Head of IT Operations

Overview

Job title:

Head of IT Operations

Reporting to:

IT Director  

Responsible for:

The efficient management, stability, security, and performance of Bell’s IT infrastructure and End User compute services. This role ensures that IT systems, networks, and cloud platforms operate smoothly, securely, and cost-effectively. The position requires a combination of technical expertise, leadership skills, IT service management, and operational efficiency to support business continuity and scalability

Based at:

Remote with travel to Portsmouth and London as required

Scope:

a strategic and leadership role in managing the reliability, security, efficiency, and scalability of Bell’s IT infrastructure, services, and operations. The role encompasses IT governance, cloud and infrastructure management, security, IT service delivery, vendor management, and disaster recovery to ensure IT aligns with business objectives.

Responsibilities

• Define and implement the IT operations strategy to align with business goals.
• Establish IT governance frameworks, policies, performance metrics and best practices for IT Operations.
• Drive operational excellence by improving IT processes and efficiencies.
• Oversee network, servers, storage, cloud platforms, and enterprise applications.
• Ensure high availability, scalability, and security of IT systems.
• Manage on-premise, hybrid, and cloud-based IT environments (AWS, Azure).
• Optimize IT asset management to maximize ROI on technology investments
• Implement and manage ITIL frameworks for IT service delivery.
• Ensure effective incident, problem, and change management processes.
• Oversee IT Service Desk, support teams, and SLA (Service Level Agreement) adherence.
• Improve user experience and satisfaction through proactive IT support
• Work with cybersecurity team to ensure IT security best practices.
• Ensure compliance with GDPR, ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials and other regulations.
• Implement disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC) strategies.
• Monitor threat detection, vulnerability management, and IT risk mitigation efforts.
• Oversee data Centre operations, backup, and recovery processes
• Manage relationships with IT vendors, service providers, and third-party contractors.
• Ensure cost-effective procurement of IT solutions and services.
• Track IT budgets, spending, and cost-optimisation initiatives
• Define, track and report KPIs for IT operations, uptime, and service quality.

Qualifications

Essential

• 10+ years of experience in IT operations leadership and aligning IT operations with business objectives.
• Strong knowledge of IT service management (ITSM), ITIL, cybersecurity, and IT infrastructure and troubleshooting complex IT issues.
• Experience in managing large-scale IT teams, budgets, and vendor relationships.
• Expertise in IT security, compliance, and disaster recovery planning.
• Proven track record in optimising IT processes, costs, performance, and uptime.
• Strategic KPI and metric reporting
• Excellent stakeholder management and strategic planning skills.
• Line and task management experience of cross-functional IT teams
• Up to date with emerging IT trends and digital transformation strategies

Desirable

• ITIL 4 Managing Professional