Head of IT Operations
Employer: The Children’s Society
Location: Home Based, United Kingdom
Working hours: 35 hours per week
Salary: Up to £66,000
Closing date: Friday 13th February
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We are seeking a Head of Technology and Operations to provide strategic and operational leadership of The Children’s Society’s IT operations, ensuring reliable, secure, and cost‑effective services that enable colleagues to deliver impact for children and young people. The role owns management of the Managed Service Provider (MSP) and other providers, oversees IT Service Management (ITSM) and Service Desk operations, leads the Microsoft 365 digital workplace estate, and is responsible for the IT security of the organisation. The postholder is accountable for operational budgets, supplier performance, service quality, and the continual improvement of our digital workplace.
Key Responsibilities
Operational leadership and service reliability
Lead day-to-day IT operations across infrastructure, networks, end-user computing and platforms; ensure resilient, secure, user-centred services.
Strengthen business continuity, disaster recovery and operational resilience; maintain risk registers and assurance evidence.
ITSM / ITIL and Service Desk performance
Own ITSM (ITIL v3/v4 aligned) processes: Incident, Request, Problem, Configuration/Asset, Knowledge and Major Incident; set standards, KPIs and SLAs.
Direct Service Desk performance (multi-channel support, triage, knowledge-base health, CSAT/NPS).
Supplier, contract and change governance
Act as contract owner and executive lead for MSP and other technology suppliers: scope, commercials, renewals, performance management.
Contribute to governance forums (e.g., CAB, Architecture/Standards) and provide leadership on technology risk and operational governance.
Microsoft 365 tenant and digital workplace leadership
Own Microsoft 365 tenant strategy, governance and roadmap across Entra ID, Intune, Exchange, SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive and Power Platform.
Oversee platform health and controls including licensing (volume licensing administration), capacity, device posture and identity protection.
Azure operational ownership and cloud governance
Provide hands-on operational management of Microsoft Azure resources; ensure governance, access control and cost oversight, inc. associated services.
Security leadership and compliance
Support cyber risk management, vulnerability management, secure configuration baselines and collaboration with security operations.
Ensure policies and controls align with regulatory obligations (e.g., UK GDPR).
Financial ownership and cross-DDaT alignment
Hold budget responsibility for technology operations (OpEx/CapEx).
Work with other Heads across Digital, Data and Technology to align operating practices (support, requirements, DevOps, change).
About You
Technical & Professional
Senior operational leadership of technology services in complex organisations; strong ITSM capability (ITIL v3/v4) and major incident leadership.
Commercial acumen across contracts, SLAs, cost control and vendor negotiation, including MSP management and multi-supplier environments.
Deep Microsoft 365 expertise including tenant governance (identity, endpoint, collaboration), Copilot and Power Platform; capability to translate features into value-led outcomes.
Hands-on experience managing resources on the Microsoft Azure platform; understanding of cloud governance and (desirable) Azure services such as Purview.
Information security principles, risk management, and regulatory obligations (e.g., UK GDPR); experience implementing network and application security controls.
Broad IT knowledge across infrastructure, networking, desktops, OS and security.
Microsoft licensing experience, including volume licensing models and administration.
Proven delivery/oversight of complex technology and infrastructure projects; ability to evidence measurable service improvements.
Leadership & Communication
Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, able to engage senior leaders and align services to organisational priorities.
People leadership: coaching, performance management and professional development; effective line management (including security leadership roles).
Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to explain complex technical risk and trade-offs clearly to non-technical audiences.
Collaborative leadership style with a focus on standardisation, shared best practice, and continuous improvement through data-led management.
Safeguarding
The Children’s Society is committed to safeguarding and protecting the children and young people that we work with. All posts are subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. We have a range of policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and safer working practices across our services.
Closing Date
The closing date for applications is Friday 13th February. Interviews will be held on a date to be confirmed.
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