VP of IT: Facts, Skills, and Next Paths

A VP of IT leads the technology function across an organization, setting strategy for service delivery, infrastructure, and security. Day-to-day work involves overseeing IT teams, managing vendor relationships, and ensuring systems align with business goals. This role also drives process improvements, automates manual tasks, and maintains compliance with industry regulations.

The VP of IT sits at the executive level, reporting to the CIO or CEO, and is responsible for end-to-end IT operations. For example, at Burlington Stores, the Director of IT Service Delivery manages a 24x7 support team for 1,300+ retail locations and distribution centers, implementing ITIL best practices. At Anthropic, the Incident Response Manager runs the on-call program and builds automation to protect users. Core responsibilities include team leadership, stakeholder management, business development, and analytics and reporting.

The median salary for a VP of IT is approximately $249,231, with the most requested skills in current postings being Compliance, Automation, and Business Development (each appearing in 40% of listings), followed by Analytics & Reporting, Stakeholder Management, Team Leadership, Documentation, and Process Improvement (each at 30%).