Director of Technology Services  

Ann Taylor's rich heritage dates to 1954, when founder Robert Liebeskind, the son of a dressmaker, opened his first shop. Back then, Ann Taylor represented a best-selling dress style that had been gifted to the storeowner by his father. The Ann Taylor design embodied the well-dressed woman, and the Ann Taylor legacy was born. By 1983, Ann Taylor had grown from a regional, primarily East Coast brand, to a national brand with 47 stores across the United States. Today, the Ann Taylor brand is represented by three divisions: Ann Taylor Stores, Ann Taylor LOFT, and Ann Taylor Factory. At the end of Fiscal 2007, Ann Taylor operated 869 stores throughout the United States, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and generated more than $2.3 billion in sales.

Our mission at Ann Taylor is to provide women with updated classics that are feminine, stylish, versatile and polished and that wardrobe her across all aspects of her evolving lifestyle. Ann Taylor offers sophisticated and refined style for the woman who always wants to look appropriate in classic, updated fashion. From a young professional wanting to start on the right foot as she enters the workforce to the mother of three wanting to look best for her family function, Ann Taylor clients place a premium on how they are perceived. We strive to serve as a trusted advisor to help women with all of their wardrobe needs.

Position Overview: The Director of Technology Services is responsible for incorporating company-wide requirements into the cost effective, risk appropriate development, management, implementation and operation of strategic and operational initiatives for all corporate information systems infrastructure. Primary Responsibilities/Accountabilities: Provide leadership and management for AT’s Technology services team, which is responsible for the planning, deployment, configuration, monitoring and operation of all infrastructure services, achieving and delivering top quality responsive services to our business communities. Mentor, coach and support direct reports and the team on performance expectations. Facilitate learning and the development and growth of team members Research, plan and deploy the appropriate services, technologies and solutions to meet changing business directives. Keeping abreast of latest technology and sourcing directions and trends that will leverage the tools and resources that are presently in place at AT, maximizing investment. Identify and capitalize on opportunities to source elements of AT’s infrastructure to services vendors, achieving clear and significant value realization while constraining and mitigating risk. Develop and document appropriate policies, procedures, processes, service plans and metrics to improve upon the department’s as well as, the corporation’s performance. Establish clear expectations on service levels with vendors, and monitor those service levels carefully to assure AT’s realization of business value in each relationship.Establish and maintain sound working relationships with the leaders of the business, IS Business Engagement, Project Management, Applications and Technical services teams. Communicating regularly to maximize synergy between systems, applications and the business teams. Establish and manage relationships with software, hardware and service providers to encourage partnership and maximize the quality of support. Innovate around new methods to leverage suppliers to maximize AT’s value proposition, and successfully deploy those methods to achieve results expectations. Proactively seek involvement in changing business needs, recognize new opportunities for technology or process improvements, to contribute to business initiatives. Develop and manage capital and expense budgets established during the annual budgeting process. Champion Ann Taylor Values and Practices, leading by example.

In addition to a solid management background and a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, or related field, the candidate must possess 5-10 years industry experience at or above a Director level, in Technology Planning, E-Commerce, Intel and Midrange Server Environments, Database Administration, Disaster Recovery and Storage . Demonstrated experience in multiple high-value strategic sourcing relationships around vendor management, SLA definition and monitoring, business case articulation and realization, dispute management, vendor selection and cost containment.Experience in emerging sourcing techniques and relationships including cloud computing and cloud-based services.Solid, well demonstrated experience in migration to sourced models for infrastructure services; ability to architect, define, realize and implement successfully transition plans for moving from in-house to sourced services and from sourcing vendor to sourcing vendor.Ability to develop, manage and execute strategic initiatives Highly customer-oriented Solid understanding of tools and technologies employed in a corporate systems environment Ability to embrace new technologies and change, generates enthusiasm about new projects Demonstrated leadership skills and ability to effectively work with senior management and all levels, both internally and externally. Excellent organizational and analytical skills. Strong verbal, written, and interpersonal communications skills. Disciplined project management skills. Strategic and innovative thinker with ability to work tactically Demonstrated knowledge of IT operations, infrastructure, solution delivery, capacity planning, and strategic planning. Leadership and motivational skills in terms of heading a large group of employees through periods of growth and change.

---