Sr. Manager, Infrastructure - Chicago, IL

Be Part of Our Next Chapter · For over almost 60 years, our solutions have enabled impactful connections between some of the world's leading brands and their customers. And while we've already done a lot of work we're proud of, we're just getting started · We're a global technolo ...

Job description

Be Part of Our Next Chapter
For over almost 60 years, our solutions have enabled impactful connections between some of the world's leading brands and their customers. And while we've already done a lot of work we're proud of, we're just getting started

We're a global technology company focused on creating dynamic, smart, personalized and engaging customer experiences powered by our range of digital hardware, our proprietary content management system and our industry leading signage solutions. (For example: If you've ordered in-store or in the drive-thru at McDonald's somewhere in the world in the last few years, chances are you've interacted with our digital solutions.) We work in over 50 global markets and have 9 offices around the world, with a global headquarters proudly located in our founding home of Sydney, Australia.

Coates Group has the values of a family-owned business and the innovative spirit of a start-up, both which fuel our purpose –
Creating Connections. Empowering Partnerships. Always Evolving
. Through hard work, dedication and creativity, we've become industry leaders who have won awards and set records while remaining focused on continual growth and evolution. We are a 2x Australia Good Design Award winner and successfully completed the largest hardware deployment in Quick Service Restaurant history.

We are curious, charismatic, authentic and we value and leverage the diversity of our crew. We are imaginers, kindness enthusiasts, experts, creators, thinkers, challengers, collaborators and over-achievers. And together, as a Crew, we are revolutionizing the way the world's leading brands leverage technology to drive the best customer experiences.

The Sr. Infrastructure Manager is the technical and people leader accountable for how infrastructure enables product delivery, system reliability, and cost discipline across North America.

This role owns cloud architecture standards, DevOps practices, media player operating systems, and observability strategy. It partners directly with Engineering and Product leadership to make deliberate trade-offs between reliability, performance, cost, and delivery velocity.

The Sr. Infrastructure Manager does not simply operate infrastructure — they define how it is built, scaled, secured, and evolved. This leader establishes technical standards, drives automation maturity, and ensures infrastructure decisions align with business goals and customer SLAs.

Responsibilities

• Infrastructure Strategy & Leadership
• Lead and develop the North American Infrastructure and DevOps teams, setting clear expectations, performance standards, and technical direction.
• Define and enforce infrastructure standards and operational best practices.
• Hire, coach, and grow engineers while building a culture of ownership and accountability.
• Cloud Architecture & Cost Ownership
• Own AWS architecture decisions supporting customer-facing production systems.
• Drive infrastructure design based on explicit trade-offs between availability, scalability, cost, and engineering velocity.
• Maintain clear visibility into hosting spend and proactively manage optimization initiatives.
• DevOps & Automation Maturity
• Establish and evolve CI/CD standards and infrastructure-as-code practices to improve reliability and reduce manual intervention.
• Lead re-architecture efforts when necessary to improve scalability, resilience, or efficiency.
• Hold engineering teams accountable to agreed DevOps and deployment standards.
• Media Player Platform & Edge Infrastructure
• Oversee lifecycle management, security posture, and update strategy for media player operating systems across distributed fleets.
• Improve operational visibility and reliability across edge environments.
• Observability & Operational Excellence
• Define monitoring, alerting, and incident management standards to meet uptime and SLA commitments.
• Drive root cause analysis and continuous improvement following production incidents.
• Establish clear operational metrics and reporting.
• Cross-Functional Partnership
• Partner with Product and Engineering leaders to ensure infrastructure capabilities support roadmap priorities.
• Influence roadmap decisions by providing clear insight into technical risk, scalability limits, and cost implications.

Capabilities

• Technical Authority – Brings deep infrastructure expertise and credibility; capable of challenging architectural decisions when necessary.
• Business-Aligned Decision Making – Frames infrastructure decisions in terms of risk, cost, reliability, and customer impact.
• People Leadership – Experienced managing engineers, conducting performance management, and developing high-performing teams.
• Operational Discipline – Establishes clear standards, measurable KPIs, and repeatable processes.
• Strategic Thinking – Balances near-term delivery needs with long-term platform scalability and modernization.
• Clear Communication – Can articulate technical trade-offs to executive and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Ownership Mentality – Takes accountability for uptime, security posture, and infrastructure outcomes.

Qualifications

• Required Experience
• 10+ years in infrastructure, DevOps, or cloud engineering roles, with at least 5 years leading engineering teams.
• Experience managing and growing teams of 5+ engineers, including hiring, performance management, and career development.
• Proven ownership of AWS environments supporting production, customer-facing systems.
• Experience designing and evolving cloud architecture, not just operating within it.
• Strong expertise in Linux administration, scripting, and automation.
• Deep experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, ECS).
• Demonstrated leadership in CI/CD and infrastructure-as-code practices (Terraform, CloudFormation, etc.).
• Hands-on experience implementing monitoring and observability strategies.
• Experience operating in environments requiring strong security and compliance practices.
• Preferred
• Experience leading infrastructure across distributed or global environments.
• Exposure to edge device or fleet management environments.

$130,000 - $160,000 a year

About Coates
We are industry leaders who have won awards and set records. We are a 2x Australia Good Design Award winner and we successfully completed the largest hardware deployment in Quick Service Restaurant history.

We are led by a forward-thinking CEO who has demonstrated a true passion for people and making Coates a place where people genuinely enjoy working. Our growth plans enable a focus on providing rapid career advancement opportunities for our talent.

Together, we are creators, allowing us to make our purpose a reality – to create immersive brand experiences for everyone.

Join a Crew that Cares
Be part of a global team of talented, ambitious, creative people that value integrity, individuality and inclusivity. (Ask us about our Equality + Empowerment Initiatives).

The benefits include an annual market competitive bonus program and our "Thrive Program" which includes a suite of flexible work options because we're strong believers that you should never miss an important life or work moment. Thrive also provides dedicated time to prioritize our health and wellbeing (think virtual Yoga or meditation sessions), a Global Wellness paid day off to recharge as well as a "Give Back Day" to allow our Crew an opportunity to make an impact in the community.

Be inspired To Be More
We skip the red tape and aim to always stay nimble. We're proud of where we've been and are energized by where we're going. We encourage ideas and perspectives because we know the more we have, the better we are. We work hard but have fun along the way. We push the boundaries but keep it real and authentic. We believe in the values that got us here are the ones that will continue to lead us forward. We are excited by what we've accomplished, but know the best is yet to come.

Coates Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national or ethnic origin, gender, religion, disability, age, political affiliation or belief, disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam Era, or citizenship status (except in those special circumstances permitted or mandated by law).
Fraud Alert: Employment Scam Advisory
It has come to our attention that unauthorised individuals are impersonating our company and reaching out to job seekers through fraudulent emails, falsely claiming to represent Coates. These emails often request personal information and appear to come from domains that are not affiliated with our organisation, such as

.

We take this matter very seriously. Coates has reported these incidents to law enforcement and is cooperating with the ongoing investigation. We are committed to protecting the integrity of our recruitment process and the privacy of our applicants.

Please Be Advised Of The Following

• Coates does not operate or communicate through any domain resembling "@ "
• Wedo not contact employment candidates via email to solicit personal or financial information
• All applications for employment must be submitted through our official website or directly through our LinkedIn profile: Coates Group
• All emails from us will come from our official domain, which is [at]coatesgroup[dot]com or via our Applicant - Tracking System (ATS) email address, which is no-reply[at] [dot]co

If you receive any suspicious communications purporting to be from Coates, we urge you not to respond, do not click any links, and do not provide any personal information. Your safety and trust are of the utmost importance to us. Thank you for your vigilance.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.