Senior Director, Information Technology

Senior Director, Information Technology

At Bezos Academy, we believe all children deserve the great start that excellent early education provides, including in under-resourced communities. Our mission is to nurture the potential in every child to become a creative leader, original thinker, and lifelong learner by inventing the solutions needed to scale early childhood education. We are a unique organization that operates a multi-state network of tuition-free, Montessori-inspired preschools in under-resourced communities while also investing in creating tools, products, technology, and other solutions designed to reach children well beyond the walls of our schools. We aspire for profound, large-scale impact on children ages zero to five.

As the Senior Director of Information Technology at Bezos Academy, you will lead the enterprise-wide design, delivery, and execution of the systems and services that power our missionfrom IT operations and help desk to systems engineering, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data privacy, hardware / software procurement, and cloud administration. You will oversee a cohesive, high-performing team and ensure our technology environment is secure, scalable, and built to support a multi-state network of schools with a distributed workforce.

Reporting to the Chief Technology Officer and serving as a key member of their leadership team, you will be responsible for designing and evolving a secure, stable, and forward-looking technology environment across 40+ locations and 600+ employees nationwide. You will play a pivotal role in advancing our organizational IT strategy while driving executional excellence across all technical operations. You will also be responsible for IT financial stewardship, including management of technology budgets, vendor relationships, and procurement processesensuring that infrastructure and systems investments are aligned with organizational priorities and deliver measurable value.

You bring a deep commitment to technology as a force-multiplier for mission-driven work. You have led complex, multi-disciplinary teams in high-growth environments and understand how to manage both the urgent and the importantbalancing operational excellence with long-term planning. You are a strategic systems thinker, an experienced people leader, and a trusted advisor who thrives on user-centered service and cross-functional collaboration. You are equally comfortable shaping long-term strategy and jumping in alongside your team to solve problems. You build strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and move quickly to align on priorities and drive toward outcomesespecially when the path forward is unclear. You can partner with software development teams to enable the architecture used in their platforms and the information security needed for their products.

Above all, you are inspired by our mission to create bold new educational pathways for young children. You are ready to roll up your sleeves, build scalable systems, and help shape an organization that is reimagining early education from the ground up.

Location : Seattle, WA

Relocation support is available for those willing to relocate to Seattle, WA.

Compensation and benefits : This is a full-time, benefits-eligible, exempt (salaried) position. The full salary range for this position in Seattle, WA, is $232,000-$395,000 per year. The upper third of the salary range is typically reserved for employees who have been in the role for multiple years and have demonstrated strong performance over time. Starting salary will vary by qualifications and prior experience. This role includes 15 paid days of vacation, 4 days of paid personal time off, 7 paid days of sick (care) time, 9 paid holidays, 5 paid days off for an organization-wide winter break, and additional time off if required by applicable law. Benefits for this role include medical, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, a 401(k) plan with a 4% employer contribution match, paid parental leave, an employer-matched flexible spending account for dependent care, and more.

Minimum qualifications : Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant experience; twelve or more years of relevant experience in information systems and technology, with eight or more years in interdisciplinary team management that includes hiring, managing, and developing staff; experience leading IT with responsibility for both core infrastructure (help desk, systems engineering, cloud services) as well as security functions; proficiency with the Microsoft 365 enterprise ecosystem (including Entra ID, SharePoint, and other Azure services) plus extensive experience with cloud infrastructure; demonstrated success in high-growth or startup environments while overseeing both software and hardware for a nationally or internationally distributed organization; superior communication and analytical skills, including the ability to identify and solve ambiguous and / or technical problems and then convey key info back to diverse technical and non-technical audiences.

Preferred qualifications : Experience leading IT in the education, nonprofit, or early-stage product sectors; strong grasp of AWS and cloud-first enterprise architectures; skill in vendor management, contract negotiations, and IT budgeting; experience with enterprise-wide adoption and governance of AI tools and technologies; experience leading security teams to ensure organizational compliance with cybersecurity and data privacy requirements; track record of using data and metrics to back up assumptions, recommendations, and drive actions, with strong analytic skills.

Responsibilities : Strategic leadership; IT operations & systems engineering; cybersecurity & data privacy; AI enablement.