thrive on challenge–people who would rather blaze a trail through uncertainty than follow a well-paved path. At Neo, ownership is part of how we think and operate. For select roles, equity participation reinforces that mindset by giving employees a direct stake in the company’s long-term success. Regardless of role, every team member is expected to think like an owner and make decisions that move the business forward. APPLY WITH US: We believe in equal opportunity and are committed to creating an inclusive climate where everyone can thrive. Customers trust us with their finances, so successful candidates for this position will be required to undergo a security screening, including a criminal records check and a credit check. By continuing with your application, you agree to the Candidate Privacy Notice https://www.neofinancial.com/candidate-privacy-policy.pdf, which guides how we process your personal information for the purpose of your application. Neo Financial leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to reinforce our candidate evaluation process, including the initial assessment of applications and screening of candidates. These tools support our recruitment team; however, all final hiring decisions are made by humans and are not based exclusively on automated processing. If you require further information regarding our data processing practices, please contact us. We are hiring for an open, vacant position.