Head of Systems Operations

Hereford, Herefordshire
IO Associates

Head of System Operations
Location: Hereford (5 days on-site)
Function: Defence
Reports to: Head of Engineering – MUST HOLD ACTIVE SC CLEARANCE TO BE CONSIDERED

About Us

We are a specialist technology organisation trusted to build, secure, and maintain highly resilient communications infrastructure for some of the UK’s most critical services, spanning Government, Defence, Healthcare, Enterprise, and Data Centre environments.

Our culture is defined by four core values: Security that sets us apart, Experience and empathy over ego, Teamwork at all times, and Trust built on always delivering.

The Role

We are looking for a Head of System Operations to take full ownership of the day-to-day leadership, performance, and operational effectiveness of our Operations function. This role bridges technical execution and operational management, driving the team away from reactive support toward structured, process-driven, and resilient service delivery.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide direct line management for the Operations team and Service Desk Lead
• Build, develop, and structure a high-performing operational department
• Set clear expectations around delivery, behaviours, accountability, and standards
• Conduct performance reviews, coaching, 1:1s, and development planning
• Own the day-to-day delivery of reliable, secure, and consistent IT operations
• Ensure service uptime, availability, and performance across the estate
• Define, implement, and enforce ITIL-aligned operational processes
• Own incident, change, problem, and service transition processes
• Chair or provide operational sign-off within Change Advisory Board activities
• Own operational acceptance of new services transitioning from Engineering into live support
• Drive problem management and root cause reduction across the estate
• Own capacity planning across people, platforms, and service demand
• Oversee asset life cycle management and service sustainability
• Lead and provide direction during major incidents and critical service events
• Act as the senior operational escalation point for the Operations team
• Report operational performance, service risks, and improvement priorities to senior leadership
• Ensure all operational activity aligns with security, compliance, and regulatory requirements

Skills & Experience Required

• Strong experience leading IT Operations, Infrastructure, or Service Delivery functions
• Proven track record managing technical teams and building operational capability
• Solid understanding of networking, Firewalls, virtualisation, Linux, Windows, MDM, and cloud services
• Experience implementing ITIL-aligned operational processes
• Strong background in service transition, operational readiness, and continual improvement
• Proven people leadership with the ability to build high-performing teams
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills in fast-paced environments

Tools & Methodologies

• Strong working knowledge of ITIL-based service management
• Experience with ITSM and ticketing platforms
• Familiarity with monitoring, alerting, and reporting tooling
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365

Education & Qualifications

• Degree level or equivalent desirable but not essential
• ITIL Practitioner or equivalent experience strongly desirable
• Leadership or management training desirable
• Relevant technical certifications beneficial