Head of Sector IT Space

Objective

Senior technology leadership role with a clear Space sector focus, streamlining technology decision-making, ensuring high-quality IT services for a highly skilled engineering user base, and aligning sector technology roadmaps with business priorities, customer requirements and Europe IT strategy.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for the Sector technology budget, planning, targets, tracking and forecasting.
• Responsible for all technology within the Sector.
• Single point of contact for Sector MDs, Contract Directors and senior business stakeholders.
• Develop and implement technology strategies aligned with the sector and company goals and objectives.
• Manage sector technology resources and coordinate local execution, providing guidance, coaching, development support and performance evaluations.
• Lead and develop the team of Support Engineers, ensuring strong service discipline, clear accountability, continuous capability building and effective stakeholder support.
• Manage all technology suppliers within the Sector, coordinate their activities and monitor their performance.
• Responsible for the performance of technology across the Sector linked to KPIs and SLAs.
• Act as the link to the Europe Architecture function and other key stakeholders for sector requirements, solutions and roadmaps.
• Stay updated with industry trends and best practices, and recommend improvements to enhance the Sector technology capabilities.
• Drive continuous improvement and enhancement of technology services: transform, automate, eliminate, digitise, innovate and pioneer.
• Ensure that technology services meet the expectations of a predominantly engineering user base working in highly technical customer environments, including ESA-related contexts.
• Promote operational excellence, standardisation and service maturity across support processes, including structured problem management, root-cause elimination and measurable process improvement.

Specific Technology Expertise

• Strong understanding of cloud platforms, with particular emphasis on Microsoft Azure; experience with other hosting providers or cloud environments is a strong advantage.
• Good knowledge of cloud architecture principles, identity and access concepts, network connectivity, resilience, security controls and operational governance in enterprise environments.
• Demonstrated understanding of technologies related to automation and digitalisation, including the ability to identify practical use cases that improve service quality, productivity and user experience.
• Experience in modern workplace, infrastructure, systems administration and integration topics relevant to engineering-heavy environments.
• Experience in evaluating and implementing technology solutions for highly skilled technical user communities, with the ability to engage credibly with engineers and other expert stakeholders and translate advanced requirements into pragmatic IT services.
• Appreciation of technology standards required in secure, regulated and customer-driven environments, including data protection, compliance, service continuity and robust change control.
• Exposure to software development, scripting, DevOps or related engineering practices would be beneficial, as it would support effective engagement with highly technical stakeholders and strengthen the role’s ability to drive automation, integration and digital transformation initiatives.

Leadership and Operational Excellence

• Proven experience in leading support or service engineering teams in a structured, performance-oriented environment.
• Ability to establish a culture of ownership, service quality, responsiveness and continuous improvement within the Support Engineer team.
• Lean Six Sigma, ITIL, or comparable continuous-improvement / service-management qualifications are beneficial.
• Experience using structured improvement methods to streamline support processes, reduce recurring issues, improve service levels and increase automation is highly desirable.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, a related field or equivalent work experience. A master's degree is desirable.
• Proven experience as an IT manager or in a similar leadership role.
• Strong technical knowledge across a broad range of technology areas, including infrastructure, networking, security and systems administration.
• Demonstrated experience with cloud computing, enterprise software and emerging technologies.
• Sound understanding of Azure-based services and modern hosting concepts; experience with additional cloud or hosting providers is an advantage.
• Exposure to AI, automation and digitalisation initiatives, with the ability to turn technology opportunities into practical business value.
• Proficiency in project management methodologies and tools, with a track record of successful project delivery.
• Excellent leadership and people management skills, with the ability to motivate and inspire a team.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities, with a strategic mindset.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact effectively with stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.
• Knowledge of regulatory requirements and compliance standards related to technology, such as data protection and privacy laws.
• Comfort operating in technically demanding customer environments with stakeholders who possess strong engineering and technology know-how.
• Industry certifications, such as ITIL, PMP, CISSP, Azure certifications, Lean Six Sigma or similar, are a plus.

Languages

• German, French, Italian, or Dutch nice to have