Job description
Spectrum IT are working with an industry leading business to recruit a Contract Head of Infrastructure and Operations (I&O). This is a key requirement for the business to focus on both BAU and new infrastructure projects over the next 3 months.
Please note candidates for this role must be available to start within a maximum of 2 weeks and be within commuting distance of Southampton for onsite socially distanced meetings etc post lockdown.
As the Head of I&O you will be highly familiar with DevOps best practice and enabling companies/3rd parties to not be constrained by infrastructure platforms. You will be confident in implementing automation and an 'infrastructure as code' approach to infrastructure management including containerisation. You will also have experience building/supporting a (big) data-centric, high throughput infrastructure that is accessed through APIs (with very high 24/7 availability). You will be responsible managing the I&O team (consisting of DevOps, networking, databases, 1st/2nd line service desk, field support, and monitoring). You will ensure that the activities of the team are coordinated and meet the needs of the wider business to truly represent the brand in all areas.
You will also provide strategic oversight with regards to both the internal teams and third party suppliers focusing on governance and performance of IT systems and processes across the company to ensure the provision of robust, cost effective, scalable, fit-for-purpose services.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design, implement and maintain reliable, performant, scalable and secure infrastructure platforms both on premise and cloud-based in line with the expectations of the business (AWS)
- Implement automation and an 'infrastructure as code' approach to infrastructure management
- Ownership of 1st / 2nd / 3rd line support functions related to networking & telecoms, servers and storage, databases and end user compute infrastructure.
- Ensure the smooth running of the I&O group on a day-to-day basis and constantly review the operating practices and structure within the function to ensure alignment with the wider business strategy.
- Work with IT peers to ensure that the I&O function can support the development, testing and release of new systems and functionality through the software release process. (Including, provision of suitable production and non-production environments, monitoring tools, automation, etc)
- Monitor resourcing levels within the I&O group and, in association with the Director of IT, act to ensure the group is sufficiently staffed through contract, permanent and third party resources as appropriate to meet the needs of the business.
- Arrange required training for group members to ensure that skills are regularly updated to leverage technologies and methodologies that can deliver competitive advantage to the business.
- Liaise with stakeholders throughout the organisation to ensure the alignment and prioritisation of resource in line with business priorities.
- Participate in strategic company initiatives to help improve the standing of the company such as contributing to ISO standards certification and company job evaluations.
- Periodically evaluate partners, new technologies and processes to identify those that could benefit the business
Skills & Experience:
- Extensive Infrastructure and DevOps leadership experience
- Previous experience reviewing the end-to-end business processes to ensure that I&O can deliver efficiency and quality; as well as recommending improvements to deliver competitive advantages to IT departments.
- Extensive team leadership, management and mentoring of staff from a senior management role - Some of this experience should include leading multi-functional teams.
- At least 3 years working within the B2C industry to be familiar with business processes and procedures.
- High level of business acumen and experience in aligning infrastructure to business requirements to deliver competitive advantage.
- Ability to communicate effectively with all levels of the business.
For more information and to state your interest; please apply with an updated CV.
