IT Operations Manager - job 2 of 2

Job Title: IT Operations Manager 

Location: Hybrid (2-3 days remote per week, with centre visits as required) 

Contract Length: Permanent 

About First Intuition:

Founded in 2007, First Intuition Limited Group (FI) is an award-winning, UK-based provider of predominantly accountancy training and apprenticeships. We currently have ~ 325 staff based across 9 physical locations and remotely, but we continue to grow rapidly. In April 2023, we secured investment from the private equity firm Apiary Capital who continue to support us in our growth plans, including two recent acquisitions of other First Intuition franchises.  

Our success is due to our approach to training and our links with businesses. We work closely with organisations to precisely understand their needs and incorporate these into innovative course designs, where the interaction with students is tailored, personal and reflects their specific circumstances. This approach has led to First Intuition being awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating by Ofsted.  

We consider ourselves a national provider with locally held relationships. This enables us to deliver student focussed programmes and build strong relationships with all our clients, big or small. With a talented team, we are dedicated to fostering a collaborative and inclusive culture that supports both personal and professional growth and were recently voted as one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024.  

This role is being created to further support and enhance the continued growth within FI Ltd group. It is critical to our business model that our UK teams work in unison with our regions to continue to deliver a fantastic service for our students, clients, and our teams. To achieve our goals, we are seeking a highly skilled IT Operations Manager with expertise in managing IT operations and infrastructure. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in overseeing and managing our network, cloud, server, and desktop infrastructure. They will work to ensure systems are reliable and that the business receives high-quality IT support services. This role requires a detail-oriented professional with strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders. This role is critical to our success over the next 3-5 years and will work across all areas of the FI Ltd Group. 

The role reports into the Director of Technology.  

Duties and responsibilities to include:  

Operational Management and Support 

• Manage the UK IS Ops team ensuring SLA targets are consistently met. 

• Manage the relationships with service providers and vendors to optimise performance and cost efficiency. 

• Diagnose, investigate, and resolve major incidents or service requests promptly, adhering to service level agreements (SLAs). 

• Provide top-tier IT support and break-fix services to the business. 

• Maintain records of network configurations, security policies, and infrastructure changes for future reference and audit purposes. 

• Manage device configuration through MDM/Intune and oversee M365 applications. 

• Oversee and manage our cloud, networks, server, and desktop infrastructure, ensuring everything runs seamlessly and securely. 

• Provide occasional out of hours support. 

Projects, performance, and security 

• Contribute to the planning of the technology roadmap and strategy and oversee assigned technical projects, ensuring they are completed on schedule and within budget. 

• Design, implement, maintain, and test disaster recovery plans and ensure systems and data are backed up. 

• Ensure compliance with relevant regulatory and legal requirements and company policies. 

• Lead IT-related projects (e.g., site builds, upgrades), provide pre- and post-support, and conduct site surveys with accompanying technical documentation. 

• Monitor system performance and conduct thorough analysis of recurring issues, proposing long-term solutions to improve reliability and performance. 

• Stay current with the latest technologies and issues in IT management, including regulatory changes, advancements in technology, and trends in customer requirements. 

Communication and Collaboration 

• Work closely with other IT team members to ensure cohesive and efficient operations. 

• Communicate effectively with stakeholders to understand and address their IT needs. 

• Provide training and support to end-users on system functionalities and best practices. 

• Engage and coordinate with all key stakeholders to advance the implementation of the technology strategy

• Detailed understanding of Cloud and virtualised architecture, infrastructure, and platforms with significant exposure to Microsoft suite of tools. 

• Proven experience in managing IT infrastructure, systems, and operations. 

• Understanding of network infrastructure and technologies such as firewalls, VPNs and SIEM solutions and delivering services across a multi-site environment. 

• Knowledge of disaster recovery and backup technologies. 

• Strong understanding of security principles and best practices. 

• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail. Ability to listen and understand the problem fully is key before working to solve. 

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team. 

• Effective communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders. 

• Confident and professional in dealing with clients and colleagues.  

• Ability to manage business relationships effectively and deliver positive outcomes. 

• Flexible and collaborative mindset with ability to manage multiple priorities. 

• Ability to work with agility. Need to understand the key values and objectives we want to deliver and make incremental changes towards that. 

• Right to live and work in the UK and able to travel, when required, to centres. 

• 25 days annual leave rising to 30 over 5 years’ service PLUS bank holidays.  

• Hybrid working available, equipment provided for homeworking.  

• Flexible-working positive employer with a range of family-friendly policies.

• Employee Assistance Programme: 24-hour confidential access to counselling and support services.

• Competitive Pension.

• Company bonus scheme.

• Training and development opportunities. 

• Long term career prospects in a growing company. 

• Employee perks including a range of discounts to suit your lifestyle. 

First Intuition is committed to the safeguarding and protection of young people and adults, adhering to safer recruitment processes. All successful candidates will need to complete a DBS check, with some roles requiring an Enhanced check. 

As a disability confident employer, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates and are dedicated to ensuring equal opportunities for everyone. In line with our commitment, we guarantee an interview to disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role. If you require any reasonable adjustment s during the interview process, please let us know, and will be happy to support you.