JOB DESCRIPTION

Company

Our customer is one of the leading Financial Operators in the Euro Zone.

Department: Information Technology (IT)

IT provides end-to-end technology support across the Company business, comprising of ca. 250 staff primarily located in Paris and abroad. IT has a core responsibility for developing, supporting and protecting the key trading applications in addition to the surround applications. In infrastructure, IT is responsible for Data Center management including all hardware, such as server & storage equipment right through to end user computing. IT is also responsible for protecting the Company systems from attack and data theft. IT is not only internal facing but provides managed solutions to the wider market. Infrastructure and Operations Department (I&O) is responsible for all of the IT infrastructure within the Company, and the software that runs on it.

I&O (Infrastructure & Operations) comprises of ca.100 staff primarily located in Paris and abroad. Their applications are latency sensitive, capacity planning and performance monitoring are key elements. I&O build, configure and operate the infrastructure that the company runs on – servers, storage, networks, databases – and also install, operate and support the software that runs the business. Everything from the markets platforms to email, telephone, Blackberry, and a whole host of systems in between. Managing the change that is carried out on their IT, and when IT issues occur working to fix them and preventing them from happening again. All of this is done by working very closely with all departments such as IT Solutions, Information Security, and their vendors, 3rd parties, business partners and customers.

Major transformations are in progress in order to industrialize the production and provide more agility to deliver all projects from business request to production.

Position Overview

We’re looking for a highly talented Head of Infrastructure and Operations (I&O) who will play a critical role in leading the delivery of IT services within their global network:

• Drive all changes on infrastructure and applications
• Be the gatekeeper of IT platforms
• Take a lead role in driving incidents and problems
• Make proactive recommendations for technical and process optimization
• Deliver cost efficiency
• Budget definition and management

The Director of I&O reports directly to the CIO

Your responsibilities

• Provide infrastructure services vision, enable innovation and leverage IT trends that can create business value consistent with the firm’s requirements and expectations
• Lead global, strategic technology initiatives to build and maintain key elements of the firm’s enterprise infrastructure and associated project portfolio
• Lead an extremely talented team of engineers and service support professionals, with international experience and ability to mobilize multicultural teams
• Participate in IT strategic planning, project planning and budget planning efforts
• Analyze technology trends and develop infrastructure strategy, architecture, and delivery processes designed for agility and cost effectiveness

Ideal Profile

• College degree in technology related matters preferred. Post graduate degree preferred
  10+ years of leadership experience managing and/or directing large IT operational teams preferred
• Service focused, with strong inter personal skills, proactive and dynamic
• Strong methodology, good autonomy and reporting skills
• Adaptability in a highly moving and fast growing environment
• Fluent English and French. Other European language is a plus as the Company is based in several countries
  Knowledge of applicable laws and regulations as they relate to technology issues important
• Knowledge of financial environment
• Demonstrated ability to apply technology solutions to business problems
• Strong leadership and management abilities. Ability to lead cross functional project teams in implementing projects of a complex nature
• Flexibility to adapt to rapidly changing conditions and priorities, and to redirect managers and teams towards new objectives
• A deep understanding of the interdependent relationship between infrastructure, information security and the applications/services they enable as well as the criticality of maintaining strong connections between the respective teams within IT
• Demonstrated critical thinking and planning at a strategic, global level. Ability to translate strategic plans into specific objectives, and to create and execute project plans to achieve objectives
• Must have strong organizational skills and multi-tasking capabilities and excellent written and spoken communication skills
• Persuasive, professional communication style. Capable of communicating complex, technical topics to a wide variety of audiences. Ability to interact with senior management and influence decision makers