Manager, IT - Systems & Operations

Why You’ll Love Working At Aspire Bakeries

• Culture – Our culture thrives on collaboration, diversity, and a shared passion for excellence. We support team members, empower growth, and encourage everyone to bring their authentic selves to work.
• Health & Wellness – Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus company-paid life insurance and additional voluntary options to fit your needs.
• Work-Life Balance – Paid parental leave, generous paid time off, and holidays so you can recharge and spend time on what matters most.
• Financial Security – Competitive retirement plans, plus short- and long-term disability coverage for peace of mind.
• Growth & Development – Opportunities to build skills, grow your career, and develop expertise through Aspire Bakeries’ learning and development programs.
• Flexibility & Support – HSA and FSA plans to help you manage everyday expenses.
• Recognition & Rewards – Performance incentive plans that celebrate achievements across sales, bakery performance, and individual contributions.

About the Role

We are seeking a System Administration Infrastructure Manager to join our Ancaster or Brantford location. This role is responsible for the administration, reliability, security, and high availability of Aspire Bakeries’ enterprise infrastructure across both on‑premises and Microsoft Azure cloud environments. You will oversee hybrid workloads, manage physical and virtualized systems, lead data center operations, and guide a distributed team toward delivering secure, efficient, and scalable services across the enterprise.

Shift & Schedule

Shift: [Insert shift details]
Hours: [Insert hours]
On‑Call: Required (24/7 availability)
Weekend Availability: Required
Travel: 25–50%

Compensation

Salary Range: $109,000 - $145,000

Core Accountabilities (What You’ll Be Doing)

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop system administration team members across multiple locations.
• Foster a culture aligned with Aspire Bakeries’ mission, values, and customer service standards.
• Effectively manage workloads, performance, and service delivery expectations.

Infrastructure Reliability & Operations

• Ensure high‑availability, performance, and security of server, storage, and enterprise application systems (on‑prem and Azure).
• Administer hybrid workloads spanning Azure IaaS/PaaS, virtualized platforms, and physical servers.
• Oversee the physical security and operational integrity of data centers and server rooms.
• Maintain system standards, documentation, and architectural designs.

Cloud & Systems Architecture

• Participate in the design, deployment, and operation of on‑premises and cloud‑based solutions.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend adoption of best‑practice infrastructure solutions.
• Ensure proper planning, testing, and coordination of upgrades, patches, and maintenance fixes.

Performance, Monitoring & Improvement

• Monitor system performance and ensure service levels are consistently met.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reliability, and system performance.
• Conduct troubleshooting and propose modifications to system environments.
• Lead or contribute to infrastructure modernization, harmonization, and integration initiatives.

Security, Compliance & Risk Reduction

• Ensure enterprise systems follow security best practices, including identity, data, and network protection.
• Support compliance with internal policies and external regulatory requirements.
• Reduce operational risk through structured monitoring, redundancy, and backup strategies.

Other Duties

• Contribute to IT process development and cross‑functional projects.
• Perform additional responsibilities as required.

Minimum Qualifications (What You Bring to the Table)

Technical Requirements

• 7–10 years of experience managing enterprise server, storage, domain services, and application systems (on‑prem and Azure).
• Expertise in virtualization, public/private cloud technologies, and hybrid architectures.
• Expert knowledge of:
• Windows & Linux OS
• Active Directory
• MSSQL
• VMware vCenter, Hyper‑V
• SAN/NAS storage
• Commvault backup products
• Experience with network management tools and monitoring platforms.
• Ability to lead a geographically distributed team and deliver outstanding customer service.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• Industry certifications preferred, such as:
• Microsoft Azure Administrator / Solutions Architect
• VMware
• Cisco Data Center
• EMC
• GIAC
• CISSP

Personal Attributes

• Strong ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to translate technical concepts to non‑technical audiences.
• Highly motivated, detail‑oriented, and self‑directed.
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving, and decision‑making skills.
• Customer‑focused and collaborative mindset.

Working Conditions

• 24/7 on‑call support required.
• Evening and weekend work as needed.
• Travel between 25–50%, depending on business needs.
• Occasional lifting of moderately heavy equipment (servers, peripherals).