{"id":4307,"date":"2025-06-03T15:23:24","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T15:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/vacature\/interim-director-of-it-operations\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T09:21:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T09:21:54","slug":"interim-director-of-it-operations","status":"publish","type":"vacature","link":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/vacancy\/interim-director-of-it-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"Interim Director of IT Operations (filled in)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Location: Europe | Duration: Freelance\/Interim | Size: \u20ac5bn+ turnover, 12,000+ employees<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p>We are supporting a leading European distribution group in their search for an <strong>Interim<\/strong> <strong>Group Director IT Ops<\/strong>. This interim leadership role reports directly to the Group Chief Digital &amp; Information Officer (CDIO) and plays a key role in shaping and executing the IT Operations strategy across a complex, multi-country organization. <\/p>\n\n<p>The company operates across eight European countries and has embraced a predominantly cloud-based infrastructure, complemented by local on-premise solutions. The focus of this role is to drive <strong>harmonization, operational excellence, and modernization<\/strong> of IT services and infrastructure, while ensuring business continuity, scalability, and cost-efficiency. <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Key Responsibilities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>IT Operations Strategy &amp; Leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Develop and execute a cohesive IT operations strategy aligned with digital transformation and business objectives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Drive standardization and consolidation of infrastructure and operations across the group.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lead a compact central team and collaborate with country-level IT leadership and other group functions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Build a resilient and high-performing IT operations function that supports both group-wide and local business needs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><strong>Infrastructure &amp; Cloud Operations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Oversee hybrid IT landscapes, primarily based on Microsoft Azure and local on-premise environments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lead cloud migration initiatives and the modernization of legacy systems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Define governance and best practices for hybrid cloud environments, covering security, cost control, and performance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Implement monitoring frameworks to proactively manage system availability and efficiency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><strong>Service Management &amp; Operational Excellence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Standardize ITSM processes (incident, problem, change management) using ITIL best practices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Define and monitor service-level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Leverage automation, FinOps, and AIOps tools to optimize support and reduce manual workloads.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure reliable, responsive, and scalable support and service delivery.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><strong>Cybersecurity, Compliance &amp; Risk Management<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ensure adherence to GDPR, cybersecurity regulations, and relevant industry standards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Collaborate with security leadership to support a zero-trust security posture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Oversee business continuity and disaster recovery (BC\/DR) planning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enforce strict security baselines, vulnerability management, and patching protocols.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><strong>Financial &amp; Vendor Management<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Manage IT operations budgets and drive TCO optimization.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Support contract negotiation and vendor management for infrastructure, network, and cloud services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Monitor and optimize license usage, cloud resource allocation, and procurement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><strong>Collaboration &amp; Stakeholder Engagement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Engage with local IT and business leaders to ensure alignment with operational and growth objectives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lead cross-functional initiatives that enable digital transformation and operational agility.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Advise on emerging trends in infrastructure and operations, contributing to long-term IT strategy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><strong>Candidate Profile<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Technical &amp; Strategic Experience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>5+ years in IT infrastructure &amp; operations leadership roles in international environments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Experience leading cloud transformation programs (preferably Microsoft Azure).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strong understanding of hybrid infrastructure, network security, automation, and performance engineering.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Familiarity with ITIL frameworks, DevOps practices, and AIOps capabilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><strong>Leadership &amp; Business Acumen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Proven ability to lead distributed teams and influence senior stakeholders.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Experience delivering operational standardization and efficiency at scale.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strong financial skills for managing budgets and vendor performance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re an experienced IT operations leader with a strategic mindset and strong execution capabilities in complex, cloud-based environments, we&#8217;d be happy to discuss this opportunity with you further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4200,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"disciplines":[111],"dienstverband":[109],"regio":[122],"salaris":[133],"class_list":["post-4307","vacature","type-vacature","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","disciplines-it-management-en","dienstverband-freelancer","regio-amsterdam-en","salaris-negotiable"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vacature\/4307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vacature"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/vacature"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vacature\/4307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4393,"href":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vacature\/4307\/revisions\/4393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"disciplines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disciplines?post=4307"},{"taxonomy":"dienstverband","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dienstverband?post=4307"},{"taxonomy":"regio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regio?post=4307"},{"taxonomy":"salaris","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iduet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/salaris?post=4307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}