Head of IT

WHO WE ARE

The Production Factory is a global production agency working across stills and film. We produce high‑end visual content for fashion, luxury, beauty, lifestyle, and culture’s most forward‑thinking brands, creatives, and agencies. From concept to final delivery, we handle the full production journey - bringing ideas to life through thoughtful planning, expert production, and industry‑leading post‑production. Whether on set or in post, our teams work seamlessly to shape imagery and film that feels elevated, considered, and impactful across print, digital, social, and broadcast platforms. Our integrated approach means production and post‑production work hand in hand, ensuring creative consistency, technical excellence, and a smooth, collaborative process throughout. We partner closely with photographers, directors, stylists, and creative teams to support ambitious ideas and deliver exceptional results at every stage. We have offices in London, New York, Miami, Mallorca, and Manchester, meaning we operate on a global platform. This allows us to connect brands with world‑class production in the cities that shape culture.

REPORTING

The role will report to the Group Operations Director.

ROLE OVERVIEW

We are seeking a confident, hands‑on Head of IT to take full ownership of technology across two multi‑site creative and e‑commerce businesses. This is a newly created role, requiring someone who can quickly assess the current IT landscape, identify gaps, and build a credible improvement roadmap from the outset. Technology is central to the client experience. Our studios must offer seamless connectivity, high‑throughput image workflows, and reliable systems that operate unobtrusively in the background. Managing an Apple device estate of around 180 users across office and studio locations, you will be the senior technical authority in the business. The role combines strategic leadership with hands‑on delivery, spanning infrastructure, cybersecurity, Microsoft 365, and the rapid deployment of isolated network environments to support new ecommerce wins. It requires both the commercial mindset of a Head of IT and the deep technical capability of a senior infrastructure specialist.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Gap Analysis & IT Roadmap (Immediate Priority)
  • Conduct a comprehensive audit of the current IT environment across all sites: infrastructure, devices, systems, third‑party providers, and workflows.
  • Identify gaps in performance, security, resilience, and user experience.
  • Produce, own and maintain a clear, prioritised IT roadmap with phased recommendations, quick wins, and longer‑term strategic improvements.
• Infrastructure & Networking
  • Own and manage day‑to‑day IT infrastructure across all office and studio sites, ensuring consistent performance, connectivity, and uptime.
  • Manage multi‑site networking, including WAN, LAN, VPN, internet services, SDWAN, and cloud connectivity.
  • Configure, deploy, and manage network switches at scale, including stacking configurations across multiple units.
  • Design and deliver high‑speed, isolated Wi‑Fi environments for studio shoots, post‑production access, and ecommerce deployments, ensuring they are fit for scale.
  • Manage on‑premises servers, storage systems, and backup and disaster recovery processes.
• Ecommerce Studio & Image Workflows
  • Rapidly design and deploy isolated network and storage environments to support new e‑commerce client pitches and wins.
  • Ensure there are provision dedicated, high‑throughput storage for large‑scale image assets captured in studio environments.
  • Create and manage secure access for post‑production teams to work on high‑volume media assets both on‑site and remotely.
  • Support DAM (Digital Asset Management) or equivalent systems to ensure efficient movement of images from studio to destination.
  • Work with wider teams to plan and deliver infrastructure ahead of project kick‑offs.
• Apple Device Estate & MDM
  • Own, manage and evolve the company's Apple‑first environment across all device types across all sites.
  • Own the Addigy MDM platform, including device enrolment, configuration profiles, policy enforcement, patch management, and remote support.
  • Ensure a consistent, secure, and well‑governed device experience across all 180 users and multiple sites.
• Microsoft 365 & Cloud Platforms
  • Administer and manage the Microsoft 365 tenant, including Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, Intune, and Azure AD/Entra ID.
  • Manage Microsoft 365 licensing, user provisioning, security policies, and compliance settings.
  • Lead an upcoming Microsoft 365 migration to align the businesses from Google Workspace (Gmail) to Microsoft 365, covering email, calendar, and collaboration tooling.
• Cybersecurity & Compliance
  • Lead and maintain Cyber Essentials compliance across the organisation, ensuring controls, policies, and evidence are kept current.
  • Protect client data and image assets through robust endpoint protection, patching, firewall management, and access controls.
  • Ensure GDPR compliance and maintain data protection policies and processes.
  • Conduct regular security reviews, risk assessments, and remediation activities.
• Back Office Systems & Integrations
  • Support back‑office teams through management and maintenance of key system integrations and APIs.
  • Ensure reliable data flow between business‑critical platforms ERP, finance, fulfilment, e‑commerce, and other connected systems.
  • Maintain clear documentation of all integrations, dependencies, and data flows.
  • Work with third‑party providers and internal stakeholders to troubleshoot integration issues and improve reliability.
• Third‑Party Provider Management
  • Own all external vendor and MSP relationships, holding providers accountable to agreed SLAs.
  • Consolidate where appropriate and introduce new providers where the business requires it.
  • Act as the primary escalation point for all third‑party issues affecting operations.
• Staff Productivity & Service Delivery
  • Line manage one direct IT report, providing direction, development, and day‑to‑day support.
  • Champion a productivity‑first culture. Ensuring staff have the right tools, properly configured, with minimal friction.
  • Define and maintain IT standards and onboarding processes that set staff up for success from day one.
  • Monitor and act on user experience feedback, treating internal staff as customers.
  • Maintain strong IT support across all sites, ensuring high service levels during production periods.

SKILLS

• 7+ years' IT experience, including 2‑3 years in a senior or leadership role, with proven delivery of IT gap analyses and roadmap development.
• Strong hands‑on experience managing Apple device estates at scale across multiple sites, including Apple MDM platforms such as Addigy (or Jamf, Kandji).
• Solid networking expertise, including TCP/IP, VLANs, routing, DNS/DHCP, firewalling, switching (including stacked environments), WAN and SD WAN.
• Experienced Microsoft 365 administrator, with proven delivery of platform or email migrations.
• Practical cybersecurity experience, including compliance and secure management of endpoints, servers, storage, and virtualised environments.
• Proven ability to manage both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Experience supporting high‑throughput creative, media, or e‑commerce environments, including DAM systems and image workflow, is advantageous.

As an equal opportunities employer, The Production Factory is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership. We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply.