Director IT Operations (f/m/d)
GMX, WEB.DE & mail.com | IT Quality Assurance / -management / IT Security / IT Software Development / IT System Administration | Karlsruhe / Munich | Permanent | Full-time | Management roles | Reference ID: 333
- Your tasks
Do you have experience operating highly available 24/7 environments for web, mobile, or financial services with millions of users and high traffic volumes? Are you at home working with bare metal as well as virtualized or container-based environments? Does continuous improvement in the agile sense mean more to you than just technology—namely organization and culture?
Do you also have a clear vision of what a modern, scalable IT operations landscape and future collaboration with development should look like? And are you able to inspire your teams with this vision? Then we’re looking for you!
Take responsibility for operations and platform development for Germany’s largest web portal, with more than 10 billion page impressions per month and over 50,000 hosts.
- You lead an agile, hybrid operations organization consisting of five departments across three locations.
- You actively contribute to the design of system architectures as well as strategic and technical roadmap planning.
- You manage CAPEX and OPEX budgets and coordinate strategic investments with top management.
- You define goals, ensure their implementation, and coach or support leaders in their personal development.
- You work closely with software development, product management, our group-owned data centers (IONOS), and external colocation partners.
- You manage large, long-term infrastructure projects, create appropriate project structures and governance processes, and keep project objectives in focus.
- Your profile
Did you start your career where real technology is built—working as a system administrator, developer, or infrastructure engineer? Do you have a completed technical degree and several years of leadership experience in IT operations—as a Director, VP, Head of Department, or CTO? Do you see yourself as a coach and organizational developer who can inspire a team of around 100 employees? Then we should get to know each other! What we are also looking for:
- Familiarity with IT and network security concepts, DDoS protection, high availability, and business continuity management (BCM).
- Experience in system and software design for distributed systems.
- Up-to-date knowledge of current IT technologies, with a clear understanding of the technical developments in your organization, and the ability to drive innovation and architecture forward.
- Solid understanding of concepts, use cases, and limitations of technologies such as Ceph, Kubernetes, Cassandra, Prometheus, Elasticsearch, HAProxy, BGP, and others.
- A results-driven and structured working style, combined with openness to constructive discussions and feedback.
- Our benefits in detail
🏢 Lived corporate culture: Flat hierarchies, a culture of respect and appreciation, signatories of the Diversity Charter, open communication, and no dress code.
🎓 Wide range of further training: Internal and external training opportunities, LinkedIn Learning, language courses, leadership training, conferences, mentoring, and free choice between Linux, Mac, or Windows.
💡 TEC-Campus: Conferences, lecture series, courses, open-source projects, community meetups, and user groups.
❤️ Active health care: Wellpass, free internal sports and fitness classes, health days, family & care support services, discounts at fitness centers, mental health first responders, fresh fruit, and drinks for free.
🚝 Mobility: Company car, subsidy for job bike leasing, and the job ticket.
💻 Flexible working models: Home office options, flexible working hours, and 30 days of vacation with the option for additional unpaid leave.
💰 Financial benefits: Corporate benefits, company pension scheme, capital-forming benefits, occupational disability insurance, and various partner discounts.
🎉 Events: Summer and winter parties, sports tournaments, and team events.
We are brand. With GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com and over 42 million active users, we are the leading email and communication platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
We are future. Our services and apps simplify digital life from cloud storage to news and ID management.
You are at home. Your digital passion finds a professional home with us. Your strength makes us stronger, your expertise complements our ideas, your success becomes visible. Together we shape the digital future.
Diversity enriches. Different cultures, nationalities, genders, age groups, sexual orientations and religions as well as people with disabilities - we desire diversity and encourage it. Because only teams that reflect all facets of society offer the best framework conditions for creativity and make a company productive and distinctive. We value diversity and welcome all applications.

Apply now
We look forward to receiving your application, including your salary expectations and the reference number given above. Please use our online application form. If you have any questions about the position or the application process, please send us an email.
1&1 Mail & Media Applications SE
Recruiting & Candidate Management
Brauerstraße 48
D-76135 Karlsruhe
We are awarded!



