IT Infrastructure

Are you a seasoned IT professional with expertise in managing complex infrastructure and operations in the manufacturing industry? Are you ready to lead the IT strategy and operations for a leading Saudi PIF manufacturing company, driving innovation and excellence across our technology infrastructure?

Our client is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of innovation and driving growth in the manufacturing sector. As a rapidly growing company in the Saudi Public Investment Fund, they are committed to leveraging technology to optimize operations, enhance efficiency, and drive value for stakeholders. This is the most senior role in the infrastructure and operations (I&O) function within IT, accountable for IT I&O throughout the organization. The head of I&O is responsible for the delivery of all IT infrastructure and related IT operations used to enable business capabilities and services across the enterprise.

This role reports to the CTO and has line management responsibilities for Infrastructure & Cloud Management (cloud first approach), IT Operations, and IT Security, working in collaboration with CFO, CMO, CSO, CHRO, and CSCO.

The head of I&O brings experience, knowledge, and future vision for transforming the I&O function including its strategy, operating model, product and service offerings, and workforce. The role holder is a senior stakeholder in all relationships with externally sourced infrastructure and operations capabilities.

NOTE: This position is on-site and requires relocation to Riyadh.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Sets the mission, vision, and strategy of the I&O organization (infra on cloud) strategy to maximize the success of business and IT enterprise initiatives.
• Introduces innovative, differentiating infrastructure and operations capabilities that enhance our overall competitive capabilities and enhance employee productivity.
• Works with the IT senior leadership team on the service portfolio and governance required to prioritize resources, including budget. Works with key stakeholders to measure and prioritize technical debt remediation.
• Builds successful stakeholder relationships with other IT and business key stakeholders by developing a clear understanding of business needs, acting as a trusted advisor, and ensuring cost-effective delivery of IT services to meet those needs.
• Creates and aligns an I&O value map by linking targeted business outcomes with the future-state business capabilities required to achieve them.
• Drives alignment of I&O strategies to the organization's environmental, social and governance goals.
• Develops and controls the annual I&O budget to ensure that it's consistent with the overall strategic objectives of IT and the enterprise and is within plan. Creates a culture of continuous cost optimization.
• Defines, develops, and manages a comprehensive and integrated IT Service Management (ITSM) landscape, based on best-practice processes, disciplines, and related toolsets. This includes delivery of a comprehensive IT asset management program.
• Collaborates with the IT Security Officer to ensure I&O contributes to, embraces, and applies security strategy.
• Operates a formal governance mechanism to establish and monitor effective controls for the processes and functions performed by I&O teams. Supports periodic reviews by audit teams, compliance teams, and other risk-related functions as required.
• Develops and executes a strategy to improve awareness of the business value that the Infrastructure and Operations function provides, and continuously seeks to ensure alignment to customer needs.
• Designs and develops a strong and diverse I&O leadership team, together with a reporting structure for the function.
• Works collaboratively with direct reports to support their career progression, nurture their development and to help them realize their potential.
• Improves IT resilience by executing strategies that improve reliability, tolerability, and disaster recovery readiness.
• Keeps track of trends and provides direction on what emerging technologies should be incorporated into I&O products and services to successfully deliver overall IT strategy.
• Champions I&O involvement in the organization's innovation efforts and encourages experimentation with new solutions to avail business opportunities.
• Provides strategic direction and oversight for the full life cycle of IT systems, working in close partnership with peers, and identifies where common approaches, solutions, and shared platforms provided by I&O could drive efficiency.
• Directs the development of an I&O sourcing strategy and provides executive oversight for strategic vendor and partner relationship management.
• Works with HR and the IT leadership team to develop and execute workforce plans that ensure I&O can supply skilled resources to meet demand.
• Develops the maturity of I&O to improve efficiency, deliver new innovations and increase collaboration with other IT and business areas (e.g., through Agile, DevOps, platform, and product approaches).
• Drives the adoption of (and commitment towards) service improvements through a programmatic approach to continuous improvement which also measures impact and shares results.
• Supports the CTO and Enterprise Architect by implementing infrastructure solutions that align to the enterprise architecture framework and roadmap.
• Serves on IT planning and policymaking committees; drives the development and adoption of enterprise technology standards, governance processes, and performance metrics.
• Continuously evaluates the business value of I&O, including the use of metrics such as Key Performance Indicators, Outcome Driven Metrics, and Objectives and Key Results.
• Collaborates with peer IT Leaders to ensure knowledge and insight can be freely shared.

REQUIRED SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, information systems, business administration, related field, or equivalent work experience
• At least 12 or more years of experience in IT or business/industry
• At least 5 or more years of leadership responsibilities, including strategy, budgeting, and staffing
• Exceptional leadership skills, with the ability to develop and communicate an I&O vision that inspires and motivates staff and aligns with the IT and business strategy
• Effective influencing and negotiation skills in complex environments where resources required for success may not be in direct control of this role
• Evangelizing and implementing transformational initiatives where the target state included agile, DevOps, SRE, cloud adoption at scale.
• Consolidating operations capabilities in large, complex enterprise organizations to deliver improved efficiency, while balancing customer preferences for agility.
• Excellent analytical, strategic conceptual thinking, strategic planning, and execution skills
• Ability to build consensus, make decisions based on many variables, and gain support for major initiatives.
• Self-starter who self-assesses and solicits feedback from others to improve their performance.
• Experience developing strategies to leverage fusion teams that embrace business technologists
• Strong business acumen, including industry, domain-specific knowledge of the enterprise and its business units
• Delivery of hybrid working excellence to improve customer and user experiences
• Developing staff including coaching, mentoring and performance management.
• Maximizing effectiveness of nearshore / offshore resource models
• Building cloud management solutions, including software development, integration, and ongoing engineering aspects.
• Creating self-service mechanisms to streamline infrastructure provisioning and ongoing management
• Applying AI / ML to solve large data challenges and / or to enhance the customer experience
• Budget planning and financial management, preferably with showback and/or chargeback models
• Supporting the shift from Capex to Opex with processes - e.g., those to comprehensively manage and optimize cloud costs in a collaborative fashion.
• Deep understanding of current and emerging I&O technologies and practices, and how other enterprises are employing them
• Applying I&O capabilities to achieve regulatory or statutory compliance requirements.
• Establishing and improving DevOps, as well as other working practices (e.g., ITIL).
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute a strategic staffing plan that ensures the right people are in the right roles at the right time, and employees are highly engaged and satisfied
• Leading cloud adoption (at scale), including establishing governance mechanisms, delivering migration projects and modifying I&O's target operating model.
• Developing governance practices to track and measure the quality of services, and maintain service improvement plans.
• Third-party management, working closely with sourcing and vendor managers.

BENEFITS:

Competitive salary; Car Allowance; Education fee support for children; Private medical cover; Maternity/paternity; Annual leave; Cycle to work Scheme; Discounted gym membership.

Director

Full-time

Information Technology and Management

Technology, Information and Media, Manufacturing, and Food and Beverage Manufacturing