Head of IT Job at England,South West,Devon Full Time NEW

Your new company
Behind every breakthrough, confident step and proud smile is a learning environment supported by technology that is safe, reliable and designed around people. This values-led education organisation exists to deliver an ambitious, high-quality and inclusive experience for every pupil, and to help its schools thrive, today and for the future.

As part of a central team supporting a community of schools, you’ll help shape and strengthen the digital foundations that enable learning, safeguard pupils, and empower staff. It’s an exciting time to join: the organisation is investing in its services, learning together across its schools, and building a culture where innovation, collaboration and doing the right thing sit at the heart of decision-making.

Your new role
As Head of IT & Digital Strategy, you’ll take ownership of the security, reliability and strategic development of IT and digital services across the organisation. This is a senior leadership position responsible for setting and delivering a fully centralised digital strategy and providing assurance that services are sector-leading, resilient, user-centred and consistently high quality across schools and central teams.

You’ll balance operational oversight with strategic leadership across cyber security, infrastructure, cloud platforms, identity and access governance, and IT service management, while also driving transformation, AI adoption and future-focused investment planning. The remit spans governance and standards, risk management, policies and compliance, service performance and SLAs, procurement and supplier management, budget ownership, and user enablement (with a strong emphasis on Microsoft 365 adoption and consistent practice).

Success in the role will come through strong stakeholder engagement and trusted partnerships working closely with senior leaders, headteachers, safeguarding and governance stakeholders to deliver solutions that directly support excellent education. You’ll lead internal teams and third-party providers, embedding a customer-focused culture and continuous improvement, while ensuring safeguarding, online safety, equality and wider statutory responsibilities remain central to how technology is designed, delivered and assured.

What you’ll need to succeed
You’ll bring proven experience of leading and developing nonperforming teams, creating a positive and inclusive culture built on trust, clarity and accountability. You’ll be comfortable setting clear expectations, supporting growth, and inspiring others while maintaining high professional standards across your function.

You’ll have experience leading IT services and digital transformation within a complex, multi-site environment, balancing operational delivery with longer-term strategic change. This includes a strong grounding in IT service management, cyber security and cloud technologies, ensuring services are resilient, secure and fit for purpose across diverse user groups.

Strong technical credibility is essential, particularly across modern infrastructure, Microsoft 365 and identity and access governance. You’ll understand how good governance, security controls and platform design underpin effective services, and you’ll be confident making decisions that support both current needs and future scalability.

What you’ll get in return
You’ll join a collaborative, values-driven team that is genuinely invested in creating the right conditions for people to grow and succeed. Leadership is focused on enabling others, encouraging development, sharing knowledge and building a supportive environment where impact matters as much as delivery.

The organisation offers a competitive overall package, including access to a generous career-average pension scheme with employer contributions linked to salary. This reflects a long-term commitment to investing in its people and recognising the value of experienced leadership.

You’ll benefit from a strong work-life balance, with a generous annual leave allowance in addition to public holidays, supporting wellbeing alongside professional responsibility and accountability.

Ongoing professional development is actively encouraged, with opportunities to build leadership capability, deepen technical expertise and continue your growth as a senior technology professional in a role with real purpose and influence.

What you need to do now
If you’re interested in this role, click ’apply now’ to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.
If this job isn’t quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.
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