Head of Tech/IT -Social Media & Content Business
London - Hybrid
We're recruiting on behalf of a fast-growing, entrepreneurial social & content media business whose brands reach audiences across social platforms, owned websites, and syndication partners including major tech platforms. The business is at an exciting inflection point, and this newly created Head of Technology role is being built to bring structure, governance and direction to its technology function as it scales. This is a confidential search; the client will be named to shortlisted candidates.
The opportunity
This is a genuine fix-and-build mandate, not a caretaker role. You'll have real authority to renegotiate and manage the relationship with an external development/engineering supplier, bring governance to a fast-moving, AI-augmented content and CMS environment, and build the foundations for a technology function that's currently informal and under-resourced.
What you'll be doing
- Owning and renegotiating the relationship with the external development/engineering supplier: scope, SLAs, exit rights and IP
- Acting as the technical translation layer between the business and that supplier
- Documenting critical infrastructure knowledge currently held by one individual, removing key-person risk
- Establishing core technology governance: change management, access control, decision-making frameworks
- Coordinating remediation of technical debt, security gaps and a known data protection issue across the CMS/site portfolio
- Getting involved in the wider technology and vendor landscape as the business needs it (this is a broad, hands-on role at a lean, fast-paced company)
What we're looking for
- Proven experience managing external development/engineering suppliers directly: negotiation, SLAs, accountability
- Comfortable without a large internal team around you; this is about the relationship, not the code
- A track record of bringing structure to unstructured technical environments
- Enough technical depth (web/CMS, hosting, DevOps) to hold a supplier to account, without needing to code yourself
- Strong interpersonal and stakeholder skills; you'll work closely with senior leadership and non-technical teams
- Curious and hands-on, happy to get into any part of the business where your expertise is needed
- Media, publishing or digital content background preferred
Requirements added by the job poster
• 8+ years of work experience with Information Technology
• 3+ years of work experience with Small Team Management
