Head of IT Operations

Head of IT Operations | Bolton (Hybrid) | £60,000–£75,000

Are you an IT Infrastructure Manager, IT Operations Manager or Head of IT who still enjoys being hands-on? This Head of IT Operations role reports directly to the CEO of an established, FCA-regulated financial services business in Bolton, leading IT operations across two Bolton sites and home workers.

As Head of IT Operations you'll lead the service desk and infrastructure engineers, own the stability, performance and security of the group's systems, and still get stuck in on complex projects and major incidents. It's a genuine blend of leadership and hands-on technical work.

What the Head of IT Operations will own

• Leading and developing the service desk and infrastructure team through 1:1s, appraisals and a skills matrix
• SLAs, KPIs and service quality, run through Jira Service Management
• Technical escalation: leading major incidents and the reviews afterwards
• Change management, IT policy and documentation standards
• Windows Server, Hyper-V, Dell PowerEdge, SQL Server and Linux
• Networking across both sites: SonicWall firewalls, switching, VLANs, Wi-Fi and secure remote access
• Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, Entra ID and Active Directory
• Patching, vulnerability management, Wazuh SIEM and Cyber Essentials Plus
• Backup, disaster recovery and business continuity with Veeam, including regular restore and failover tests
• Mitel telephony and call recording
• The IT budget, suppliers, licences, contract renewals and the hardware refresh programme
• Automating routine work with scripting, and bringing in AI tools that genuinely help the team

What you'll bring

• At least 5 years in senior infrastructure engineering, including 2+ years in a leadership role
• Experience leading a service desk or IT operations team across multiple sites, on-premises and home workers
• Strong hands-on Windows Server, virtualisation, Microsoft 365 and networking (switching, VLANs, wireless, firewalls)
• Proven incident, problem and change management
• Security and compliance experience such as Cyber Essentials Plus, CIS Benchmarks and pen test remediation
• Backup and disaster recovery you've designed and tested
• PowerShell or similar scripting
• A track record of delivering projects end to end
• The ability to explain technical risk clearly to non-technical leaders
• AI literacy, with a genuine interest in bringing in AI tools that help teams work better

Nice to have: Mitel MiVoice or similar telephony, Dell PowerEdge and enterprise storage, ITIL, Intune or Action1, experience developing and onboarding AI solutions, and time in an FCA-regulated business.

How they work

They'll look for someone who's comfortable making sound calls without a perfect rulebook, stays calm under pressure, gets to the root cause, weighs cost and risk like a business owner, and gets up to speed fast.

What's on offer

• £60,000–£75,000
• Hybrid working, 35 hours, Monday to Friday
• 28 days' holiday plus bank holidays, your birthday off and a half-day for seasonal shopping
• Contributory pension and support with industry-relevant qualifications
• Free on-site parking, cycle to work scheme and casual dress

The honest bit

This is a hands-on leadership role. You'll coordinate out-of-hours cover, including Saturday support and a monthly Maintenance Sunday. If you've moved fully into IT strategy, or you don't want to manage people or a budget, it won't suit you.

Confidential search

This Head of IT Operations search is run exclusively by Red Dot Search. Apply with your CV and we'll be in touch if your experience is a match. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and will make reasonable adjustments throughout the process.