Head of IT Operations

3 weeks ago

Hinxton, United Kingdom European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Full time

About the team/job

We are looking for a new Head of IT Operations to join our IT & Technical Services department, to lead a team responsible for providing cutting-edge IT services to our scientific teams.

The IT Operations team is responsible for developing, integrating, operating, and supporting bespoke, commercial and open-source software solutions. You will build and maintain a service roadmap, adapting to the diverse IT requirements of the scientific teams and groups, and building strong internal relationships, both within the IT department and across the Institute.

The team's services support EMBL-EBI's public-facing scientific work, including file transfer, data storage, and bioinformatics tools. These services are heavily utilised, handling massive amounts of data at the PB scale and processing millions of jobs annually.

You’ll look after our authentication and authorisation infrastructure, our monitoring and configuration management systems, as well as essential tools such as email for the entire EMBL-EBI user community. As your team develops, it will take on greater operational responsibilities currently distributed throughout ITS.

Leading and inspiring a team of 16 (made up of developers, bioinformaticians and site reliability engineers), the Head of IT Operations is crucial in ensuring operational excellence, efficiency, and continuous alignment of services with the needs of a dynamic research and service delivery organisation.

Click here to view a full copy of the job description


Your role

Key competencies for this role include:

Strategic Leadership

  • Define the team's technical goals and align them with EMBL-EBI's overall mission. Determine the team's resource needs and prioritise projects for maximum impact on research infrastructure. Foster a service-oriented mindset within the team, prioritising reliable and user-friendly solutions.

Team Development

  • Lead and nurture a diverse team of 16 professionals, cultivating an environment of collaboration and growth. Provide hands-on mentorship and coaching to team members, leveraging your technical expertise to guide their development and empower them to reach their full potential

Stakeholder Engagement

  • Develop robust connections with internal stakeholders across EMBL-EBI, actively engaging in dialogue to understand and bring to life their unique requirements for IT services and infrastructure.

Technical Excellence

  • Oversee the design and architecture of software solutions with the support of your team Continuously improve existing solutions to enhance reliability, performance, and adaptability.

You have

What You'll Bring:

  • A degree in a relevant area or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience Established Leadership: Proven success in I.T. team leadership role Technical Expertise: Expertise in modern software development methodologies and relevant technologies such as:
    • Unix operating systems Large-scale storage, particularly object storage Professional software development Identity and Access Management
    Relationship Builder: Adept at forging collaborative relationships with technical & non- technical users, other IT teams and managing supplier relationships. Organised and Efficient: Strong project management skills and a focus on efficient processes. A great communicator - able to work with stakeholders to understand needs and communicate technology options and opportunities Works well with other people. Listens, communicates and builds constructive relationships Able to nurture and maintain a positive team environment Persuade and inspire others towards a common vision or goal Experience building long-term IT service roadmaps with a user community and delivering on those roadmaps Familiarity with agile management practices (e.g. Kanban, Scrum) and their role in managing a team and projects

You might also have

  • Qualification or experience with ITSM (we use ServiceNow)
  • Experience working in a diverse and multinational environment
  • Experience of leading a team in developing or operating IT services at scale (PBs of data, 100s of VMs, 100s of users)
  • Experience providing IT services in an academic or research IT environment

Why join us

Do something meaningful

At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.

Join a culture of innovation

We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential.

Enjoy lots of benefits:

Financial incentives: Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances Flexible working arrangements, including at least 2 days spent working from the office Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover) Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to eight bank holidays Relocation package including installation grant (if required) Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely) Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances Benefits for non-UK residents: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.

For more details please see our employee benefits page.


What else you need to know

Contract duration: This position is a 5 year contract, renewable to a maximum of 9 years. International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Read more on our page for international applicants. Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL-EBI, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ and individuals from all nationalities. EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we implement best practices in research assessment in our recruitment processes here. Job location: This role is based in Hinxton, near Cambridge, UK. You will be required to relocate if you are based overseas and you will receive a generous relocation package to support you. How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. We plan to hold panel interview in Hinxton on 18 & 19th July 2024

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