Head of IT Infrastructure

About This Role

KEY ACCOUNTABILITY / TASKS

1. IT Operations Management

• Manage daily IT operations across the Group’s hybrid technology environment.
• Ensure availability, reliability, and performance of IT infrastructure, Microsoft 365, identity services, endpoint systems, backup services, and shared IT platforms.
• Coordinate operational activities between internal IT teams, service desk, business users, vendors, and outsourced providers.
• Track service issues, risks, recurring incidents, and improvement actions.
• Provide regular operational updates, risks, and escalation reports to the Group IT Director.

2. Microsoft Azure Infrastructure & Cloud Migration

• Support the migration of remaining on-premises servers and workloads to Microsoft Azure.
• Coordinate workload assessment, dependency mapping, sizing, migration planning, testing, cutover, and post-migration validation.
• Manage or coordinate Azure infrastructure services, including Azure virtual machines, storage accounts, virtual networks, network security groups, Azure Backup, Azure Monitor, Recovery Services Vault, RBAC, resource groups, and subscriptions.
• Support Azure governance, including naming standards, tagging, access control, policies, monitoring, backup, and cost management.
• Track Azure migration progress, risks, issues, dependencies, and decommissioning activities.
• Identify opportunities to right-size Azure resources and optimize cloud consumption.

3. Windows Server, Hyper-V & On-Premises Infrastructure

• Oversee remaining on-premises Windows Server environments during the migration period.
• Manage or supervise Hyper-V hosts, virtual machines, file servers, domain controllers, storage allocation, and local infrastructure services.
• Ensure servers are patched, monitored, secured, backed up, and documented.
• Coordinate infrastructure maintenance, upgrades, consolidation, migration, and decommissioning activities.
• Escalate infrastructure issues to relevant vendors or service providers where required.

4. Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID & Identity Services

• Oversee Active Directory services, including users, groups, OUs, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, domain controllers, and replication health.
• Manage Microsoft Entra ID users, groups, roles, MFA, conditional access, authentication methods, and identity-related controls.
• Support hybrid identity synchronization through Entra ID Connect where applicable.
• Maintain AD and Entra ID hygiene, including inactive accounts, stale devices, privileged groups, and service accounts.
• Ensure joiner, mover, and leaver processes are properly executed in coordination with HR, Service Desk, and business units.
• Support least-privilege access, privileged access reviews, MFA enforcement, and audit requirements.

5. Microsoft 365 & Collaboration Services

• Oversee Microsoft 365 services, including Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, licensing, and service health.
• Manage Microsoft 365 user administration, mailbox support, collaboration settings, access controls, and service escalations.
• Support migration of file services and collaboration workloads to SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Azure Files, or other approved platforms.
• Monitor Microsoft 365 service health and coordinate user communication during major incidents or planned maintenance.
• Track Microsoft 365 licensing, usage, and cost optimization opportunities.

6. Backup, Recovery & Disaster Recovery Readiness

• Oversee backup operations for on-premises, Azure, Microsoft 365, and outsourced cloud workloads.
• Ensure Azure-hosted servers and business-critical systems are protected through approved backup and recovery mechanisms.
• Monitor backup job success, investigate failures, and ensure corrective actions are completed.
• Ensure periodic restore tests are performed and documented.
• Maintain backup schedules, retention policies, recovery procedures, and restore documentation.
• Support disaster recovery planning, DR testing, and business continuity exercises.

7. OCI & Outsourced Workload Coordination

• Act as the internal IT operations focal point for OCI-hosted and Linux-based workloads managed by outsourced service providers.
• Coordinate incidents, changes, access requests, backup requests, patching updates, capacity reviews, and service escalations.
• Review service reports, monitoring alerts, backup reports, security updates, capacity trends, and SLA performance.
• Ensure internal visibility of outsourced workloads, ownership, dependencies, access, backup status, and escalation paths.
• Validate that outsourced services are aligned with business requirements, security expectations, and agreed SLAs.

8. Endpoint, Service Desk & User Support Governance

• Oversee endpoint and server management tools such as ManageEngine Endpoint Central, Microsoft Intune, SCCM, or similar platforms.
• Coordinate patch deployment, software distribution, endpoint compliance, antivirus/EDR coverage, and inventory reporting.
• Support the Service Desk in resolving escalated endpoint, identity, Microsoft 365, access, and infrastructure-related issues.
• Ensure incidents and service requests are logged, categorized, prioritized, assigned, and resolved within agreed SLAs.
• Review recurring tickets and identify opportunities for automation, self-service, training, and process improvement.

9. Security, Compliance & IT Governance

• Ensure security hardening standards are applied across Windows servers, Azure infrastructure, Microsoft 365, identity systems, endpoints, and cloud services.
• Support vulnerability remediation, patch compliance, audit findings, and security improvement actions.
• Coordinate with cybersecurity, network, cloud, and vendor teams during security incidents or investigations.
• Support MFA, PAM, break-glass access, privileged access reviews, and least-privilege access practices.
• Ensure administrative access is approved, logged, reviewed, and periodically recertified.
• Support compliance with internal IT policies, ISO 27001, NIST, Zero Trust principles, and audit requirements where applicable.

10. Incident, Change, Problem & Configuration Management

• Ensure incidents, service requests, problems, and changes are managed in line with ITIL-based practices.
• Monitor infrastructure alerts, Azure service health, Microsoft 365 service health, identity sync status, backup failures, endpoint compliance, and critical system availability.
• Coordinate root cause analysis for major or recurring incidents.
• Review and execute operational change requests where delegated.
• Ensure changes are properly planned, tested, communicated, approved, and documented.
• Maintain accurate CMDB records, Azure inventory, infrastructure diagrams, runbooks, and escalation matrices.

11. Vendor & SLA Management

• Coordinate with Azure partners, OCI managed service providers, Microsoft partners, backup vendors, endpoint/security vendors, infrastructure vendors, and hardware support partners.
• Track support contracts, warranties, renewals, licenses, SLAs, and escalation contacts.
• Participate in vendor service review meetings.
• Review vendor performance reports and follow up on corrective actions.
• Escalate unresolved issues and ensure closure within agreed timelines.
• Ensure vendors provide required documentation, incident reports, RCA, backup reports, capacity reports, cost reports, and change records.

12. Legacy Infrastructure Decommissioning & Continuous Improvement

• Support decommissioning of legacy on-premises systems following successful migration to Azure.
• Coordinate backup validation, data retention, access removal, DNS cleanup, license closure, and documentation updates.
• Identify opportunities to simplify infrastructure, reduce cost, improve security, and enhance service reliability.
• Support standardization of Azure governance, monitoring, backup, naming conventions, tagging, access control, and operational procedures.
• Contribute to IT operations improvement plans and roadmap execution.

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, & SKILLS

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 8–12 years in IT operations, systems administration, infrastructure, or hybrid cloud; including 3–5 years in a senior/lead role.
• Strong expertise in Microsoft Azure (VMs, networking, storage, backup, monitoring, RBAC, cost management, policies).
• Experience in on-prem to Azure migration and hybrid infrastructure environments.
• Solid knowledge of Windows Server, Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Group Policy, and identity services.
• Experience with Microsoft Entra ID, MFA, conditional access, hybrid identity, and identity governance.
• Microsoft 365 administration experience (Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, licensing).
• Experience with virtualization (Hyper-V or similar) and endpoint management tools (Intune, SCCM, ManageEngine).
• Knowledge of IT security practices (least privilege, MFA, PAM, vulnerability management, audits).
• Familiarity with backup, recovery, patching, monitoring, and infrastructure documentation.
• Understanding of ITIL processes (incident, change, problem, service request).
• Experience in vendor coordination, SLA management, and service reporting.
• Strong documentation and communication skills across technical and business stakeholders.
• Certifications in Azure, M365, ITIL, or security are a plus but not required.