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Department: Central Functions
Location: Manchester M90 5EX (BOND)
Description
Who are we?
Dnata is one of the world’s largest air and travel services providers. We provide a comprehensive range of inflight catering, onboard retail, supply chain and logistics services at all major and regional airports across the UK. Dnata Catering provide expertly crafted inflight catering services, delivering fresh and high-quality meals at major and regional airports across the UK. As the leading Halal caterer in the UK, we also provide tailored experiences to meet each customer’s unique needs. We’re a leader in VIP catering, offering bespoke inflight to private and charter clients.
The Role
To deliver IT Services to a standard and at a cost that meets the business needs. The Head of IT should be an experienced technology leader who can provide strategic direction whilst remaining hands-on enough to support operational delivery when required. The role is responsible for both Technical Services (Infrastructure) and Business Systems, ensuring technology enables the business whilst maintaining stability, security and compliance.
Key Responsibilities
IT Leadership & People Management
- Lead, develop and inspire the IT function, ensuring appropriate organisational structure, capability and resourcing to meet business requirements.
- Create a high-performance culture through effective coaching, mentoring, performance management and employee development.
- Set clear objectives and SMART targets aligned to business goals and performance frameworks.
- Develop succession plans and promote cross-functional training to build organisational resilience and capability.
- Identify and support professional development and external training opportunities that deliver business value.
IT Strategy & Business Partnership
- Develop and deliver a technology strategy aligned to the organisation's business objectives and future growth plans over a 3 to 5-year horizon.
- Partner with senior stakeholders to identify opportunities where technology can improve operational efficiency, customer experience and business performance.
- Ensure strategic initiatives gain engagement and endorsement from key business stakeholders.
- Represent IT in business development activities, customer engagements and RFP/RFI processes, providing technical expertise and cost-effective solutions.
- Establish and maintain processes for evaluating, approving and implementing new technologies, systems and applications.
- Monitor market, technology and industry trends to ensure the organisation remains innovative and competitive.
IT Operations & Service Delivery
- Ensure the availability, security, performance and operational integrity of all business-critical applications and infrastructure services.
- Lead the delivery of reliable IT services through effective service management processes and clearly defined service level agreements.
- Establish and maintain robust change management and change control practices that balance operational stability with business agility.
- Oversee incident and problem management processes, leading responses to major outages and critical incidents.
- Manage stakeholder communications during service disruptions and coordinate supplier escalation where required.
- Drive continuous improvement across IT operations, processes and service delivery.
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Financial & Commercial Management
- Develop, manage and control the annual IT budget, ensuring expenditure aligns with business priorities and delivers value for money.
- Monitor and manage operational and project-related technology costs.
- Evaluate technology investments and develop business cases to support strategic decision-making.
- Identify opportunities to optimise supplier spend and maximise commercial value from technology contracts and services.
Supplier & Vendor Management
- Manage strategic relationships with technology vendors, service providers and external partners.
- Ensure appropriate contractual arrangements are in place for all third-party services.
- Conduct regular service reviews and performance assessments against agreed SLAs and contractual commitments.
- Collaborate with Procurement and Legal teams to support sourcing activities, contract negotiations and supplier governance.
- Lead RFI/RFP processes for new technology solutions and services.
Risk, Security & Compliance
- Own and maintain the IT risk management framework and IT risk register.
- Support organisational audit, risk and compliance activities, ensuring technology-related risks are appropriately managed.
- Develop, implement and maintain IT policies, standards and governance frameworks.
- Ensure effective information security controls are in place to protect business systems, data and technology assets.
- Maintain robust user access management controls and ensure access rights are regularly reviewed and aligned to business responsibilities.
- Promote security awareness and compliance through training, communication and education initiatives.
Project & Change Delivery
- Sponsor and oversee the successful delivery of technology projects and transformation initiatives.
- Develop business cases, project plans and investment proposals for technology programmes.
- Ensure projects are delivered using agreed project management methodologies, standards and governance frameworks.
- Drive effective organisational change management, training and adoption activities to maximise project benefits and long-term sustainability.
- Measure and report on project outcomes, benefits realisation and return on investment.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Leadership & Management
- Proven experience leading and developing high-performing IT teams within a complex business environment.
- Strong people leadership, coaching, mentoring and performance management capabilities.
- Ability to influence, engage and build credibility with executive stakeholders and cross-functional teams.
- Experience driving cultural and organisational change.
Technical & Operational Expertise
- Broad knowledge of enterprise applications, infrastructure, networks, cloud technologies and end-user computing environments.
- Strong understanding of IT service management principles, including incident, problem, change and release management.
- Experience managing business-critical systems and ensuring high levels of availability, resilience and performance.
- Knowledge of cybersecurity principles, identity and access management, data protection and IT governance frameworks.
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Strategy & Business Acumen
- Demonstrated ability to develop and execute technology strategies that support business growth and operational excellence.
- Commercially focused with strong business partnering skills and the ability to translate business needs into technology solutions.
- Experience supporting customer bids, RFP responses and strategic business initiatives.
- Ability to identify and implement technology-enabled process improvement opportunities.
Financial & Commercial Management
- Proven experience managing IT budgets, forecasting expenditure and delivering cost optimisation initiatives.
- Strong commercial awareness with experience managing technology suppliers, contracts and service agreements.
- Ability to evaluate technology investments and develop compelling business cases.
Governance, Risk & Compliance
- Experience implementing and maintaining IT governance, risk management and compliance frameworks.
- Strong understanding of information security policies, controls and industry best practices.
- Knowledge of audit processes, regulatory compliance requirements and technology risk management.
Qualifications & Experience
- Significant senior-level IT leadership experience, ideally within a multi-site operational or logistics environment.
- Degree-level qualification in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Systems or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- Professional certifications such as ITIL, Prince2, PMP, Agile, Microsoft, AWS, CISSP or equivalent are desirable.
- Demonstrable track record of delivering strategic technology initiatives and operational excellence.
Benefits
What's in it for you?
- An opportunity to be part of the Emirates global family.
- Free breakfast, lunch and dinner on site
- Free tea and coffee
- Simply health Plan
- Refer a Friend Scheme
- Discounted gym membership at over 2000 gyms nationwide
- Cycle to Work Scheme
- Opportunity to enhance your learning through our inhouse apprenticeship programme
If you're invited to interview, please let us know if there are any adjustments we can make to ensure you're cleared for take-off and able to perform at your best. We’re committed to making the recruitment journey as smooth and inclusive as possible.
dnata Catering UK is committed to protecting your personal data. Any information you provide during the recruitment process will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Notice and used solely for recruitment purposes. Your data will be held securely and retained only for as long as necessary in line with our data retention policy.
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