Sr Mgr - APAC Regional Operations

General Position Summary:

The APAC Regional Operations Senior Manager provides direct leadership for Columbia IS operations in Asia, ensuring the efficient and successful coordination of technology support, issue resolution, operational monitoring and engineering functions. This role will partner closely with senior business leaders in the region and the Global Operations Center to craft an effective IS strategy which is also consistent with global standards. The Regional Senior Manager provides leadership, drives change, and manages all IS functions for the sourcing organization (Asia Liaison Offices). This position also provides guidance and assistance for China Direct, Columbia Sportswear Japan and Columbia Sportswear Korea.

Essential Functions/Responsibilities:

• Manage the overall deployment, monitoring, technical support and IT maintenance processes and activities throughout the Asia Liaison Office network.
• Collaborate with and provide guidance for CDT activities for China Direct, Japan and Korea.
• Act as the primary contact point between Headquarters teams and IT projects and support in Asia. Serve as a primary communication point for HQ-based staff needing assistance within the Asia region.
• Proactively partner with technology leaders across the global IS landscape as well as the Global Operations Center. Establish and maintain a culture of continuous process improvement through the use of engineering practices and partnering cross-functionally with other engineering teams and strategic vendors.
• Actively lead in the area of employee development by establishing and maintaining processes that support continuous performance management, coaching, employee development and training.
• Work through subordinate managers/leads to ensure appropriate service levels are established and maintained for Columbia’s Asia IT business partners.
• Build relationships with Asia business partners to ensure IT-delivered services and goals are understood and supported.
• Coordinate and lead the development of tactical and strategic planning for Asia based Liaison offices. Provide guidance and assistance to China / Japan / Korea Regional Offices.
• Closely partner with the Global Operations Center to ensure incidents and resolution information is systematically transitioned to the Global Operations Center.
• Jointly establish with the Global Operations Center meaningful key performance indicators that are representative of the critical success factors of the team are defined and used to drive measurable improvement.
• Participate in IT budgeting processes and cross-functional improvement initiatives.
  
  

Secondary Functions:

• Maintain positive open lines of communication with all Columbia Sportswear management, staff and other departments in order to contribute to the smooth flow of information and efficient operation of the organization.
• Evaluate software that are used by teams in area of responsibility and participate in reviews of systems or software that are supported by or impact Asia Operations teams.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.
  
  

Job Scope:

Job involves recurring work situations with some variations from the norm. Variations may include new and unique work situations. Job involves a high degree of complexity. Complexity arises from the need to have a thorough understanding of the technical aspects of applications and systems. The incumbent operates from some established and well known procedures but will be responsible for development of new procedures. Duties are performed under minimal supervision with decisions made within general departmental guidelines. Independent thinking and judgement is required with regards to problem resolution. Errors in judgment and or performance of work duties can have a negative impact on operating costs, and the ability of departments to complete assignments in a timely fashion.

Interpersonal Contacts:

Contacts are made with others inside and outside the company. Internal contacts are normally with others in a variety of departments. External contacts are normally with vendors providing services in the region. Contacts involve information exchange primarily in the form of instructions, problem solving, and troubleshooting. Contacts occasionally concern confidential and/or sensitive material. Contacts occur both over the phone, e-mail and via face-to-face interaction.

Managerial Responsibility:

Incumbent has full managerial responsibility for Asia-based Liaison Office support personnel while still performing occasional IS support duties.

Specific Job Skills:

• Understanding of desktop hardware configuration, both Windows and Mac. Knowledge of a variety of industry standard Windows applications. Understanding of terminal emulation software. Understanding of network protocols.
• Understanding of and ability to develop budgets and forecasts.
• Possess working knowledge of IS/IT applications and processes, controls, security controls, project management, Agile methodologies and governance.
• Demonstrated management best practices, specifically in the area of performance management, coaching, mentoring and team development.
• Above average ability to read, write, and speak English. Work often requires reading and writing in technical or complex areas. Mental ability to conduct complicated interactions with other departments.
• Ability to organize and prioritize work and logically develop work plans. Operate independently and interdependently as needed. Ability to work effectively under pressure during peak operating periods. Physical ability to sit and stand for extended periods of time. Physical ability to walk, bend, stoop, kneel, and occasionally lift up to 50 pounds. Ability to operate a computer keyboard. May require work in excess of 8 hours per day and/or 40 hours per week. Ability to move freely throughout the department and building.
  
  

Education:

• College degree in Computer Science, Operations or Information Technology preferred.
• ITIL v4 certification or similar preferred.
• Experience managing geographically distributed support personnel.
  
  

Experience:

Minimum 12 years of relevant management experience leading a team of technical professionals.

This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities, but constitutes a general definition of the positions scope and function in the company.

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