Director of Information Technology

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Athletica Sport Systems Inc. is a global leader in the design, manufacturing, and installation of dasher board and arena systems, and the Preferred Rink Equipment Supplier of the NHL® and AHL®. Guided by our philosophy of “Safety through Innovation,” we have completed more than 3,000 projects worldwide from our headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario and operations in Minneapolis, London, and Vancouver.

Athletica is seeking a Director of Information Technology to join our leadership team in Waterloo. Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, this role owns technology, systems, and data across Athletica and its operating entities, supporting daily operations, organic growth, and acquisitions. The successful candidate will build and lead a growing IT team, stay hands-on while it matures, and lead the clean-up and cloud migration of our Epicor ERP, the technology side of a move to a new facility within 18 months of hire, and completion of our Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementation.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy and budget: Translate business strategy into a sequenced technology roadmap with the CFO and leadership team, and manage the IT operating and capital budget, licensing, and vendor contracts.
• Team: Staff, structure, and develop the IT team to meet business needs, using skills assessments to set hiring and training priorities and to engage outside partners. Stay hands-on while the team matures.
• Epicor improvement: Own Epicor Kinetic end to end. Lead the clean-up and improvement of the existing implementation, including workflows, customizations, reports, and data quality, and standardize setups across entities.
• Epicor platform: Keep Epicor current and supported, and lead the planned move from on-premises to Epicor in the cloud.
• Epicor expertise: Build and train the IT team toward deep Epicor expertise and act as the conduit to outside specialists, including Six S Partners, reviewing designs, testing deliverables, and approving releases.
• Manufacturing modernization: Keep operations on efficient, effective tools. Work with Operations, Engineering, and Projects to implement Epicor capabilities and technology such as barcode scanning, shop floor data collection, and mobile tools, and support Finance, which owns costing, with reliable system data.
• Security & controls: Maintain role-based security in Epicor and other core systems, enforce segregation of duties and change management, and support financial controls and audits. Build a practical cybersecurity program covering multifactor authentication, endpoint protection, backup and recovery testing, and incident response.
• Microsoft 365 & infrastructure: Own the Microsoft 365 environment and set direction for infrastructure and security, including which workloads stay on-premises and which move to the cloud.
• Facility transition: Plan and lead the technology side of the move to the new facility, including network, telephony, shop floor connectivity, and cutover planning that limits disruption to production, installs, and shipping. Lead the expected Microsoft tenant reorganization, and sequence it with the Epicor upgrade and cloud migration.
• CRM: Own Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Complete the partial implementation with sales, service, and finance leaders, fix data quality, simplify workflows, and integrate with Epicor and Microsoft 365.
• Projects & platforms: Determine what project management capability Epicor and Dynamics already provide before recommending new platforms, and replace ad hoc spreadsheets and email processes with system workflows the business adopts.
• Data, reporting & AI: Establish data ownership and standards, and set the reporting approach, including Power BI dashboards for bookings, backlog, margin, labor, capacity, and installs. Lead AI tool use, with Claude as the primary tool and Microsoft Copilot in limited use, within the company AI usage policy, and deploy a few high-value analytics and AI use cases.
• M&A integration: Own the systems workstream for acquisitions, from diligence through integration, using a repeatable playbook for data migration, access setup, and process standardization.
• Executive partnership: Translate how work happens across the business into system configurations, lead rollouts with training and post-go-live support, and represent technology with the board, banks, investors, and senior leadership.
• Other duties as required

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

Education & Certifications:

· Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

· Certifications such as PMP, ITIL, CISSP, Microsoft, or Epicor are an asset.

Knowledge, Experience, and/or Technical Skills:

· 10+ years of progressive IT experience, including 5+ years leading an IT team in a manufacturing environment (required).

· Hands-on experience with Epicor or another full-featured manufacturing ERP, including upgrades and role-based security design (required). Entry-level accounting packages do not qualify.

· Experience with Epicor Kinetic, including on-premises to cloud migration, is a strong asset.

· Working knowledge of manufacturing and financial processes, from bills of materials and routings to inventory, work in process, and the general ledger (required).

· Microsoft 365 administration experience, including a tenant reorganization or migration (required).

· Working knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Power BI, and SQL.

· Knowledge of IT general controls and cybersecurity practices, with experience supporting financial audits.

· Experience delivering major technology projects, such as an ERP upgrade or facility move, with limited disruption to operations.

· Proven ability to lead and develop a junior team, hire for skill gaps, manage vendors, and explain technical matters to business leaders.

· Experience with multi-entity environments, acquisition integration, and applying AI tools is an asset.

Work Environment, Hours & Travel:

· This role is based on-site at our Waterloo, Ontario facility, with occasional remote work at the discretion of the Chief Financial Officer.

· Occasional travel is required to support other business units (Minneapolis, MN; London, ON; Vancouver, BC).

· Standard full-time office hours, Monday to Friday, with flexibility for after-hours work during upgrades, cutovers, the facility move, and urgent incidents.

· Some time on the production floor should be expected.

Compensation & Benefits:

· Annual salary range: $120,000 to $150,000 CAD, commensurate with experience and qualifications.

· Full-time, permanent position with eligibility to participate in Athletica's benefits program.

· Opportunity to lead technology modernization at a global market leader.