Director, Store Technology Support (Hybrid)

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Signet Jewelers is the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry, operating more than 2,800 stores worldwide under the iconic brands: Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, H.Samuel, Ernest Jones, Peoples, Banter by Piercing Pagoda, Rocksbox, JamesAllen.com and Diamonds Direct. We are a people-first company and this core value is at the heart of everything we do, from empowering our valued team members, to collaborating with our customers, to fostering the communities in which we live and serve. People – and the love their actions inspire – are what drive us. We’re not only proud of the love we inspire outside our walls, we’re especially proud of the diversity, inclusion and equity we’re inspiring inside. There are dynamic career paths awaiting you – rewarding opportunities to impact the lives of others and inspire love. Join us!

Director, Store Technology Support

Location: Dallas, TX or Akron, OH (Hybrid)

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Store Technical Support Director is responsible for leading store technology support operations, including management of the internal Tier 2 support organization, outsourced Level 1 help desk providers, and third-party field service vendors supporting onsite store technology issues. This role oversees the operational health, support strategy, incident management, and continuous improvement of store systems. The position is accountable for ensuring timely resolution of hardware, software, and network issues impacting stores, while driving proactive monitoring, operational excellence, vendor accountability, and business continuity. The Director partners closely with Store Operations, Infrastructure, Engineering, Security, and external partners to deliver stable, reliable, and business-focused support services that minimize disruption to store operations and improve the overall store team-member and customer experience.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Team Leadership & Operational Capability Building

• Lead, coach, and develop Store Technical Support managers, engineers, analysts, and senior individual contributors; operate as a leader-of-leaders rather than a tactical operator.
• Build and maintain a high-performing Tier 2 support organization focused on customer experience, operational excellence, accountability, and proactive problem management.
• Set the team's operating model, talent strategy, hiring plan, and FTE-to-contingent workforce mix in partnership with HR and Finance.
• Lead the team’s evolution toward an AI-assisted, agentic support model - equipping engineers and analysts with integrated, end-to-end AI capability for deflection, triage, knowledge ops, and L1 augmentation - to amplify the team’s craft, accelerate resolution, and build a small, skilled, nimble team capable of outsized impact, progressively reducing dependence on external contractor capacity in favor of a stronger internal organization.
• Foster a culture of responsiveness, ownership, collaboration, continuous improvement, and fact-based decision making.
• Develop leadership capability within the organization while creating clear career paths and succession planning for critical support roles.
• Champion support metrics, operational transparency, and team health through KPI-driven management practices.

Store Support Operations & Service Management

• Own day-to-day operational support for store technology hardware, network environments and related infrastructure.
• Lead the internal Tier 2 support function responsible for advanced troubleshooting, major incident resolution, root cause analysis, escalation management, and operational recovery activities.
• Ensure the Tier 2 support team provides remote troubleshooting and resolution support for store hardware issues by working directly with store personnel and coordinating replacement activities with outsourced field support vendors when onsite repair or hardware replacement is required.
• Oversee support processes for hardware lifecycle incidents including diagnosis, dispatch coordination, replacement validation, and restoration of store operations.
• Ensure the Tier 2 support organization owns network troubleshooting and resolution activities for store connectivity, WAN, LAN, wireless, ISP, and related infrastructure issues in partnership with telecommunications, infrastructure, and external service providers.
• Lead cross-functional technical escalations involving network outages, degraded store performance, connectivity issues, and infrastructure-related operational disruptions.
• Ensure support processes minimize disruption to store operations and prioritize business continuity during peak selling periods.
• Establish and continuously improve incident management, problem management, knowledge management, and change support processes.
• Drive proactive monitoring, trend analysis, and issue prevention initiatives to reduce recurring store incidents and improve overall store stability.
• Ensure support readiness for seasonal peaks, major releases, infrastructure upgrades, hardware refreshes, and new store openings.
• Partner with engineering and infrastructure teams to improve supportability, stability, resiliency, and operational performance of store systems and networks.

Vendor & Outsourced Support Management

• Manage the outsourced Level 1 help desk provider responsible for first-contact support and triage for store incidents and requests.
• Manage outsourced field technical support vendors responsible for dispatching technicians to stores for onsite break/fix, installations, and technical support activities.
• Establish and enforce vendor SLAs, operational KPIs, quality standards, escalation procedures, and customer experience expectations.
• Lead governance routines, performance reviews, operational scorecards, and continuous improvement initiatives with support partners.
• Ensure field support vendors meet response-time commitments, technician quality standards, communication expectations, and operational compliance requirements.
• Lead escalations involving outsourced support partners and hold vendors accountable for issue resolution and service outcomes.
• Drive vendor optimization and operational efficiency while balancing cost, service quality, and business continuity.

Operational Excellence, Reliability & Security

• Own operational availability, incident-response effectiveness, and support performance for all technologies within scope.
• Establish and report on support SLAs, store team-member CSAT and Employee Net Promoter Score (ENPS) for IT support, MTTR, first-contact resolution, deflection rate, escalation rate, ticket-to-incident ratio, field dispatch performance, and overall service-level trends.
• Lead major incident management activities and ensure timely communication to business and executive stakeholders.
• Partner with Infrastructure and Information Security teams to support compliance, security standards, endpoint management, and data protection requirements.

Business Partnership & Store Experience Alignment

• Build strong, trust-based relationships with Store Operations, Loss Prevention, Infrastructure, Engineering, and business leadership teams.
• Serve as the primary technology support liaison for store operations and advocate for store team-member experience.
• Treat store team-member experience as a hospitality function - drive a white-glove standard across response speed, communication quality, follow-through, and end-to-end ownership of every store interaction.
• Personally accountable for measurable, sustained improvement in store team-member satisfaction (ENPS / CSAT) with IT support.
• Translate operational pain points and store feedback into actionable improvement plans and support priorities.
• Communicate technical issues, risks, trends, and remediation plans in business-focused language appropriate for operational leadership.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure technology changes are implemented with appropriate operational readiness, communication, and support planning.
• Maintain a strong understanding of store operations and how technology issues impact customer and employee experience.

Financial Stewardship

• Be fiscally responsible — measurably improve service quality and store team-member experience while holding or reducing total cost, treating incremental headcount or spend as a last resort rather than a default path to improvement.
• Own the operational support budget for internal support teams and outsourced support providers.
• Manage vendor contracts, service economics, support licensing, and staffing models to optimize operational effectiveness and cost efficiency.
• Ensure outsourced support services, field support activities, hardware replacement services, and related vendor charges are accurately tracked, validated, approved, and invoiced in a timely manner consistent with contractual agreements and financial controls.
• Partner with Finance, Procurement, and vendors to resolve billing discrepancies, improve invoice accuracy, and maintain operational and financial accountability.
• Evaluate opportunities for automation, workforce optimization, and process improvement to improve support performance and reduce operational costs.
• Participate in annual planning, forecasting, and support investment prioritization activities.

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS:

Required Experience

• 10+ years of progressive IT leadership experience supporting retail, store operations, or customer-facing technology environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical support organizations, including Tier 2 or advanced support teams.
• Proven experience managing outsourced help desk providers and third-party field support vendors.
• Strong operational leadership experience supporting business-critical systems in high-volume retail environments.
• Experience leading major incident management, escalation management, and operational recovery activities.
• Demonstrated success building strong partnerships with operational business leaders outside of direct reporting relationships.
• Experience managing operational SLAs, KPIs, vendor scorecards, and service governance processes.
• Strong financial acumen including budget ownership and vendor management responsibilities.
• Demonstrated ability to lead effectively in complex, matrixed organizations with competing priorities.
• Experience supporting multi-brand or multi-banner retail operations.
• Demonstrated track record of turning around underperforming support organizations, including the willingness and ability to make difficult personnel, process, and vendor changes to elevate service quality.
• Proven ability to materially improve service quality while holding or reducing total cost — without simply adding headcount or spend.

Preferred Experience

• Multi-national experience supporting business operations across more than one country.
• Specialty retail or jewelry retail experience.
• Experience implementing AI-assisted support tooling, automation, or self-service support capabilities.
• Experience improving operational maturity using ITIL, service management, or comparable operational frameworks.
• Experience supporting large-scale store technology rollouts, upgrades, or infrastructure modernization initiatives.
• Experience managing support organizations operating in 24x7 or extended retail support environments.

Technical / Other Skills

• Strong working knowledge of retail store technologies including POS, mobile devices, networking, payment systems, endpoint management, and store infrastructure.
• Strong understanding of incident management, problem management, change management, and operational support best practices.
• Strong analytical capabilities, with the ability to direct complex troubleshooting and root-cause investigation across internal teams and external vendors.
• Exceptional prioritization and multitasking capabilities in fast-paced retail environments.
• Exceptional communication range and equally effective with senior executives at the top of the house (CEO, brand presidents, CDTO, CFO/COO) and with engineers, store associates, support technicians, and vendor partners closer to the work; adjusts substance, depth, and tone to audience, making technical complexity land in business terms upward and translating strategic intent into concrete, executable direction downward.
• Strong leadership presence, coaching capability, conflict management, and team-building skills.
• Demonstrated ability to remain calm, organized, and fact-based during high-pressure operational incidents and escalations.
• Strong understanding of store operations and the operational impact of technology disruptions.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams).

BENEFITS & PERKS:

• Competitive healthcare, dental & vision insurance
• 401(k) matching after one year of employment
• Generous time off + company holidays
• Merchandise discount
• Learning & Development programs
• Much more!