Head IT Contract jobs

IT Director

Location: Office based near Manchester Airport
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am–5:30pm
Salary: £50,000–£70,000 per annum, depending on experience
Contract: Full-time, permanent
Reporting to: Managing Director / Board

About the Role

We are looking for a hands-on IT Director to take overall responsibility for the company’s technology strategy, infrastructure, cyber security, service delivery and technical operations.

This is not a purely corporate or advisory position. The successful candidate must be capable of setting the company’s technology direction while remaining sufficiently technical to investigate incidents, challenge suppliers, review configurations and personally lead the resolution of business-critical problems.

You will oversee a Microsoft-focused environment incorporating Azure, Azure Virtual Desktop, FSLogix, Microsoft 365, networking, firewalls, VPNs, 3CX, dialler technology, endpoint management and remote monitoring.

The IT Director will ensure that technology supports the company’s growth, protects its information, enables its workforce and provides a reliable platform for day-to-day operations.

Key ResponsibilitiesTechnology Strategy and Leadership

• Develop and maintain a practical technology strategy aligned with the company’s growth plans and operational priorities.
• Act as the senior authority for IT infrastructure, cyber security, service delivery, business continuity and technology risk.
• Translate business objectives into a prioritised technology roadmap.
• Advise the Managing Director and Board on technology risks, investment requirements, major incidents and strategic opportunities.
• Establish appropriate technology standards, policies, governance arrangements and decision-making processes.
• Maintain a balance between security, operational effectiveness, user experience and cost.
• Produce annual technology budgets and investment proposals.
• Define measurable IT objectives and report progress, risks, service performance and project delivery to senior management.
• Build a scalable IT operating model capable of supporting continued business growth.

Operational Ownership

• Retain overall accountability for the availability, performance and security of the company’s technology services.
• Ensure that effective monitoring, incident-management and escalation processes are in place.
• Lead the response to major technology or cyber-security incidents.
• Ensure incidents are followed by root-cause analysis, documented lessons and preventative action.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership where an issue is complex, urgent or business critical.
• Establish service levels and performance measures for internal services and external suppliers.
• Ensure systems, processes and configurations are properly documented and not dependent on undocumented individual knowledge.

Azure Infrastructure and Virtual Desktop

• Own the design, governance and development of the company’s Azure environment.
• Oversee Azure Virtual Desktop architecture, availability, security, performance and capacity.
• Ensure FSLogix profiles, session hosts and supporting storage are correctly designed, monitored and maintained.
• Approve network architecture, access controls, resilience measures and major infrastructure changes.
• Implement appropriate Azure cost-management, backup, recovery and resource-governance controls.
• Ensure administrative permissions follow least-privilege and role-based-access principles.
• Maintain a roadmap for improving cloud performance, reliability, security and cost efficiency.

Microsoft 365 and Information Management

• Own the company’s Microsoft 365 strategy and governance framework.
• Oversee SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange Online, Teams and Microsoft Office applications.
• Establish standards for document storage, sharing, permissions, retention and information ownership.
• Ensure Microsoft 365 security controls are appropriately configured and regularly reviewed.
• Oversee email-security and company-wide email-signature management.
• Ensure licensing remains appropriate, controlled and cost effective.
• Promote effective adoption of collaboration tools and reduce dependence on unmanaged or duplicated information.

Cyber Security, Risk and Compliance

• Define and lead the company’s cyber-security strategy.
• Maintain accountability for Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus readiness and certification.
• Commission penetration tests, vulnerability assessments and independent security reviews.
• Ensure findings are risk assessed, prioritised and remediated within agreed timescales.
• Maintain the cyber-risk register and report material risks to the Board.
• Establish policies covering access control, acceptable use, remote working, incident response, backups, data handling, patching and supplier security.
• Oversee endpoint security, identity protection, multi-factor authentication and privileged-access management.
• Ensure security incidents are identified, contained, investigated and appropriately documented.
• Establish an effective security-awareness and phishing-testing programme.
• Review the security and resilience of key technology suppliers.
• Ensure appropriate disaster-recovery and business-continuity arrangements are tested regularly.
• Keep the company informed of material changes in cyber-security threats, standards and regulatory expectations.

Networks, Firewalls and Connectivity

• Own the company’s network and connectivity architecture.
• Oversee firewalls, VPNs, IP whitelisting, routing, DNS, gateways and remote-access controls.
• Approve significant firewall rules and ensure access is proportionate, documented and periodically reviewed.
• Ensure secure and reliable connectivity between offices, cloud platforms, remote users and third-party services.
• Establish monitoring for availability, capacity and unusual network activity.
• Lead improvements to network resilience, segmentation and security.

Telephony and Contact-Centre Systems

• Own the technology strategy for telephony and contact-centre platforms.
• Oversee the administration, resilience and security of the 3CX telephone system.
• Ensure extensions, call queues, routing, recordings, permissions and reporting remain aligned with operational requirements.
• Oversee dialler platforms and relevant system integrations.
• Manage telecoms suppliers and ensure call-quality and service issues are escalated effectively.
• Assess future telephony and dialler requirements as the organisation grows.
• Ensure call-recording and communications technologies are managed in accordance with company policies and applicable requirements.

Endpoint Management and Monitoring

• Define the company’s endpoint-management and device-security standards.
• Oversee the remote monitoring and management platform.
• Ensure endpoint patching, software deployment, security monitoring and asset management are controlled and measurable.
• Establish standard device builds and lifecycle-management processes.
• Ensure the company maintains an accurate inventory of hardware, software, licences and assigned equipment.
• Develop proactive monitoring so faults and security issues can be identified before they become major incidents.

Supplier and Commercial Management

• Own strategic relationships with technology, cloud, telecoms, cyber-security and software suppliers.
• Negotiate contracts, service levels, pricing and renewal terms.
• Ensure suppliers are held accountable for service quality, security and delivery.
• Reduce unnecessary licensing, duplicated services and uncontrolled technology expenditure.
• Conduct appropriate due diligence before appointing critical technology suppliers.
• Ensure the company retains ownership of key configurations, documentation, credentials and data.
• Develop contingency plans for the failure or replacement of critical suppliers.

Projects, Growth and Change

• Sponsor and lead significant infrastructure, security, telephony and Microsoft 365 projects.
• Ensure technology requirements are considered when new operations, services or teams are introduced.
• Establish proportionate project governance, including scope, ownership, risk, testing, communication and post-implementation review.
• Ensure changes are properly tested, approved and capable of being reversed where necessary.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend those that provide measurable operational or commercial value.
• Create a structured programme of continuous improvement rather than relying solely on reactive support.

Team Development

• Build and develop the internal IT function as business requirements grow.
• Define future roles, responsibilities and technical capabilities required within the team.
• Recruit, manage and develop employees or contractors where appropriate.
• Establish clear objectives, development plans and performance expectations.
• Create a professional, accountable and service-focused IT culture.
• Ensure appropriate cover, succession planning and knowledge transfer are in place.

Experience and SkillsEssential

• Significant experience leading IT infrastructure and technology operations.
• Strong hands-on knowledge of Microsoft Azure.
• Detailed experience with Azure Virtual Desktop and FSLogix.
• Strong Microsoft 365 expertise, including SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange Online and Office applications.
• Strong knowledge of networking, firewalls, VPNs, IP access controls and secure remote connectivity.
• Experience managing 3CX or a comparable enterprise telephony platform.
• Experience with outbound diallers, contact-centre systems or communications platforms.
• Experience with remote monitoring, endpoint management and proactive system administration.
• Strong cyber-security, identity-management and access-control knowledge.
• Experience leading Cyber Essentials, penetration testing and vulnerability-remediation programmes.
• Experience managing major incidents and disaster-recovery arrangements.
• Proven supplier, contract, budget and licence-management experience.
• Ability to develop technology strategy while remaining involved in technical delivery.
• Strong written communication, documentation and senior-stakeholder-management skills.

Desirable

• Previous experience as an IT Director, Head of IT, Infrastructure Manager or senior IT Manager.
• Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 or cyber-security certifications.
• Experience with Entra ID, Microsoft Intune, Conditional Access, Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Purview.
• CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CompTIA Security+ or comparable security knowledge.
• PowerShell, scripting or infrastructure-automation experience.
• Experience supporting a geographically distributed workforce.
• Experience scaling technology within a growing service-led organisation.
• Knowledge of ITIL, ISO 27001, NIST, CIS Controls or comparable frameworks.
• Experience reporting technology and cyber risk at Board level.

Personal Attributes

• A credible technology leader who remains comfortable working hands-on.
• Calm, decisive and accountable during major incidents.
• Commercially aware and able to present clear investment cases.
• Able to challenge suppliers and technical advisers constructively.
• Capable of explaining complex risks and technical choices in straightforward business language.
• Security-focused, practical and proportionate.
• Highly organised, with strong prioritisation and delivery discipline.
• Comfortable operating in a growing organisation where processes continue to evolve.
• Willing to take ownership rather than pass responsibility between suppliers or departments.

On-Call Requirements

Although normal working hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00am–5:30pm, the IT Director will be expected to remain reasonably contactable outside normal working hours in the event of a serious cyber-security, infrastructure, telephony or business-continuity incident.

The IT Director will define the wider on-call and escalation model as the IT function develops. Any formal rota, allowance or time-off-in-lieu arrangement will be agreed as part of the employment package.

Measures of Success

Success in the role will include:

• Improved service availability and reduced recurring incidents.
• Successful Cyber Essentials certification and timely remediation of penetration-test findings.
• Clear and tested incident-response, backup and disaster-recovery arrangements.
• Improved Azure Virtual Desktop reliability and user experience.
• Effective control of technology expenditure and supplier performance.
• Accurate infrastructure, access and asset documentation.
• Stronger security controls without unnecessary disruption to operations.
• Delivery of a clear, prioritised and commercially justified technology roadmap.
• Development of a scalable internal IT capability.

Pay: £50,000.00-£70,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Company events
• Company pension
• Discounted or free food
• Employee discount
• Free parking
• On-site gym
• On-site parking

Work Location: In person