Vice President, Head of Unix Operations

Shape the future of high‑performance UNIX operations - Step into a leadership role that shapes the future of our global UNIX platform. As Vice President, Head of UNIX Operations - Specialised Infrastructure, you’ll help modernise and scale a critical part of Barclays’ specialised infrastructure while driving meaningful improvements in efficiency, resilience, and service quality. You’ll lead a talented AMER‑based engineering team and guide a global 24x7 follow‑the‑sun operation—setting clear standards, strengthening security, and elevating how we deliver for the business. This role offers the opportunity to advance automation, optimise performance for latency‑sensitive workloads, and champion next‑generation operating models such as AIOps. Your work will directly support the delivery of secure, high‑performance UNIX services that meet the expectations of our clients and the demands of a rapidly evolving technology landscape.

To be successful as a Vice President, Head of Unix Operations, you should have:

• Experience as a Unix systems administrator with mastery-level knowledge and demonstrated experience managing Linux-based systems at scale in a repeatable manner that delivers resilience and fault-tolerance. Mastery-level knowledge of Redhat Products.

• Experience in using Chef and/or Ansible for end-to-end server configuration management

• Knowledge troubleshooting problems that affect Linux performance (jitter, latency, resilience)

• Excellent organizational and communication skills (written and verbal)

• Computer Science / Engineering or similar technical qualifications (industry certifications)

Other highly valued skills include:

• Experience managing a team of technical individuals. Possess clear vision and organizational skills to manage the outcome for individuals with different personalities and levels of skill. Use of JIRA is a plus

• Experience working in the financial industry or similar large tech organization where there are high demands for Linux performance, including low latency, high throughput, low-jitter. Experience working with kernel-bypass or offload technologies a plus

• Experience with Kubernetes a plus

• Demonstrated ability to learn new technologies / concepts and introduce them into production in a controlled and stable manner

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in this role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen, strategic thinking, digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills.

This role is located in New York, NY.

Minimum Salary: $170,000.00

Maximum Salary: $230,000.00

The minimum and maximum salary/rate information above includes only base salary or base hourly rate. It does not include any other type of compensation or benefits that may be available.

Purpose of the role

To  lead and manage engineering teams, providing technical guidance, mentorship, and support to ensure the delivery of high-quality software solutions, driving technical excellence, fostering a culture of innovation, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to align technical decisions with business objectives. 

Accountabilities

• Lead engineering teams effectively, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture to achieve project goals and meet organizational objectives.
• Oversee timelines, team allocation, risk management and task prioritization to ensure the successful delivery of solutions within scope, time, and budget.
• Mentor and support team members' professional growth, conduct performance reviews, provide actionable feedback, and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Evaluation and enhancement of engineering processes, tools, and methodologies to increase efficiency, streamline workflows, and optimize team productivity.
• Collaboration with business partners, product managers, designers, and other stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions and ensure a cohesive approach to product development.
• Enforcement of technology standards, facilitate peer reviews, and implement robust testing practices to ensure the delivery of high-quality solutions.

Vice President Expectations

• To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/ processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures..
• If managing a team, they define jobs and responsibilities, planning for the department’s future needs and operations, counselling employees on performance and contributing to employee pay decisions/changes. They may also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, in alignment with strategic as well as tactical priorities, while balancing short and long term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements..
• If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others..
• OR for an individual contributor, they will be a subject matter expert within own discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi-year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
• Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does.
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies.
• Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
• Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes.
• Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.