Head of IT Operations

The Role:

As we accelerate our digital-first strategy, robust, reliable, and secure IT operations are more critical than ever. We’re looking for a dynamic and visionary Head of IT Operations to lead the charge. Reporting directly to the IT Director, you’ll be the senior custodian of live services, infrastructure, and end-user computing across the enterprise.

This is a high-impact leadership role where you’ll own the operational landscape—from incident response and capacity planning to supplier performance and cyber resilience.

Your mission? To ensure technology consistently enables business growth, regulatory compliance, and an outstanding colleague experience.

What You’ll Be Doing:

As Head of IT Operations, you’ll shape and sustain a high-performance IT environment that delivers secure, reliable, and business-aligned services. Your key responsibilities will include:

•    Driving Operational Excellence: Ensure IT systems run optimally, on time, and within budget—delivering seamless support to internal teams and external customers.•    Future-Proofing Technology: Lead the evolution of IT capabilities with scalable, resilient platforms that support long-term growth.•    Capacity Planning & Service Quality: Own service performance metrics and embed proactive capacity planning across infrastructure and services.•    Proactive Issue Resolution: Lead root-cause analysis, implement preventive controls, and champion continuous service improvement.•    Service Management Governance: Oversee ITIL processes and support internal audits with robust systems and policies.•    Incident & Change Leadership: Manage incidents and changes efficiently, providing strategic oversight on high-priority issues.•    Financial Stewardship: Plan and manage Opex/Capex budgets, track spend, and identify cost-saving opportunities.

You’ll also lead on:

•    Cybersecurity Operations: Partner with our vCISO to manage 24×7 monitoring, vulnerability management, and secure-by-design principles.•    Supplier & Contract Management: Oversee MSPs, cloud, and hardware partners, ensuring value-for-money and service excellence.•    Asset & Licensing Management: Maintain accurate software and hardware inventories, optimising licensing models.•    Continuous Improvement: Champion automation, self-service, and data-driven reporting to enhance service delivery.•    Leadership & Culture: Mentor a multi-disciplinary team, foster psychological safety, and act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders.

What We’re Looking For:

We’re seeking a strategic leader with a passion for operational excellence and a proven track record in IT service delivery. You’ll bring:

Experience & Expertise•    5+ years in a senior IT operations, service management, or IT director role.•    Proven ownership of 24×7 production environments with >99.9% availability.•    Strong experience managing multi-vendor ecosystems and regulated environments.•    Deep technical knowledge of enterprise infrastructure, networking, DR, IAM, and cybersecurity tooling.

Education & Certifications•    Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field.•    MBA or postgraduate qualification (desirable).•    ITIL v4 Managing Professional or ITIL Expert (mandatory).•    Certifications in ISO 27001, COBIT, Microsoft Azure, Lean Six Sigma, Prince2, or SAFe Agilist.

Leadership & Communication•    Gravitas to influence regulators and auditors.•    Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills.•    Commercial acumen for budgeting, vendor negotiation, and TCO optimisation.•    A data-driven, continuous-improvement mindset with a passion for mentoring high-performing teams.

Why choose Agria Pet:

Agria Pet Insurance is one of the UK's leading specialist pet insurance providers. We only provide lifetime insurance for animals, so truly understand and care about our customers and their beloved pets – especially as most of our team are pet parents, and we're all animal-lovers. Our passion for pets means that we are trusted by The Royal Kennel Club, Lloyds and many other significant affinity partners to provide lifetime pet insurance in their names. 

Working closely with animal welfare organisations, vets and breeders, gives us deep insight on what's best for pets. And we give back too – including supporting hundreds of animal rescues, protecting over 100,000 rescued animals, and through donations of over £2m to animal charities. 

We are a strong, growing business, having doubled our GWP in the last 5 years, with a supportive ethos and family feel. We became one of the UK’s Best Workplaces™ in 2023, 2024 and again in 2025, we have the top 4 slots on Which? Best Buy pet insurance and we are extremely proud to be the only carbon negative pet insurer in the UK.

What we offer:

•    25 days annual leave which increases with service, plus bank holidays•    Opportunity to buy/sell up to 5 days annual leave per calendar year•    Pension and Life Assurance scheme•    Access to 25% off insuring your pet with Agria. Friends and family are also entitled to a discount too•    We aim to support the health and wellbeing of all our colleagues so you’ll have access to a Health Cash Plan, mental health support and health and wellbeing platforms, including Headspace