SG Samuel Guerra IT Manager
Seeking Director of IT · Sr. IT Manager · IT Manager · NY / NJ metro

Samuel Guerra

I run the technology layer a company depends on, and I make it cost less every year.

Fourteen years in IT, eight of them leading it. I manage global IT operations across four regions: cloud infrastructure, identity, endpoints, security, and a multimillion-dollar technology budget. Over the last two years I cut a third out of our cloud bill and consolidated a dozen redundant SaaS systems, and put Claude, OpenAI, and Gemini to work in production, without cutting a single service users depend on.

Employees supported
175+ · 4 regions
Budget owned
7-figure · 50+ vendors
Returned via AI
20+ hrs / week
Reports to
CTO & C-suite
Port 01 / Scope

What I own

Six domains I'm accountable for end to end, supporting 175+ employees onsite and remote, domestic and international.

A1

AI & Automation

  • Claude & Claude MCP · Anthropic
  • OpenAI / ChatGPT API
  • Google Gemini
  • Slack helpdesk bots
  • Workflow automation
A2

Cloud & Infrastructure

  • AWS cost optimization
  • S3 lifecycle & storage tiering
  • AWS SSO / IAM profiles
  • VMware vCenter / ESXi
  • Windows Server 2012–2025
A3

Identity & Endpoints

  • Okta / OneLogin, Duo MFA
  • Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, WSUS
  • JAMF Pro + Apple Business Manager
  • PDQ Connect, Intune-class MDM
  • BitLocker & encryption compliance
B1

Vendor & Budget

  • Seven-figure SaaS budget ownership
  • 50+ vendor relationships
  • Contract negotiation & renewals
  • License rationalization
  • Procurement policy & approval flow
B2

Security & Continuity

  • NIST & ISO 27001 frameworks
  • Annual penetration testing programs
  • Business continuity & DR policy
  • SaaS access controls & least privilege
  • Vulnerability remediation
B3

Leadership

  • Global team across 4 regions
  • C-suite technology advisory
  • Change control & documentation
  • Helpdesk operations, L1–L3
  • Hiring, coaching, performance
Port 02 / AI Operations

AI in production

Not pilots, not demos. These run every day, built on Claude, OpenAI, and Gemini, and they hand the team back 20+ hours a week.

01

A helpdesk that answers first

Custom bots built on Claude and the OpenAI API live in Slack, resolving first-line requests in the channel where people already ask, before they ever become tickets.

  • Claude · Anthropic
  • OpenAI API
  • Slack-native L1 triage
02

Onboarding on autopilot

Account provisioning, licensing, and device setup run as AI workflows across every hire. New-hire setup time: cut in half.

  • Claude MCP
  • ChatGPT API
  • Google Gemini
03

AI as an IT strategy

I advise the C-suite on where AI belongs in operations: tool selection, access controls, and governance, so adoption moves fast without breaking trust.

  • Vendor evaluation
  • SaaS access controls
  • Usage governance
Port 03 / Experience

Track record

Jul 2018 – Present8 yrs

IT Manager

Simulmedia Inc. · Manhattan, NY

  • Report to the CTO and own all IT operations globally: New York HQ, Ukraine, the Philippines, and a large remote US workforce, with consistent service delivery for 175+ employees across every time zone.
  • Primary technology advisor to the CEO, CTO, COO, and CFO, and senior escalation point for every corporate IT and helpdesk issue across the entire company.
  • Manage a multimillion-dollar technology budget across 50+ vendors, covering procurement, licensing, and contract negotiation; supervise a team of 2+.
  • Partner with DevOps on cloud infrastructure, automated deployment pipelines, and the practices that improved system reliability.
  • Ran penetration testing programs for corporate and client-facing networks under NIST and ISO 27001, remediating findings annually.
  • Authored the business continuity and disaster recovery policies covering all technology functions, achieving regulatory compliance.
May 2014 – Jul 20184 yrs

Sr. IT Support Engineer

Simulmedia Inc. · Manhattan, NY

  • Maintained 99.8% uptime on mission-critical systems while delivering executive-level support to the C-suite.
  • Ran L2–L3 helpdesk for the company across HQ and satellite offices: 94% first-call resolution, 4-hour average on critical issues.
  • Led a six-figure annual infrastructure modernization program, including Windows Server 2012 to 2016 migrations, network upgrades, and cloud deployments, all delivered on schedule.
  • Held 99.7% network uptime through proactive Juniper firewall and switching maintenance.
  • Deployed JAMF Pro + Apple Business Manager across the entire Mac fleet, hitting 100% MDM enrollment and cutting device configuration time by 75%.
  • Automated Windows endpoint management via PDQ Connect on 50+ workstations, reaching 100% BitLocker encryption compliance.
Nov 2011 – May 20142.5 yrs

Systems Administrator

IT By Design · Manhattan, NY

  • Ran IT operations for a managed service provider's portfolio of 30+ client companies, remote and onsite.
  • Performed data center hardware maintenance and NOC monitoring, catching infrastructure issues before they reached clients.
  • Led client onboarding and offboarding: provisioning, asset management, and security protocol implementation.
  • Deployed Dell, HP, and IBM servers plus SonicWall, Juniper, and Cisco appliances across client sites.
Port 04 / Service

Fourteen years in uniform

I was leading teams under pressure before I ever held an IT title. That training runs underneath everything in the sections above.

I served in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Army National Guard from 2006 to 2020, rising to the rank of Sergeant as an Automated Logistics Specialist out of Fort Dix, New Jersey. In 2008 I deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, returning in 2009.

Fourteen years of service taught me the things a certification can't:

  • Supervised and developed teams of up to 12 personnel, responsible for their performance, coaching, and professional growth.
  • Made sound decisions in high-pressure environments, building and executing action plans against hard operational objectives.
  • Held accountability for equipment readiness and mission-critical resources, the same discipline I now apply to uptime, assets, and budgets.
  • Built deep expertise in logistics, inventory management, and process optimization inside complex organizations.
Service record
Branch
U.S. ArmyU.S. Army National Guard
Rank
Sergeant
MOS
Automated Logistics Specialist
Deployment
Operation Iraqi FreedomIraq · 2008 – 2009
Duty station
Fort Dix, NJ
Tenure
Mar 2006 – Mar 202014 years · Veteran
Port 05 / Credentials

Certifications & education

Certifications

Apple Certified Macintosh TechnicianACMT
Jamf Certified TechnicianJamf
Microsoft Certified Solutions AssociateServer 2016
Associate Google Workspace AdministratorGoogle

▪ Bilingual in English & Spanish

Education

M.S. in IT Administration & SecurityNJIT · 2014
B.S. in Computer Science / ITNJIT · 2011
Port 06 / Contact

Let's talk

I'm looking for Director of IT, Sr. IT Manager, and IT Manager roles where I can own global operations, cloud cost, vendor strategy, and automation. If you're building or rebuilding an IT function, I'd like to hear about it. Email is the fastest way to reach me, and my résumé is available on request.

samuel.i.guerra@gmail.com
LinkedIn