Head of IT - Pet

Job Purpose

• Provide technology and delivery direction and expertise across the Pet Business. Acting as a single point of contact for all aspects of IT strategy, delivery and operational management, ensuring that IT contributes significant business value
• Manage a collaborative relationship with senior leaders across the business area and within the IT department, ensuring an aligned agenda. Act as an ambassador for IT and make a positive contribution to the feedback that the function receives
• Ensure that the optimum balance is achieved between costs, value and benefits in provision of IT services and systems, working within business priorities as agreed by the board, ensuring that ‘business demand’ is matched to ‘IT supply’ as needed
• Drive a culture of skills growth and continuous improvement by acting both as a servant leader and coach for the team as well by removing orgnaisational impediments
• Keep abreast of IT and general technology developments in the broader marketplace, and make recommendations, ensuring these are understood and where appropriate, exploited across the business to increase business value derived from systems and processes

Location: We are open to discussion around remote working possibilities (UK only)

Accountabilities & Responsibilities

• Assists in the development and management of OKR’s and key performance indicators, ensuring that the business is setting ambitious direction
• Builds and executes a robust plan to deliver the OKR’s within budgetary constraints, whilst operating within the risk appetite of the business
• Implements measures and reporting ROI across the team so that IT delivery performance vs. investment is clearly understood

• Identifies, tracks, and manages impediments to maintain both pace and flow of value
• Ensuring all team planning and deliver meetings are conducted and are focussed on value creation
• Has a clear understanding of the needs of the business and takes full advantage of EUI capabilities e.g. commercials, people, processes, and systems, to achieve results

• Advocates and leads on ways of working and methods (e.g. Agile) that continually improve IT delivery and services, ensuring the adoption and adaptation of systems development lifecycle models as needed to advance business outcomes
• Exploits new approaches, proposals, and technologies to build a credible strategy, building on the existing strengths and potential of the current domain and marrying all relevant organisation objectives with achievable goal
• Embeds the IT talent strategy, ensuring strong recruitment, retention, and growth for talent within budget
• Leads the team and communicates matters affecting staff and stakeholders as needed, including clear communication of, IT strategy, key decisions, policies, and plans
• Develops a culture of risk, control and compliance, ensuring that appropriate systems and controls are in place. Seeks advice from the Cheif Compliance and Risk Officer to ensure all aspects of the department's operations comply with regulations
• Acts in accordance and within the spirit of both business and regulatory policies and conduct rules e.g. Risk, Security and Compliance
• Ensures that the customer is 'front and centre' in everything that the organisation does, ensuring that customers are treated fairly
• Manages budgeting, forecasting and plans for growth
• Develops a happy and talented team ensuring that the culture within the department reflects the four pilars of "Communication, Equality, Reward and Recognition and Fun
• Inspires employees and act as a role model for the behaviours that encourage a high standard of product delivery
• Ensures alignment of systems development activity and deliverables with agreed engineering, architecture and standards as established by the CTO and CISO
• Adopts a culture of customer centricity and a design thinking approach to product delivery 
   

Knowledge and Experience Required

• Significant delivery leadership and project management experience, applied to designing and delivering business solutions
• Knowledge and experience in Scrum development practices and continuous integration & deployment
• Experience operating within heavily regulated environments including external regulated consumer products and service offerings
• Experience of matrix management and using internal and external delivery teams
• Knowledge and experience with 3^rd party service providers including facilitation of RFP, onboarding, and performance management (design of SLA and overall KPI)
• Experienced across core facets of IT operations, including SLA development & management
• Experienced budget management skills
• Brings practical knowledge of the industry and professional standards
• Has worked in an environment where architectural and security governance, standards and methodology help the business grow, safely

Why work for us?

Admiral has many benefits that you will benefit from including;

• Working with a top-class team
• Remote working
• Working on exciting challenges to maintain Admiral’s advantage over its competitors
• Be given the flexibility to work in the way that allows you to give your best
• Work in an open and accessible department
• Know that you are working for a department that regularly take part in charitable events
• Whilst also a discounted gym scheme, cycle to work scheme, childcare vouchers, non-contributory share schemes, pension contributions and many more!
   

About Admiral

We're Wales’ only FTSE 100 company. We have forward-thinking approaches and provide endless opportunities to test, learn and grow. There's a reason we've been named a Best Place to Work: our progressive culture, core values, and commitment to diversity and inclusion have created a working environment where people share ideas, aren’t afraid to speak up and change things, and above all, feel valued.

Admiral has grown from being a small start-up into a multi-national organisation. The company is constantly investigating new products, services and markets and is now present in eight countries with a diverse product portfolio.

Our success goes hand-in-hand with having a strong culture where we put our people and customers first. Our philosophy is simple yet effective: people who like what they do, do it better, and this, in turn, means that our customers receive the level of service and products that they deserve. Our culture is honest, open and wholeheartedly focused on four key areas:

Communication, Equality, Reward & Recognition, and Fun.
 

Salary, Benefits and Work-Life Balance

We do not have a set salary for this position, as it will be dependent on the successful candidate’s experience. We are happy to see CVs from all candidates who meet the requirements and will be happy to discuss the remuneration package.

At Admiral, we are proud to be a diverse business where we put our people and customers first. We have great benefits to ensure employees have a great work-life balance; it's one of the reasons we have been consistently voted one of Sunday Times Best Big Companies to Work For in the UK. We want you to have an element of freedom to define a working lifestyle that supports this, so accommodate flexible hours wherever possible.

You can also view some of our other key benefits here; https://admiraljobs.co.uk/employee-benefits/.

If you think this role is for you and would like to be considered for this opportunity, please click “apply now” to complete an online application form.

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