Manager, IT Systems & Data Architecture (Contract Role)

The Opportunity

As Coursedog’s first Manager, IT Systems & Data Architecture, you’ll lead the systems, integrations, and operational infrastructure that support day-to-day business operations across the company. Working within our Centralized Operations & Systems team, and reporting directly to the VP, Enterprise Systems & Architecture, this role combines hands-on IT systems management, data architecture, AI tooling enablement, and security operations into a single foundational function that supports 200+ employees across the company.

This contract is well-suited for a hands-on, AI-fluent operator who moves fluidly between solving today's problems and architecting next year's foundation. You'll lead tier-1 IT support for the company — triaging and resolving day-to-day issues across our internal tools, with L2/L3 escalation paths to the rest of the Systems team — while also designing the data flows and integrations that hold our systems together, leading multi-quarter projects, and supporting the AI tooling and governance that helps every team move from one-off AI usage to systematic, well-supported workflows. This is a highly cross-departmental function, not a solo operation – you'll partner closely with Operations, Finance, and Legal to drive progress and efficiency.

This contract includes occasional off-hours responsibility for critical system outages (e.g., SSO, core SaaS tools), though these are infrequent.

This role will begin as a fixed-term, 4-month contract with the possibility of extension or conversion to full-time employment. This contract is fully remote and is open to candidates located anywhere in the continental US.

This contract role offers a monthly compensation range of $9,000 - $11,000, depending on experience, qualifications, and scope of engagement. Compensation will be determined based on the selected candidate’s expertise, technical background, and ability to support the company’s evolving systems, data architecture, and operational infrastructure needs.

What You'll Do

Internal Tool Stack & Vendor Management

• Own administration of our core SaaS systems including Rippling, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Maxio, Jira, and related tooling
• Serve as the company-wide point of contact for internal tool questions, escalations, and requests
• Evaluate, procure, implement, and retire internal tools based on evolving business needs and operational scale
• Manage vendor relationships, contracts, and renewals in partnership with Finance and Legal

Data Architecture & Integrations

• Design and maintain the data architecture connecting our internal systems — data models, pipelines, warehousing, and integrations between SaaS tools and our analytics environment
• Build and maintain ETL/ELT workflows via APIs, iPaaS tools, and native connectors so data flows reliably between systems of record
• Establish scalable data governance practices around ownership, quality, definitions, and access
• Partner with Data & Analytics teams to ensure operational and AI-related workflows are supported by reliable, well-modeled data

AI Enablement & Tooling

• Administer and support the company’s AI tooling ecosystem, including licensing, access management, usage policies, and employee enablement
• Partner cross-functionally to operationalize AI workflows and ensure employees can effectively leverage approved tools
• Lay the foundation — SSO, identity, shared context, data access — that lets AI initiatives move from experiments to systematic implementation
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Operations leaders as they build AI into their workflows
• Evaluate and pilot emerging AI capabilities and help drive responsible adoption across the organization

Security & SOC 2 Compliance

• Own the internal-systems side of Coursedog’s SOC 2 compliance program, including access controls, provisioning and deprovisioning, access reviews, MFA enforcement, audit logging, and evidence collection
• Implement and maintain identity and access management (SSO, SCIM, least-privilege, RBAC) across the tool stack
• Manage endpoint security and MDM for company devices
• Partner with Security and Legal on policy creation and implementation, risk assessments, and vendor security reviews (including AI tools)

What Success Looks Like During This Contract

• Build and launch a centralized internal knowledge base and FAQ program, including documentation for core business systems, common support requests, onboarding/offboarding procedures, and AI tooling guidance. Establish ownership, maintenance processes, and self-service workflows that reduce repetitive support requests.
• Complete a comprehensive audit of all internal platforms, applications, user accounts, and access permissions. Deliver a documented inventory of systems, identify orphaned accounts and excessive privileges, and implement a repeatable access review process.
• Increase identity and access management maturity across the organization by driving MFA adoption, expanding SSO coverage where technically feasible, documenting exceptions, and establishing standardized provisioning and deprovisioning workflows.
• Partner with Operations stakeholders to assess Coursedog's readiness for SOC 2. Identify control gaps, document current-state processes, implement foundational workflows and evidence collection procedures, and deliver a prioritized roadmap toward successful audit readiness.
• Establish baseline IT operational processes, including ticket triage, support documentation, access request workflows, and system ownership records, creating a sustainable foundation for future scale.
• Leave the organization with clear documentation, repeatable processes, and measurable improvements in security posture, access governance, and employee self-service capabilities.

What You'll Bring

• 5+ years in IT operations, business systems, data engineering, or systems engineering, with prior experience leading projects, mentoring teammates, and/or owning a domain end-to-end
• Hands-on experience administering modern SaaS environments (Okta or similar IdP, Google Workspace or M365, Salesforce, an HRIS, a finance or ERP system, support and engineering tools).
• Strong Jira administration experience and comfort supporting cross-functional operational workflows
• Strong experience designing and maintaining data models, integrations, and pipelines, with fluent-level SQL skills and hands-on experience using modern cloud data warehouses and ETL/ELT tooling such as Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, dbt, Fivetran, or Airbyte
• Practical, hands-on AI fluency — you've used Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Cursor, or similar tools to do meaningful work, helped others adopt them, and have a point of view on what works
• Experience operating — not just observing — a security compliance program (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, or similar)
• Track record building integrations via APIs, iPaaS tools (Workato, Tray, Zapier at scale), or native connectors
• Ability to translate ambiguous business needs into scalable technical solutions, communicate tradeoffs clearly, and build strong working relationships across technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Bias toward documentation, automation, and self-service over becoming a bottleneck

Nice to have

• Experience standing up or scaling an AI tooling program (licensing, governance, internal enablement)
• Experience managing direct reports
• Familiarity with MCP, agentic workflows, retrieval-augmented systems, or similar AI integration patterns
• Scripting experience (Python, JavaScript) for automation and AI workflows
• Experience with MDM platforms (Rippling, Kandji, Jamf, Intune, etc.) and endpoint security tooling (SentinelOne)
• Prior experience leading a SOC 2 Type II audit through to a clean report

Not sure if you should apply? Research shows that women and people from underrepresented backgrounds are less likely to apply unless they meet every qualification listed. At Coursedog, we're focused on finding the best person for the role, and that person may come from a non-traditional background. We encourage you to apply even if you don't meet every requirement — our evaluation focuses on your ability to thrive in this role and make an impact.

This is a 4-month contract role with the intention to convert to a full-time position. Candidates who join the team full time will be eligible for our competitive comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, unlimited paid time off, and retirement savings options.