name: vp-of-infrastructure
description: |
Guides VP-level infrastructure leadership—org strategy and operating model, multi-year cloud,
data center, and platform portfolio, capex and opex governance, org-wide reliability and security
posture, hyperscaler/colo/vendor and enterprise agreement strategy, build-vs-buy and multi-year
roadmaps, and board/CFO/CTO executive narratives.
Use when setting infrastructure direction, designing infra org and decision rights, prioritizing
portfolio investments, steering vendor or EA strategy, preparing executive or board updates, or
adjudicating cross-functional trade-offs—not for Terraform/K8s implementation (infrastructure-engineer),
cloud program leadership—migration portfolio, CCoE, EA at cloud scope (vp-of-cloud),
landing zone or CCoE design (enterprise-cloud-architect), SLI/SLO operations (site-reliability-engineer),
monthly CUR FinOps (finops-analyst), TCO/NPV modeling (cloud-economist), or GL close/capex accounting
policy (director-infrastructure-capex-accounting, compute-accounting-manager).
VP of Infrastructure
When to Use
- Set 3–5 year infrastructure strategy — cloud-first, hybrid, repatriation, regional footprint
- Govern investment portfolio — cloud commits, DC builds, platform, reliability, security baseline
- Design org and operating model — central platform vs embedded SRE, federated cloud, DC ops
- Own headcount plan, hiring bar, and leadership succession for infra functions
- Run budget cycle — capex envelope, cloud run-rate, efficiency targets, trade-off decisions
- Define reliability and security posture at org level — tiering, SLO policy, investment themes
- Partner on vendor, hyperscaler, and EA strategy — commits, colo, hardware, critical SaaS
- Prepare CTO, CFO, and board materials — risk, cost trajectory, capacity, major bets
- Steer transformation — migration, platform consolidation, DC exit/expand decisions
- Resolve escalations between product, security, finance, and infra delivery
When NOT to Use
- Terraform modules, VPC, K8s manifests →
infrastructure-engineer, cloud-engineer
- Cloud program strategy, migration portfolio, CCoE charter, cloud SteerCo →
vp-of-cloud
- Landing zones, CCoE standards, EA technical design →
enterprise-cloud-architect, cloud-architect
- SLI/SLO implementation, PRRs, burn-rate alerts →
site-reliability-engineer
- Access tickets, patching, restores →
cloud-system-administrator
- Cloud control implementation and CSPM tuning →
cloud-security-engineer
- CUR rightsizing, monthly FinOps dashboards →
finops-analyst
- TCO/NPV models and commit economics →
cloud-economist
- MW/rack delivery execution →
senior-data-center-capacity-delivery-manager
- Rack utilization and GPU supply efficiency →
data-center-compute-supply-efficiency
- Capex capitalization policy and audit steering →
director-infrastructure-capex-accounting
- Month-end cloud GL and amortization →
compute-accounting-manager
- Software program milestones and RAID →
technical-program-manager
- Issue trees and generic operating model →
business-consultant
Related skills
| Need | Skill |
|---|
| VP cloud program (strategy, migration, EA, CCoE) | vp-of-cloud |
| Enterprise cloud governance and CCoE | enterprise-cloud-architect |
| Product/line cloud architecture | cloud-architect |
| Hands-on cloud, IaC, and platform build | infrastructure-engineer, cloud-engineer |
| SRE and SLO operations | site-reliability-engineer |
| Cloud day-2 operations | cloud-system-administrator |
| Cloud security architecture and controls | cloud-security-engineer |
| FinOps operations | finops-analyst |
| Cloud economics and business cases | cloud-economist |
| DC portfolio planning | data-center-portfolio-planning-execution-lead |
| DC capacity delivery | senior-data-center-capacity-delivery-manager |
| Compute utilization and refresh | data-center-compute-supply-efficiency |
| Infrastructure capex accounting | director-infrastructure-capex-accounting |
| Operational compute accounting | compute-accounting-manager |
| Cross-team program delivery | technical-program-manager |
| Security and compliance partnership | information-security-engineer, cloud-compliance-specialist |
| BCM/DRP posture, tier-0 recovery investment, exercise outcomes | bcm-disaster-recovery-specialist |
| Executive messaging | communication-lead |
Core Workflows
1. Scope and executive lens
Boundaries vs architects, operators, finance, and TPM.
See references/vp_infrastructure_scope.md.
2. Infrastructure portfolio strategy
Prioritize cloud, DC, platform, reliability, and transformation bets.
See references/infrastructure_portfolio_strategy.md.
3. Capex and OpEx governance
Envelope, targets, and trade-offs with finance.
See references/capex_opex_governance.md.
4. Reliability and security posture
Org-tiering, SLO policy, and investment themes with security partners.
See references/reliability_security_posture.md.
5. Vendor, EA, and supply
Hyperscaler, colo, hardware, and critical SaaS commercial strategy.
See references/vendor_ea_and_supply.md.
6. Executive infrastructure briefings
SteerCo, QBR, board packs, and investment asks.
See references/executive_infrastructure_briefings.md.
Outputs
- Infrastructure strategy — 3–5 year themes, hybrid posture, decision principles
- Portfolio roadmap — ranked initiatives, horizons, stage gates, owners
- Budget and investment memo — envelope, trade-offs, metrics, finance alignment
- Org and operating model — teams, interfaces, decision rights, federated vs central
- Reliability/security posture summary — tiering, gaps, investment themes
- Vendor/EA brief — commercial frame, risks, negotiation guardrails
- Executive narrative — decisions, options rejected, 2–4 quarter success metrics
Principles
- Portfolio over projects — fund outcomes and capacity, not every request
- Explicit trade-offs — reliability, cost, speed, and risk on one page
- Delegate execution — VP sets direction; specialists implement
- One financial truth — align with FinOps, FP&A, and accounting partners
- Measure in quarters — tie bets to leading indicators, not activity