Head of Infrastructure - IT

The Company

Mesirow is an independent, employee-owned financial services firm founded in 1937. Headquartered in Chicago, with offices across the country, Mesirow serves clients through capabilities spanning Private Capital & Currency, Capital Markets and Investment Banking, and Advisory Services.

The Head of Infrastructure is a senior leadership role responsible for the design, operation, and strategic direction of the firm's core technology infrastructure. This individual will lead multiple teams, including Cloud Infrastructure (encompassing networking, servers, and storage), Endpoint Engineering and Help desk ensuring high availability, performance, and security of all enterprise systems.

This role operates at the intersection of day-to-day operational excellence and long-term strategic planning, supporting a diversified financial services organization with complex regulatory, security, and scalability requirements. This role operates in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment within a diversified financial services firm. The Head of Infrastructure will regularly engage with senior leadership and play a critical role in enabling business growth through reliable, secure, and scalable technology platforms.

Key Responsibilities

Cloud Infrastructure (Networking, Servers, Storage)

• Provide leadership and oversight for multi-cloud (AWS and Azure) and hybrid infrastructure environments
• Define and implement architecture standards across AWS and Azure environments, including networking, compute, and storage platforms
• Ensure scalability, resiliency, and cost-efficiency of infrastructure platforms
• Oversee capacity planning, performance optimization, and resource utilization
• Establish, maintain, and regularly test disaster recovery and business continuity processes across all infrastructure platforms
• Drive automation and infrastructure-as-code practices to improve efficiency and consistency

Infrastructure Operations

• Drive a culture of service excellence, continuous improvement, and operational discipline
• Oversee day-to-day IT infrastructure operations, ensuring stability, uptime, and performance across all systems
• Ensure timely resolution of incidents and service requests, maintaining strong SLA adherence
• Implement and monitor operational KPIs, including system availability, incident response times, and user satisfaction
• Lead and deliver infrastructure-related projects, ensuring alignment with business priorities, timelines, and budgets
• Maintain robust monitoring, alerting, and incident management processes
• Drive root cause analysis and continuous improvement initiatives following incidents

Help Desk & End User Services

• Lead endpoint strategy, including device lifecycle management, patching, and security compliance
• Oversee Help Desk operations to ensure high-quality, responsive user support
• Enhance end-user experience through efficient service delivery and support processes
• Standardize support procedures, knowledge management, and escalation paths
• Oversee and optimize enterprise voice and collaboration platforms, including VoIP systems
• Ensure seamless onboarding/offboarding processes and user productivity tools

Strategy, Transformation & Collaboration

• Define and execute the firm's infrastructure strategy aligned with business objectives
• Identify opportunities to modernize platforms, improve resilience, and reduce technical debt
• Lead multi-cloud (AWS and Azure) transformation, migration, and optimization initiatives
• Establish automation as a core strategic pillar, drive efficiency through infrastructure-as-code, workflow automation, and self-service capabilities
• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies to enhance infrastructure capabilities
• Collaborate with executive leadership to align technology investments with firm priorities
• Work closely with Information Security, Application Development, Data, and Business teams to support enterprise initiatives
• Communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Security & Compliance

• Partner with Information Security to ensure infrastructure aligns with cybersecurity standards and policies
• Support regulatory and audit requirements relevant to financial services
• Ensure proper controls, patching, vulnerability management, and access governance
• Drive secure configuration and architecture practices across all infrastructure domains

Vendor & Financial Management

• Manage relationships with key infrastructure vendors and service providers
• Negotiate contracts, manage SLAs, and ensure vendor performance meets expectations
• Develop and manage infrastructure budgets, including forecasting and cost optimization
• Identify opportunities for cost savings without compromising service quality

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field
• 7+ years of progressive experience in IT infrastructure leadership roles
• Proven experience managing diverse teams across support, endpoint, and cloud infrastructure domains
• Strong experience in multi-cloud environments, specifically AWS and Azure, including hybrid infrastructure models
• Deep understanding of networking, server, and storage architectures
• Experience within financial services or highly regulated environments preferred

Key Competencies

• Strategic thinker with the ability to execute at an operational level
• Strong leadership and people management skills
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making capabilities
• Ability to balance competing priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Commitment to operational excellence and continuous improvement

In accordance with the Illinois Transparency Law the anticipated hiring base salary for the role will be between $175,000 and $225,000 per year. However, base pay if hired will be determined on an individualized basis and is only part of the total compensation package, which, also provides the opportunity for a commission and discretionary performance bonus and the Mesirow benefit program.

EOE