IT Senior Operations Analyst

This position requires a hybrid schedule working 3 days a week from our Legacy West Support Center located in Plano, Texas

About Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.

At SBH, our purpose is to inspire a more colorful, confident, and welcoming world. We are the leader in professional hair color, selling and distributing professional beauty supplies across 11 countries through our Sally Beauty and Beauty Systems Group businesses. Sally Beauty offers products for hair color, hair care, nails, and skin care to retail customers looking for salon quality products at a value price. Beauty Systems Group, branded as Cosmo Prof or Armstrong McCall stores, along with its direct sales consultants, sell professionally branded products intended for use and resale by salons to retail consumers.

About the role

The IT Senior Operations Analyst is a key leader responsible for the stability, resilience, and continuous improvement of the organization’s IT operating environment. This role provides strategic and hands-on leadership across IT operations, owning mature incident, problem, and change management practices to minimize risk, reduce service disruption, and enable business objectives.

The position partners closely with internal IT teams, Managed Service Providers (MSPs), vendors, security, and business stakeholders to drive operational excellence, enforce governance, and guide the controlled evolution of IT services. The Senior IT Operations Analyst is expected to influence decision-making, mentor peers, and proactively identify and address operational risks and improvement opportunities. 

Responsibilities

1. IT Operations Management

Provide senior-level oversight of day-to-day IT operations, ensuring availability, performance, capacity, and reliability across systems, applications, and infrastructure.Lead coordination of operational delivery across internal IT teams, MSPs, and vendors, holding partners accountable to SLAs and service expectations.Proactively identify operational risks, systemic issues, and performance trends; lead root-cause analysis and drive long-term corrective and preventive actions.Serve as an escalation point for major incidents, providing leadership during high-impact events and ensuring effective communication and resolution.

2. Change Management & Operational Risk Control

Own and continuously improve the IT change management framework, ensuring consistent, disciplined execution across the organization.Evaluate and challenge change risk and impact across technology, security, and business operations, balancing speed with stability and compliance.Chair or lead change approval boards as appropriate, providing expert guidance and decision support.Establish and report on change metrics, trends, and risk indicators in alignment with ITIL, audit, and governance requirements.

3. Data Analysis 

Lead analysis of MSP and vendor performance data to identify trends, risks, capacity constraints, and optimization opportunities.Design, maintain, and evolve operational metrics, dashboards, and executive-level reporting to support SLA management, service quality, cost optimization, and strategic decisions.Actively manage MSP and vendor relationships, including SLA enforcement, issue escalation, continuous improvement initiatives, and software license compliance and optimization.Translate data and insights into actionable recommendations for leadership and stakeholders.

4. Security, Compliance, and Governance

Ensure IT operations and changes consistently adhere to security policies, internal standards, and regulatory requirements.Partner closely with security, risk, and audit teams to strengthen operational controls, access management, and risk mitigation practices.Lead preparation and maintenance of documentation and evidence required for audits, assessments, and ongoing governance activities.Promote a culture of operational discipline, risk awareness, and compliance across IT teams and service partners. 

Knowledge, skills & abilities requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business, or a related field; equivalent practical experience may be considered.7–10+ years of progressive experience in IT operations, IT service management, or related disciplines, including demonstrated ownership of enterprise-scale operational processes.Advanced working knowledge of ITIL practices, with hands-on experience leading incident, problem, and change management in mature, governed environments. ITIL certification strongly preferred.Proven experience operating within complex, hybrid IT environments, including cloud, on-prem, and outsourced services, with direct accountability for MSP and vendor performance.Strong technical breadth across enterprise infrastructure, applications, networking, cloud platforms, security controls, and SDLC methodologies, enabling effective risk and impact assessment.Demonstrated ability to lead during high-impact incidents, providing clear direction, executive-level communication, and calm decision-making under pressure.Experience designing, interpreting, and presenting operational metrics, KPIs, and executive-level dashboards to drive accountability, service quality, and continuous improvement.Strong business acumen, with the ability to evaluate financial, operational, and risk trade-offs and translate technical issues into business-relevant insights and recommendations.Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to influence outcomes, challenge assumptions constructively, and communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.Advanced interpersonal skills, including facilitation, negotiation, conflict resolution, and stakeholder management at both operational and leadership levels.Proven capability to mentor and guide peers, set operational standards, and promote a culture of accountability, discipline, and continuous improvement.Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, high-visibility environment, managing competing priorities while maintaining operational stability and governance.Strong understanding of security, compliance, audit, and regulatory requirements, and experience embedding controls into operational and change processes.

Competencies & attributes

Passionate Learner – inquisitive about the business; open to feedback and coaching, applies learning quickly; applies learning to improve processes and procedures, proactively shares learning with colleagues and leaders; realigning and reshaping projectsFlexible & Agile Adapter – responsive and open to change; works well with ambiguity; adapts to new plans or directions; keeps calm under pressure; perseveres to achieve the plan/task; doesn’t dwell on the pastTalent Builder – considers how we can create an inclusive culture; encourages input from others; invests time as an informal/formal coach or buddy; works to build a diverse team with the right skills and knowledge; looks for ways to acknowledge, motivate, and value the teamEffective Communicator – articulates in an appropriate and accurate manner; emotionally astute while remaining authentic to own style/self; encourages others to express views and opinions; demonstrates active listening and uses probing questions; is concise and relevant with data/infoTeam Builder – references the importance of teamwork and actively demonstrates collaboration and sharing; builds and/or participates in effective teams; values the importance of inclusion and various sources of thought/input; humble when operating within a team   Customer Focused Partner – understands internal and external customer needs; contributes to plans and actions to improve the associate and customer journey/experience; holds self and team accountable for improving the customer experience; is an advocate for the customerStrategic Thinker – progressive thinking with the ability to bring new ideas to life; works with others to develop progressive and cost-effective strategies; provides suggestions to improve upon continuous improvement and scalability within department; uses a broad range of data sourcesBig Picture Thinker – understands own department and how other key departments operate; adopts an inclusive approach; seeks feedback reviews progress, and adapts plans as needed; understands interdependencies with other departments Results Driver – effective at driving and delivering on plans; holds self and team accountable to high standard of delivery; suggests opportunities for innovation and continuous improvement; focuses on the right priorities and uses resources/time wisely; demonstrates grit and determinationProblem Solver & Decision Maker – able to consume department/operational data to identify business; identifies, gathers, and examines the relevant information; makes recommendations and takes action to solve challenges, considers importance/impact of decisions against relevant factors

Working conditions & physical requirements

This will be a hybrid role required to be onsite at the corporate office on specified days. The work environment generally involves everyday risks or discomforts which require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, meeting and training rooms, retail stores, and residences or commercial vehicles, e.g., use of safe work practices with office equipment, avoidance of trips and falls, observance of fire regulations and traffic signals, etc. The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated.

The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and occasionally requires carrying, moving and setting up of computers, for example desktops, monitors, printers, and other small hardware in the testing lab.

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