At a Glance
- Tasks: Manage and improve IT infrastructure for cutting-edge R&D environments.
- Company: Join a leading tech company focused on innovation and collaboration.
- Benefits: Attractive salary, health perks, remote work options, and growth opportunities.
- Other info: Dynamic role with potential for career advancement and skill development.
- Why this job: Be at the forefront of technology, supporting groundbreaking research and development.
- Qualifications: Degree in IT or related field; experience in IT infrastructure management preferred.
Purpose of the Role
The R&D IT Infrastructure Manager will be responsible for planning, deploying, operating, and continuously improving IT infrastructure services that support research, engineering, product development, testing, simulation, laboratory, and innovation environments. The role requires a strong blend of infrastructure technology expertise, project execution capability, operational governance, cybersecurity awareness, and stakeholder management to ensure reliable, secure, scalable, and high-performance IT services for R&D teams.
Key Responsibility Areas
- Own the end-to-end management of IT infrastructure services for R&D facilities, including network, compute, storage, backup, collaboration, endpoint, and laboratory IT environments.
- Partner with R&D, engineering, product development, manufacturing, cybersecurity, enterprise IT, and external vendors to understand business requirements and translate them into infrastructure solutions.
- Lead infrastructure projects for new R&D labs, test environments, engineering workspaces, simulation platforms, and specialized technology zones.
- Ensure high availability, performance, reliability, and security of critical infrastructure supporting R&D workloads, design applications, test systems, and engineering data platforms.
- Develop and maintain infrastructure roadmaps aligned with R&D growth plans, technology refresh cycles, cybersecurity standards, and business continuity requirements.
- Manage IT assets, lifecycle planning, capacity planning, licensing coordination, inventory governance, and infrastructure documentation.
- Drive incident, problem, change, and service request management in line with ITIL-aligned practices and internal governance standards.
- Coordinate with cybersecurity teams to implement access controls, segmentation, vulnerability remediation, patching, monitoring, and compliance requirements for R&D environments.
- Manage vendors, service providers, OEMs, and implementation partners to ensure timely delivery, SLA compliance, cost optimization, and quality of service.
- Support audits, risk assessments, compliance reviews, disaster recovery planning, and business continuity testing for R&D IT infrastructure.
- Lead continuous improvement initiatives, including automation, monitoring, AIOps, standardization, documentation, and operational excellence.
- Mentor and guide infrastructure engineers, support teams, and project resources involved in R&D infrastructure delivery and operations.
- Partner with scientific, engineering, and laboratory teams to support the onboarding, integration, and operation of laboratory equipment, instrument control systems, and integration with LIMS and scientific data platforms.
- Lead IT infrastructure readiness and handover activities for new laboratories, test facilities, manufacturing pilot environments, and R&D equipment deployments, ensuring infrastructure dependencies are identified and resolved prior to go‑live.
- Collaborate with R&D leadership to prioritize infrastructure investments, manage demand, and align infrastructure roadmaps with organizational goals.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Electronics, Engineering, or a related discipline; master's degree preferred.
- 8-10 years of experience in IT infrastructure, site IT operations, technology project management, or enterprise infrastructure delivery.
- Minimum 3-5 years of experience managing infrastructure teams, vendors, or cross‑functional technology programs.
- Experience supporting R&D, engineering, manufacturing, laboratory, simulation, automotive, battery, electronics, or industrial technology environments is preferred.
- Strong knowledge of enterprise networking, data center infrastructure, server and storage platforms, virtualization, cloud services, endpoint management, backup, monitoring, and disaster recovery.
- Experience in laboratory commissioning, technology onboarding, operational readiness, and infrastructure deployment within R&D or manufacturing facilities.
- Good understanding of cybersecurity principles, network segmentation, identity and access management (IAM), vulnerability remediation, and compliance controls.
- Proven ability to manage complex cross‑functional programs involving R&D, Facilities, Engineering, Cybersecurity, Procurement, Enterprise IT, and external partners.
- Exposure to ITIL processes, project management methodologies, vendor governance, budgeting, and service delivery frameworks.
Key Skills And Competencies
- Infrastructure architecture and solution design
- R&D and engineering systems support
- Project planning, execution, risk management, and stakeholder communication
- Vendor management, negotiation, and service governance
- IT operations management and service excellence
- Cybersecurity and compliance awareness
- Analytical thinking, problem‑solving, and decision‑making
- Leadership, team development, and cross‑functional collaboration
- Documentation, reporting, and executive communication
- Continuous improvement and automation
- Stakeholder management and commercial leadership
Key Performance Indicators
- Infrastructure uptime, availability, and performance against agreed service levels
- On‑time and within‑budget delivery of R&D infrastructure projects
- Reduction in recurring incidents and improvement in mean time to restore service (MTTR)
- Compliance with cybersecurity, audit, patching, and vulnerability remediation targets
- Effective capacity planning and technology lifecycle management
- Vendor SLA adherence and service quality improvement
- Stakeholder satisfaction across R&D, engineering, and business teams
- Documentation completeness and operational readiness for new services
- Key Stakeholders
- R&D leadership and engineering teams
- Site IT and Enterprise IT infrastructure teams
- Cybersecurity and compliance teams
- Manufacturing IT/OT teams
- Application owners and product development teams
- Procurement, finance, and vendor management teams
Preferred Certifications
- ITIL Foundation or higher - PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent project management certification
- Cisco, Microsoft, VMware, Azure, AWS, or equivalent infrastructure certifications
- Cybersecurity certifications such as ISO 27001, CISSP, CISM, or equivalent exposure
R&D IT Infrastructure Specialist in Oxford employer: Agratas – A Tata Enterprise
Agratas – A Tata Enterprise is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work culture that fosters innovation and collaboration in the cutting-edge field of digital manufacturing. Located in Bridgwater, UK, employees benefit from a comprehensive package that includes private healthcare and flexible working arrangements, alongside ample opportunities for professional growth and development within a supportive team environment.
Contact Details:
Agratas – A Tata Enterprise Recruitment Team
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We think you need these skills to ace R&D IT Infrastructure Specialist in Oxford
Some tips for your application 🫡
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✨Brush Up on Your Technical Skills
For an IT consulting role, be ready to demonstrate your technical prowess. You might face questions on systems integration, cloud technologies, or even troubleshooting specific software. If you have experience with tools like AWS, Azure, or even specific programming languages, make sure you can talk about them fluently.
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