A leading financial services firm in Dublin is seeking a Head of IT to oversee its core IT functions and strategy. The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of IT leadership experience, strong knowledge in security, infrastructure, and project management. This senior role requires excellent communication and interpersonal skills. The successful candidate will manage IT operations and lead a team while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. This position offers a permanent contract with a dynamic and supportive work environment. #J-18808-Ljbffr
Head of IT Closing date for receipt of applications is Friday 10th of April at 17:00 Agency support not required for this role About Pepper Advantage Ireland Pepper Advantage Ireland has been instrumental in helping Irish individuals, businesses and investors navigate their financial journey since 2012. We manage over €19bn worth of assets and have a skilled team of more than 600 people across Dublin and Shannon. We’re here to service loans and mortgages which includes processing loan payments and when needed, working with customers to resolve late payments or assist with financial difficulties. As part of the international Pepper Advantage Group, we combine local knowledge with global expertise. With operations across the UK, Europe and Southeast Asia, we employ over 3,500 people and have over €40bn in assets under management. About this role The role is responsible for the company’s core IT function and strategy, infrastructure the physical network infrastructure, connectivity, telephony, all hardware and server installations, desktop and operating systems and collaboration tools (such as email, word processing and file sharing). Embedded in the role is the management of appropriate technical security measures to ensure the protection of the company’s data and computer systems. The Head of IT will be a member of the Pepper Ireland Executive Committee. The successful candidate will have a strong background in IT & project and change governance leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills. They will also have a deep understanding of IT infrastructure, security, AI, and vendor management, as well as knowledge of ITIL and other IT service management frameworks. This is a senior role for a candidate with extensive experience who can ensure we deliver a high level of services, as well as excellent leadership, communication and interpersonal skills. The candidate will report into the Ireland CEO with a dotted line into the Global CIO and will also have responsibility for a number of direct reports. Location: Dublin or Shannon Type of Contract: Permanent Key Responsibilities IT Infrastructure: Deliver and effective management of resilient IT infrastructure required to operate the company. IT infrastructure includes: the physical cabling of the company’s premises and the associated network hardware such as firewalls, racks, routers & switches; secure connectivity to the Internet, third party service providers and external workers; all IT related hardware, such as servers, workstations, laptops, printers and scanners; operating systems and other software platforms, such as database platforms, web servers and load balancers; all telephony related services including desktop and portable handsets, call centre technology and reporting, and unified communication cloud technologies; drive the selection of appropriate technologies to support the company’s objectives; manage the licensing of all company software, ensuring the IT platform is appropriately licensed; management of third party relationships related to the provision, support and maintenance of the IT infrastructure. Security: Delivery and effective management of controls as set in the Information Security Policy, and the operation of security technologies required by the company to mitigate IT risks, such as identity management, authentication and authorisation to network resources; malware protection and firewall configuration; deployment of security patches and KRI reporting of estate patch coverage; email and cloud protection technologies such as data loss prevention tools, spam filtering tools and cloud access security brokers; conduct simulated phishing campaigns to improve threat awareness; delivery of KRI reporting to support the company in its management of risk; work closely with the Chief Information Security Officer in respect of Pepper Ireland’s Information Security matters that align with industry best practice and global requirements. IT Applications Development and Support: Setting the strategic direction and vision of the department, ensuring alignment to Pepper Advantage business Goals & Objectives; responsibility for the performance and budget of the department against company PRF targets, reporting out progress to senior stakeholders in the business; support the global initiatives and Global CIO to embed and migrate onto the Prism modules; manage the team to define and create development and support methodologies, processes, and governance; oversight of the department to ensure change is delivered with set SLAs, performance improvement plans to be created and managed should SLAs not be met; pro-actively identify opportunities for digital strategy and growth (AI) and staying up to date with industry standards. Leadership & Team Development: Manage a team of IT and Change professionals to assist with the role requirements to deliver a defined, responsive, controlled and measured service to the business; establishing and maintaining appropriate internal control safeguards; interact with other managers to provide project management expertise to deliver change; consider customer and client outcomes in all aspects of strategic planning. Disaster Recovery: Ensure a robust IT governance framework, including policies and procedures and roles and responsibilities, to deliver our business strategies and effectively manage IT risks; develop, implement, and maintain the IT risk management framework (including business continuity and disaster recovery programs, IT security and operational risk); oversee outsourcing relationships and manage vendor relationships with affiliated and third-party IT service providers and suppliers; ensure the required governance structures are in place to record and report on all project and program risks to all stakeholders in an appropriate manner; ensure risks are regularly reviewed and that appropriate risk mitigation plans are in place. Financial Management: Ensure the processes are in place to estimate costs and get the required project approvals at the outset of a project; ensure the processes are in place to track costs and deviations from the approved project budgets are reported; ensure the required governance structures are in place to report project costs to relevant stakeholders in an appropriate manner. Skills & Experience Degree in Financial Services/IT/Computer (preferred) Minimum 10+ year’s financial services industry experience in an IT leadership/Project or Program Management senior role Executive-level experience preferred Excellent knowledge of IT systems and infrastructure (essential) Background in designing/developing IT systems and planning IT implementation (essential) Solid understanding of data analysis, budgeting, and business operations (essential) Knowledge/experience of working within a regulated and/or banking industry (essential) Experience in vendor and 3rd party management including relationship management, contract management, resource capacity planning and management, solution delivery management (desirable) Knowledge of multi-cloud and hybrid cloud IT environments (ideally Microsoft centric) Knowledge and/or understanding of cloud native application architectures Knowledge of IT infrastructure, security, and vendor management Knowledge of ITIL and other IT service management frameworks Experience leading and driving continuous improvement Regulatory Requirements for this Role Fitness & Probity This role is a Fitness and Probity Standards Impacted role and has been classified as a PCF Pre Approved Controlled Function and Controlled Function (CF). This has been designated a PCF49 Role and is pre-approved by the Central Bank of Ireland. This has been designated a CF1 and CF2 Role as described below. CF1 Ability to exercise a significant influence on the conduct of the affairs of a regulated financial service provider CF2 Ensuring, controlling or monitoring compliance by a regulated financial service provider with its relevant obligations PCF49 – Overall responsibility for managing the firm’s information and communications technology which the firm relies upon. You will be required to agree to abide by the Fitness & Probity Standards and complete all required due diligence checks. IAF: Conduct Standards Please note the Common Conduct Standards apply to this role. They impose a set of conduct obligations on individuals carrying out CFs within Pepper. These standards are prescribed in the Individual Accountability Framework and subject to regulatory reporting for non-compliance. The standards are: Acting with honesty and integrity; Acting with due, skill, care and diligence; Cooperating in good faith and without delay with the Central Bank and other relevant regulatory authorities; Acting in the best interests of customers and treating them fairly and professionally; and Operating in compliance with standards of market conduct and trading venue rules. IAF: Additional Conduct Standards Please note as you hold a PCF role in addition to the Common Conduct Standards your role is also subject to the Additional Common Conduct Standards. They impose an additional set of enhanced obligations on individuals carrying out PCF roles within Pepper. These standards are prescribed in the Individual Accountability Framework and subject to regulatory reporting for non-compliance. The additional expected standards are: that the business of the regulated financial service provider is controlled effectively. that the business of the regulated financial service provider is conducted in accordance with its obligations under financial services legislation. that any delegated tasks are assigned to an appropriate person with effective oversight. that any information of which the Bank would reasonably expect notice in respect of the business of the regulated financial service provider is disclosed promptly and appropriately to the Bank Pepper is an equal opportunity employer. Role Profiles are subject to change in line with business needs. #J-18808-Ljbffr
