Senior Manager, IT Operations
ABOUT PACIFIC BIOSCIENCES
Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) designs, develops, and manufactures advanced sequencing solutions that help scientists resolve genetically complex problems in human biomedical research, plant and animal sciences, and beyond. Our HiFi long-read and short-read platforms are used across research institutions, clinical labs, and commercial organizations worldwide. Delivering on that mission depends on an IT organization that keeps R&D, manufacturing, quality, commercial, and G&A teams productive, secure, and audit ready.
POSITION SUMMARY
We are seeking a hands-on Senior IT Manager to own the operational core of PacBio's IT function. This role is accountable for end-user support and help desk operations, core infrastructure (network, compute, data center, cloud), vendor and contract management, IT change management, project and portfolio management, hardware and software asset inventory, software license management, and IT communications to the business.
This is a builder-operator role. You will lead and grow a small support and infrastructure team while simultaneously standardizing how IT plans, prioritizes, changes, and communicates its work. Success looks like measurably faster ticket resolution, a stable and well-documented infrastructure footprint, disciplined change control that holds up under audit, an accurate asset and license position that drives real cost savings, and a business that always knows what IT is doing and why.
The role partners closely with Information Security, Facilities, Quality/Regulatory, R&D, Manufacturing Operations, and Finance, and operates in a regulated environment where systems supporting GxP and ISO-governed processes require validated, documented, and traceable change.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Help Desk & End-User Services
- Own day-to-day help desk operations across all sites: intake, triage, prioritization, escalation, and resolution of end-user incidents and service requests.
- Define and manage service levels (SLAs/OLAs), queue health, and on-call and escalation coverage; publish and act on metrics for first-contact resolution, mean time to resolve, backlog age, reopen rate, and customer satisfaction.
- Directly manage, coach, and develop help desk and end-user support staff; set performance expectations, run 1:1s, and build career paths and cross-training coverage.
- Standardize endpoint provisioning, imaging, MDM, onboarding and offboarding, and lab-adjacent workstation support in coordination with Security and HR.
- Drive down ticket volume at the source through root-cause analysis, self-service knowledge base content, and automation of repetitive requests.
Infrastructure & Operations
- Own the reliability, capacity, performance, and lifecycle of core infrastructure: LAN/WLAN/WAN, firewalls, server and storage estate, on-premises data center and lab network environments, virtualization, backup, and hybrid cloud services.
- Lead infrastructure roadmap and refresh planning, including hardware end-of-life, firmware and patch cadence, and capacity forecasting tied to headcount, instrument, and manufacturing growth.
- Own IT business continuity and disaster recovery: define RTO/RPO with business owners, maintain backup and recovery design, and run periodic restore and failover testing.
- Support site, lab, and facility buildouts and relocations - network deployment, structured cabling coordination, data center and lab connectivity, and end-user readiness - with minimal disruption to research and production.
- Partner with Information Security on hardening, vulnerability remediation, access control, monitoring, and incident response; ensure infrastructure controls are documented and evidence-ready.
Vendor Management
- Own the IT vendor portfolio end to end: sourcing, technical evaluation, RFP/RFQ, selection, onboarding, and ongoing performance management across hardware, software, managed service providers, telecom, and professional services.
- Negotiate and manage contracts, SOWs, renewals, and MSAs in partnership with Procurement, Legal, and Finance; track renewal calendars so no agreement auto-renews unexamined.
- Run structured vendor business reviews against defined SLAs, deliverables, and spend; escalate and remediate underperformance.
- Identify and deliver cost savings and cost avoidance through consolidation of redundant platforms, right-sizing, competitive bidding, and rationalization of overlapping tools.
- Own IT operating and capital budget inputs: forecasting, purchase requisitions, accruals, variance explanation, and spend reporting.
Change Management
- Own the IT change management process: change intake, risk classification, impact assessment, technical and business approval, scheduled change windows, and post-implementation review.
- Chair the Change Advisory Board (CAB) and maintain the forward schedule of change; enforce standards for rollback plans, testing evidence, and communication requirements.
- Ensure changes to systems supporting GxP, ISO 13485/9001, and other regulated processes are executed with the documentation, validation, and traceability required to withstand internal and external audit.
- Lead incident and problem management for infrastructure and service outages, including root-cause analysis and corrective and preventive actions that feed back into the change process.
- Drive organizational change adoption - training, rollout communications, and support readiness - for new tools and platform migrations.
Project & Portfolio Management
- Own the IT project portfolio: intake, business case and prioritization, resourcing, sequencing, dependency management, and executive-level status reporting.
- Establish and run standard operating mechanisms - quarterly roadmap planning, stage-gate reviews, risk and issue registers, and portfolio dashboards - so leadership has consistent visibility into scope, schedule, budget, and risk.
- Personally lead or oversee delivery of high-impact infrastructure and service programs from initiation through closure and operational handover.
- Track portfolio-level metrics (on-time delivery, budget variance, resource utilization, benefit realization) and use them to rebalance priorities.
- Build and maintain reporting tooling and dashboards that reduce manual reporting effort and improve decision quality.
System & Software Inventory (IT Asset Management)
- Own the IT asset management program and the accuracy of the CMDB and asset repository across endpoints, servers, network gear, lab-attached IT systems, mobile devices, and software.
- Define and enforce asset lifecycle process: procurement, receipt, tagging, assignment, transfer, refresh, secure decommissioning, and certified data destruction and e-waste disposal.
- Establish automated discovery and reconciliation so the inventory of record reflects reality, and run periodic physical audits to validate it.
- Maintain the authoritative application inventory - owner, business criticality, data classification, integrations, hosting model, regulatory scope, and support status - as the foundation for security, disaster recovery, and audit response.
- Provide asset and configuration data on demand to Security, Quality, Finance, and audit stakeholders.
License Management
- Own software license and SaaS subscription management: entitlement tracking, true-up readiness, compliance posture, and audit defense across major publishers.
- Reconcile entitlements against deployed and actual usage; reclaim idle or underused seats and eliminate shadow and duplicate subscriptions.
- Manage renewal timelines and negotiation strategy with Procurement and Finance to optimize cost per seat, tiering, and contract terms.
- Maintain license and subscription cost transparency by department and cost center, and report savings and avoidance delivered.
- Define and enforce a software request and approval workflow so new tools are evaluated for security, redundancy, and cost before purchase.
IT Communications
- Own IT's voice to the business: outage and incident notifications, maintenance and change announcements, rollout and migration communications, and routine service updates.
- Establish communication standards - audience, channel, timing, tone, and escalation thresholds - so employees are informed before they are impacted.
- Publish and maintain the IT service catalog, self-service knowledge base, and internal IT pages so employees know what IT offers and how to get it.
- Deliver regular IT operational reporting and business reviews to leadership and department stakeholders.
- Act as a visible, approachable partner to the business - running office hours, gathering feedback, and translating technical work into business terms.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field - or equivalent practical experience.
- 8+ years of progressive experience in IT infrastructure, service delivery, and/or technical program management, including 3+ years directly managing people.
- Demonstrated ownership of help desk and end-user support operations, including SLA definition, metrics, staffing, and escalation management.
- Hands-on depth in core infrastructure: enterprise networking, servers and storage, virtualization, backup and disaster recovery, identity (Active Directory / Entra ID), endpoint management, and hybrid cloud (AWS and/or Azure).
- Proven vendor and contract management experience, including negotiation, SLA enforcement, and delivery of measurable cost savings or avoidance.
- Working command of ITSM/ITIL practices - incident, problem, change, and asset management - and the ticketing platforms that support them (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, Freshservice).
- Demonstrated project and portfolio management capability across concurrent initiatives with defined scope, schedule, budget, and risk.
- Experience owning IT asset inventory and software license compliance at enterprise scale.
- Excellent written and verbal communication; able to write a clear outage notice and brief an executive with equal ease.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience in life sciences, biotech, medical device, or another regulated environment (GxP, GAMP 5, 21 CFR Part 11, ISO 13485/9001, SOX).
- Experience supporting R&D laboratory and manufacturing environments, including lab instrument connectivity, scientific computing, and lab-adjacent IT systems.
- PMP, ITIL v4, or equivalent certification.
- Experience leading site buildouts, lab or headquarters relocations, and data center migrations.
- Experience with SaaS management platforms, IT asset management tooling, and discovery and reconciliation automation.
- Familiarity with reporting and analytics tooling (Power BI, Tableau, or similar) for portfolio and operational dashboards.
- Scripting or automation skills (PowerShell, Python) applied to reduce manual operational work.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
First 90 days
- Baseline the current state: help desk metrics, infrastructure inventory and risk, active vendor agreements and renewal calendar, open project portfolio, and license position.
- Meet the team, the major internal stakeholders, and the top vendors; establish 1:1s and operating cadence.
- Publish an initial IT operational scorecard and a prioritized remediation list.
First 6 months
- Formal change management process live, with CAB cadence, change calendar, and documented approvals that satisfy audit.
- Asset and application inventory reconciled and under automated discovery; license true-up complete with identified savings.
- Help desk SLAs defined, measured, and trending in the right direction; knowledge base seeded and in use.
First 12 months
- Infrastructure roadmap funded and executing; disaster recovery tested with documented results against agreed RTO/RPO.
- IT project portfolio running on a standard intake-to-delivery process with quarterly planning and executive reporting.
- Measurable cost savings or avoidance delivered through vendor consolidation, license optimization, and platform rationalization.
- IT communications rhythm established - the business knows what is changing, when, and why.
WORKING CONDITIONS & PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
- On-site presence required at the Menlo Park, CA campus; occasional travel to other PacBio sites.
- Occasional after-hours and weekend work for scheduled maintenance windows, cutovers, and incident response.
- Ability to work in laboratory, manufacturing, and data center environments, including occasional lifting of IT equipment up to 40 lbs and work in racks and IDF/MDF closets.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
The anticipated base salary range for this position is $170,400-$255,600 annually. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, internal equity, and work location. This position is also eligible for [annual bonus / equity], along with PacBio's comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k), flexible time off, and employee stock purchase plan.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
Candidates must have current authorization to work in the United States without the need for present or future sponsorship.
Non-Field Based Employees are required to be onsite Monday-Thursday (Friday work from home). Depending on the role, some employees may be required to be 100% onsite.
You may be required from time to time to visit and work at PacBio locations and for such times as the Company considers necessary for the proper performance of your duties.
All listed tasks and responsibilities are deemed as essential functions to this position; however, business conditions may require reasonable accommodations for additional tasks and responsibilities.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, protected veteran status, or on the basis of disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
#LI-DNI
Salary Range:
$170,400.00 - $255,600.00
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