Head of Data Centre & Network

Job description / Role

Job Description
Job Title: Head of Data Centre & Network
Reports to IT Infrastructure Manager
Department: IT Department

Job Objective
You will be managing a team of IT professionals in implementing and supporting IT Data centres and Network facilities and technologies, through planning, resourcing and commissioning; in order to deliver the right services and maintain/enhance our business and operations.

Key Accountabilities:
Description:

Strategy
- Contribute to the formulation and implementation of the departmental strategy and plans in order to enable the achievement of departmental needs and objectives.
- Adheres to the policies and procedures of IT department to make sure all actions are reflective of the strategy.

IT Applications Support
- Prepare annual budget for IT Data Centre requirements of the business, and seek approval of the IT Infrastructure Manager, along with supporting the Manager with any documentation required to get the approval.
- Manage and control costs, where possible, to ensure optimum performance against the approved budget.

Budgeting & Cost Control
- Ensure continuity and minimum downtime of the Data Centre and Network, to support the business requirements of our company
- Manage the selection, procurement and installation of the best Data Centre and network hardware, including Servers, Storages, Voice, Messaging and Security, to ensure we are in line with the market practices and state of the art infrastructure.
- Implement, manage and monitor the Data Centre services including Storages, Servers, Backups, Virtualization, Disaster Recovery Sites and Processes.
- Oversee, monitor, and evaluate testing standards used in the deployment of the Data Centre infrastructure to ensure quality, accuracy and security.
- Oversee and manages the delivery of IT Data Centre and Network support throughout our business units and department and ensure that lost of service and work due to IT network issues and minimised

IT Project Management
- Oversee and lead projects to ensure that the projects meet timelines, quality and expectations.
- Contributes to the writing and evaluation of Requests for Proposals pertaining to Data Centre projects.

Quality Standard
- Ensure the Data Centre policies and procedures, guidelines, and documentation standards throughout the management of the IT systems function and compliance with the quality standards applied throughout the company Vendor relationships
- Evaluate (with the Tender Committee) and recommend hardware vendors, consultants and / or contractors as necessary in order to ensure we obtain relevant and high-quality cost-effective service.
- Validate purchase requirements of hardware and any other IT peripherals and approve as per delegation of authority.
- Evaluate and select IT vendors to ensure that the most appropriate service is yielded.

IT Security Planning
- Develop, F formulates and gain agreement to security management operational plans and ensures that all objectives are delivered on time and budget and in line with our IT security strategy.
- Ensure that the Data Centres are secure, and all mechanisms are in place on the network/system, so that there is no breach of security.

Disaster Recovery Management and Business Continuity
- Manage disaster recovery procedures with respect to IT so that systems can be reinstated in a timely and integral manner in the event of a disaster scenario.
- Ensure that operating systems hardware and software are operating properly and on latest updated versions.

People Management
- Monitor performance and training needs of direct reports in order to maximize subordinate and functional performance in the pursuit of functional objectives.
- Resolve issues regarding resources and prioritization across assigned teams.
- Leads staff and resources to provide superior systems environment and future business initiatives

Solution Architecture
- Mapping the business and IT requirements to systems/technical requirements to ensure they are in line with the enterprise architectural plan
- Participate and provide input to the strategic direction of technology investments and integrations across IT unites to assist in the development of the enterprise architecture and maximise the return on technology investment
- Define and design technology solutions to assist the business and IT in meeting their business objectives
- Develop, test and implement technology solutions and report on delivery commitments to ensure solutions are implemented as expected and to agreed timeframes

Requirements

Qualifications, Experience & Skills

Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science or Computer Engineering or equivalent (Master's degree is highly desired).
- CDCDP Or CDCMP required (CDCP or CDCS are highly desirable)
- MSCE
- CCNA

Minimum Experience:
- 10+ years of IT Infrastructure, Data Center, Networks, IT Security, and Solution Architecture experience

About the Company

With a combined 35 years within the investment management, accounting and software engineering, you can rely on us to identify the perfect candidates, with full discretion, both efficiently and seamlessly to exceed your expectations.