At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead IT operations, ensuring reliable and secure services while managing a small team.
- Company: Wifinity, a tech company revolutionising connectivity for students and families.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, remote work flexibility, and an annual leave buy & sell scheme.
- Other info: Join a supportive culture focused on respect and personal growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a scale-up environment with start-up values.
- Qualifications: Hands-on Linux experience and strong IT operations background required.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 75000 £ per year.
About us
Wifinity was founded in 2007 to solve a problem—our armed forces were struggling with reliable connectivity. While living in barracks, often in remote locations, ordering a landline and booking in an engineer just wasn’t an option. And that problem isn’t exclusive to the military, either. Students living in University accommodation, families visiting holiday resorts, or living in shared accommodation and retirement communities. Conventional home broadband doesn’t always work for them. Wifinity is different. We offer the same benefits as traditional broadband, such as super-fast speeds, WiFi, and secure and private networks, but none of the downsides. We even offer Pay As You Go and flexible contracts, so customers only pay for what they need without hefty penalties or long contract terms. We take the complexity out of connectivity.
The opportunity
The IT Operations Lead is responsible for the hands-on delivery, reliability, and security of Wifinity’s IT services and infrastructure. This is a deeply technical, player–manager role leading a small team of three, with significant personal involvement in M365, Linux systems, Nutanix-hosted infrastructure, cloud platforms, monitoring, incident management, and automation. The role ensures that core IT platforms and services are robust, well-monitored, and operationally sound, supporting both corporate users and operational teams. While leadership and structure are important, this role is fundamentally hands-on, requiring strong individual technical contribution alongside team leadership.
Key areas of focus
- Service Desk & End-User/Endpoint Support: Own the end-to-end delivery of IT Service Desk services and act as a senior escalation point, frequently resolving issues hands-on. Ensure clear prioritisation, SLAs, escalation paths, and accurate documentation and drive pragmatic improvements to tooling, self-service, and knowledge base content.
- IT Infrastructure – Physical (Nutanix Hosted, Hands On): Hands-on ownership of on-premise infrastructure predominantly hosted on Nutanix. Strong personal responsibility for Linux-based virtual machines and services running on the Nutanix platform. Design, build, patch, harden, and troubleshoot Linux systems in production environments. Manage compute, storage, networking, backups, and platform resilience within Nutanix. Own capacity planning, lifecycle management, and platform upgrades in line with operational demand.
- IT Infrastructure – Cloud: Hands-on ownership of cloud infrastructure platforms (e.g. Azure / AWS). Operate cloud services using a Linux-first approach, aligned with on-premise standards. Implement and maintain infrastructure as code, automation, and standardised builds. Own identity, access management and authentication, backups, disaster recovery, and cost optimisation and ensure M365 is optimal and fit for purpose.
- IT Monitoring & Observability: Own monitoring tools across infrastructure and services. Configure alerts, dashboards, and thresholds based on real operational needs. Use monitoring data to proactively identify issues and prevent outages and continuously improve visibility, reducing reactive incident load.
- IT Incident Management: Lead and actively participate in major and complex incident response. Coordinate resolution across IT, Network Operations, and third parties. Own root cause analysis (RCA) and follow-through of corrective actions and ensure incidents are genuinely fixed, not just closed.
- Software & License Management: Own software asset and license management across the estate. Maintain accurate inventories and ensure license compliance. Actively optimise spend through rationalisation and renewal reviews and work closely with Finance and Procurement on renewals and budgeting.
- Leadership & Ways of Working: Lead a small team of 3 through direct involvement, mentoring, and coaching. Balance delivery discipline with pragmatism - fix problems properly, not cosmetically. Maintain high standards of documentation, runbooks, and operational hygiene. Collaborate closely with Business Systems, Network Operations, and Information Security. Execute against the IT operational plan, while remaining responsive to real-world issues.
About you
You will be highly technical with the ability to interface with the business. You will be joining a scale-up business that strives to keep its start-up values. You value being genuinely impactful at work and are able to be pragmatic when solving business issues. You are excellent at working with people and always strive to provide a customer-driven approach. You are a 'Translator', you can take a complex business problem from a non-technical stakeholder and turn it into a clear, scalable technical solution.
Your experience
- Strong, demonstrable hands-on Linux experience in production environments.
- Strong, demonstrable experience of managing and optimising an M365 tenant, particularly within an E5 licence tier.
- Broad IT operations background across infrastructure, service desk, and incidents.
- Practical experience with cloud platforms, automation, and monitoring tools.
- Comfortable acting as both technical lead and individual contributor.
- Understanding of security, resilience, and operational risk.
- Calm, methodical, and comfortable operating in live, operational environments as well as experience leading a small team/Line Management.
It would be nice to also have…
- Experience in a Telco or service-provider environment is desirable but not essential.
- Experience of Nutanix, DNS, SharePoint, JIRA Service Desk as well as ITIL Foundation qualification, CompTIA Linux+ certification or similar.
We offer a competitive salary and benefits package which includes an ‘Annual Leave Buy & Sell Scheme’, in addition to a remote first working environment, allowing our employees more flexibility when it comes to the importance of a healthy work/life balance. Please be aware that the successful applicant to this role will receive an offer which is subject to the satisfactory completion of a basic level DBS check. At Wifinity we are committed to providing a positive environment in which individuals do not encounter bullying or harassment on the basis of protected characteristics which are identified by law (including sexual harassment). We are committed to treating candidates and employees with courtesy, dignity and respect.
IT Operations Lead employer: Wifinity Ltd
Contact Detail:
Wifinity Ltd Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land IT Operations Lead
✨Tip Number 1
Get your networking game on! Attend industry meetups or tech events where you can connect with folks in the IT operations space. You never know who might be looking for someone just like you!
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a personal project or contribute to open-source initiatives that highlight your expertise in Linux, cloud platforms, or incident management. This not only boosts your portfolio but also gives you something to chat about in interviews.
✨Tip Number 3
Don’t underestimate the power of LinkedIn! Make sure your profile is up-to-date and reflects your hands-on experience. Engage with posts related to IT operations and connect with people from Wifinity to get your foot in the door.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in joining the Wifinity team and making an impact in IT operations.
We think you need these skills to ace IT Operations Lead
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Technical Skills: Make sure to highlight your hands-on experience with Linux and M365 in your application. We want to see how you've tackled real-world IT challenges, so share specific examples that showcase your technical prowess.
Tailor Your Application: Don’t just send a generic CV! Tailor your application to reflect the key areas mentioned in the job description. We love it when candidates connect their experiences directly to what we’re looking for, so make it personal!
Be Clear and Concise: When writing your application, keep it clear and to the point. We appreciate straightforward communication, so avoid jargon unless it’s relevant. Make it easy for us to see why you’re a great fit for the role.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply through our website for the best chance of being noticed. It helps us keep everything organised and ensures your application gets to the right people quickly!
How to prepare for a job interview at Wifinity Ltd
✨Know Your Tech Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your Linux systems and M365 knowledge. Be ready to discuss specific projects you've worked on, especially those involving Nutanix and cloud platforms. The more hands-on experience you can share, the better!
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
As an IT Operations Lead, you'll need to demonstrate your ability to lead a team effectively. Prepare examples of how you've mentored or coached others in the past, and be ready to discuss your approach to balancing technical tasks with team management.
✨Be Ready for Problem-Solving Scenarios
Expect to face some technical challenges during the interview. Think about how you would handle major incidents or complex issues. Practise articulating your thought process clearly, as they’ll want to see how you approach problem-solving in real-time.
✨Understand Their Business Needs
Wifinity is all about providing reliable connectivity solutions. Familiarise yourself with their services and think about how your technical skills can directly impact their operations. Showing that you understand their business will set you apart from other candidates.