Director of IT Infrastructure (f/m/d)

at subsidary 1&1 Mail & Media Applications SE in Karlsruhe or Munich
Full-time | Permanent | Executives
Reference ID: 4354

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About us

With our strong brands GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com and over 42 million active users, we are the leading email and communications platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. From this strong market position, services and apps are developed that simplify users' digital lives - from office tools and cloud solutions to personal ID management.

Your Tasks

At 1&1 Mail & Media, we operate at extraordinary scales—over 8,000 physical servers across four global data center locations with exceptional geographical redundancy. We not only use the cloud - we build our own cloud infrastructure. We manage more than 100 million active mailboxes worldwide, with over 34 million customers in Germany alone. We handle massive operations: hundreds of petabytes of storage, 3.5 billion active logins per day, and nearly half an exabyte of internet traffic annually. We don’t just use technology; we push it to its limits, break it, then innovate on solutions that lead the industry forward. Our commitment to active-active and high-availability environments is proven and sustained.

As an esteemed member of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), our team leads discussions and keynotes at prominent events like KubeCon and ContainerDays, influencing industry standards and practices. With the establishment of our new Networking & Datacenter Engineering department, we are looking for an experienced leader to take on the role of Director. Reporting directly to the VP of IT Operations, this position offers a unique opportunity to work closely with senior leadership and gain insights into strategic decision-making at the highest levels. The role offers significant growth potential. Sounds interesting to you? Then help us build an amazing new unit.

As the Director of IT Infrastructure, you will drive the strategy and execution for the development and management of our core data center and networking capabilities. Your leadership will ensure the robustness, efficiency, and scalability of our infrastructure to meet current and future demands. You work closely together with our operations teams as well as our platform services department that provide our in-house, Kubernetes based cloud infrastructure. You will lead our biggest, most ambitious technical infrastructure projects, ensuring continuous success of our products and services. Besides, you will drive the development and implementation of an open-source alternative to our current proprietary load balancing solutions, enhancing our operational independence and flexibility.

• Strategic Leadership: Manage and expand a team of approximately 10 skilled engineers, architects, and program managers.
• Innovative Architecture: Spearhead the architectural strategy for our network infrastructure, ensuring optimal performance and security.
• Operational Excellence: Oversee critical operations including IP-routing, load balancing, and DNS management.
• Project Management: Lead significant initiatives such as data center relocations and transitions to cutting-edge load balancing technologies.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Maintain and enhance relationships with key suppliers and internal stakeholders, ensuring alignment and exceptional support for our products and services.

We Appreciate

You hold a degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent professional experience, supplemented by a career foundation in network engineering or DevOps, and subsequent progression to architectural roles? You have several years’ experience as a leader? If you are ready to lead at the intersection of innovation and reliability, we look forward to your application. This position offers a unique opportunity to influence the technological direction of a major player in the tech industry, directly impacting the service experience of millions.

• Proven Leadership: Demonstrated ability to lead and coach technical teams and manage large-scale IT projects, with a hands-on approach when necessary.
• Technical Expertise: A solid foundation in IP-networks (IPv4, IPv6), including advanced knowledge in BGP, DNS, and load balancing strategies. Experience with Linux networking, virtualization, and containerized environments (Kubernetes) is essential.
• Innovative Mindset: A strong DevOps or SRE orientation, with a commitment to automation and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles.
• Solution-Oriented: Capable of conceptualizing and executing technical solutions that align with business objectives. Experience in transitioning from commercial solutions to open-source alternatives is highly desirable.
• Communication Skills: Excellent command of English (C1 level), with proficiency in German is considered an advantage.

What else we would like to tell you

• Our corporate culture: „You“ culture and no dress code, flat hierarchies, open and transparent communication
• Individual development opportunities: diverse training programmes, e-learning and internal communities, leadership training, language courses, mentoring
• Benefits and additional services: company pension scheme, capital-forming benefits, discounts on own products, job ticket, company car, bike leasing, corporate benefits portal
• Attractive working conditions: 30 days holiday, hybrid working 2 days home office/week, full-time and part-time arrangements, free choice between Linux, Mac or Windows
• Social: team events, summer and winter parties, family and care service, sports and fitness programmes, subsidised canteen, free fruit and drinks, health courses
• Topics that are also important to us: Sustainability, diversity and our values and leadership principles - find out more on our website mail-and-media.com

apply online now