IT Director (Education)

IT Director within Education (A MUST!!!) flexible but required to work from either one of my clients centre(s) in London, Birmingham, Manchester or Liverpool. You will need to travel 1-2 days a week to other centres. Job purpose: As my client continues to grow rapidly, they are seeking a dynamic and solution-focused IT Director to lead their IT strategy and operations. The IT Director will be responsible for overseeing the technological infrastructure of the company, ensuring the alignment of IT initiatives with their business goals. The IT Director will play a crucial role in supporting digital development, enhancing cyber-security, and supporting the scalability of their education platforms. This role is critical to their success over the next 3-5 years and will work across all areas of the group. Job responsibilities: * Strategic Leadership: * Collaborate with stakeholders to identify technological opportunities and risks for delivering the company's services.. * Operational Management: * Oversee the daily operations of the IT department, ensuring systems are reliable, secure, and efficient. * Security and Risk Management: * Develop and implement robust cyber-security policies and procedures to protect company data and IT assets. * Data Governance and Management: * Lead data governance and management activities, ensuring data accuracy, privacy, and security across all platforms. * Data and Technology Roadmap: * Monitor industry trends and emerging technologies, integrating them into the company's technology roadmap as appropriate. * Budget Management: * Manage IT budgets effectively, optimising resource allocation and ensuring alignment with strategic objectives. * Project Management: * Manage relationships with third-party vendors and service providers to optimise performance and cost-efficiency. Skills required: * Proven experience as an IT Director or similar senior IT leadership role, Essential within the education sector. * Strong understanding of IT infrastructure, systems, and best practices. * Expertise in information security principles and best practices, including ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials. * Extensive experience with Microsoft security suites such as Azure, Defender, Sentinel, and Secure Score. * Security Design and Risk Management: Experience in designing and implementing data security postures, including Data Loss Prevention (DLP), information governance, and identity and access management. * Project management skills. * Strong experience in stakeholder management, both internal and external. * Exceptional leadership and team management abilities. Ability to motivate, mentor and develop a diverse team. * Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field. A master's degree or relevant professional certifications (e.g., PMP, CISSP) is highly desirable. Please send in your CV if you have good IT Director skills within the Education sector and you have the above skills. If your CV looks suitable, I will call you to discuss the position in more detail