IT Manager

Job DescriptionThe opportunity: We are recruiting an IT Manager to lead the technology function through its next stage of development. The priority is to make technology count for the operation: bringing structure to how the business asks for change, making sure the right things get built, and making sure they are used properly once delivered. The successful candidate will own the full IT agenda, covering strategy, applications, infrastructure, security and third-party relationships.

They will be measured most heavily on the strength of their relationships with Engineering, Flight Operations, Crewing, Finance and People, and on their ability to convert operational problems into working systems. You will be accountable for: Acting as the identified point of contact for each business function, with a standing partnering rhythm with each function head rather than contact only when something goes wrong. Maintaining a single, visible demand pipeline, prioritised with and agreed by the leadership team, so that IT capacity is allocated against business value rather than by whoever asks loudest.

Translating operational problems into requirements, including challenging the request, offering simpler or cheaper alternatives, and declining work with a clear, evidenced rationale. Ensuring every material system has a named business owner accountable for the process, the data quality and the change decisions, with IT accountable for the platform, the delivery and the integrity of the data. Where that ownership is unclear or contested, you are expected to surface it and resolve it rather than work around it.

Building decision-ready business cases: cost, benefit, resourcing, risk and options, in a form the executive team and Board can act on. Running project governance jointly with business sponsors, including steering, RAID and decision logs, and escalating early when a programme stalls. Tracking benefits after go-live and reporting honestly on what was and was not achieved.

Representing the business commercially with vendors, acting as the informed buyer and translating vendor proposals into terms the business can assess. Wider responsibilities: Strategy, systems and delivery Own and maintain the IT strategy and technical architecture roadmap, explicitly traceable to the business plan. Own the application portfolio lifecycle across our maintenance, operations and finance platforms, from selection and implementation through integration, upgrade and retirement.

Deliver projects to agreed scope, budget and timescale, and manage the transition into stable business-as-usual support. Lead hardware and software upgrade programmes across the business, including cloud migration decisions and their governance and data-ownership implications. Infrastructure, security and resilience Ensure resilient, secure day-to-day operation of infrastructure, networks, end-user computing and connectivity across all bases.

Own information risk management, information security policy and organisational adherence, and the associated awareness and training. Own data protection and privacy compliance in conjunction with the business, including obligations arising from emerging EU technology regulation. Own disaster recovery and business continuity planning, backup and recovery operations, and test them on a defined cycle rather than assume them.

Provide the evidence and remediation required to satisfy external audit of IT general controls. Commercial and financial management Prepare and manage the IT budget and forecast, with clear ownership of variances and a demonstrated focus on value for money. Lead vendor selection, negotiation, contract management and performance review alongside Finance and the relevant business owner.

Manage and report performance against service levels and agreed KPIs, and against company procurement and approval policies. Leadership Lead and develop the IT team, covering technical support, infrastructure and development or integration capability, including managed service and contractor resource. Set standards for how the team engages with the business: responsive, plain-spoken and accountable.

Provide clear, concise reporting to the executive team and Board on performance, risk, spend and delivery. Experience and skills: Essential Proven IT management experience in an operationally intensive and regulated environment such as aviation, transport, logistics, manufacturing or utilities. Demonstrable credibility with senior non-technical stakeholders, with a track record of influencing operational and commercial decisions rather than only receiving instructions.

Experience owning a business application portfolio alongside infrastructure, including evidence of resolving competing priorities between functions. Experience taking a contested, stalled or under-performing system programme and returning it to controlled delivery. Working knowledge of Microsoft 365, Entra ID / Active Directory, DNS and DHCP, virtualisation (VMware), networking and firewalls (routing, VLANs, VPN) and Azure.

Vendor management, contract negotiation and budget ownership. Sound grasp of information security, GDPR and business continuity in practice, not just in policy. Strong organisational discipline: prioritisation, attention to detail and delivery to deadline in an environment of competing demands.

Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to explain technical trade-offs in plain business language. Desirable Exposure to aviation systems, such as an MRO/M&E platform of the AMOS type, crew and operations systems, or airline data exchange with customers and lessors. Experience of migrating a core operational system to a SaaS or cloud-hosted model, including the governance, access and data-ownership questions that follow.

Experience operating across multiple jurisdictions and bases, including Nordic or wider EU locations. Familiarity with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central or a comparable ERP. Broad understanding of software development and integration methodologies.

Awareness of AI governance obligations under the EU AI Act. What success looks like in the first twelve months A single agreed IT roadmap and prioritised demand pipeline, signed off by function heads and the executive team. A named business owner in place for every material system, with change routed through agreed governance.

Our most significant live system programme back in controlled delivery, with an agreed scope, business owner and business case. Measurable improvement in service performance against agreed service levels. Third-party IT spend reviewed, with savings or improved terms secured.

A completed and documented disaster recovery test, and audit findings on IT controls closed out. How you will work Curious about the operation, and willing to spend time in the hangar, the ops room and the crew room to understand how it works. Comfortable in a lean organisation, moving between strategic and hands-on work as the situation requires.

Direct and honest, particularly about risk, cost and what is not going well. Skills: Commercial and financial management. IT management experience Vendor management Benefits: Pension Death in Service EAP Social Club TPBN1_IJ