Ace Grading is the UK's leading trading card grading company, combining technology and craftsmanship to deliver trusted grading and authentication services. As we continue to grow, we are seeking an experienced Head of IT to build and lead the function that keeps our people, systems and site running at our UK & Dutch operations..
As Head of IT you will own the layer that keeps more than 150 people working: networking and connectivity, the end-user helpdesk, hardware, accounts and security. As Head of IT you will cross into every function of the business, from the grading floor and warehouse through to finance, people and the senior leadership team, playing a vital role in ACE's continued growth.
Reporting to the CIPO & CTO, you will recruit and lead a small support team, set the standards, and make uptime a given rather than a daily battle. It is a hands-on leadership role with genuine ownership from day one, playing a vital part in Ace Grading's continued growth.
Key responsibilities will include:
- Own and develop ACE's infrastructure, including migration toward a resilient, multisite, high availability environment that supports UK growth and the new Dutch operation, removing single points of failure as the business scales.
- Own company-wide networking, connectivity and uptime, from internet lines and firewalls to Wi-Fi, acting as the escalation point for outages and running them through to resolution.
- Build and run the end-user helpdesk: ticketing, priorities, service levels and a knowledge base that means problems get fixed once.
- Own the hardware estate end to end: procurement, imaging, deployment, asset tracking and refresh cycles.
- Own identity and account management, including starter, mover and leaver processes alongside the People team.
- Own endpoint and infrastructure security: patching, multi-factor authentication, endpoint protection, access management, backups and disaster recovery.
- Recruit, lead and develop our IT Support Technician(s), keeping day-to-day tickets flowing so you have the space to plan and improve.
- Manage external partners and suppliers while building internal capability, maintaining tight budgetary control and clear value for money.
- Set IT policies and standards, and plan capacity ahead of headcount growth.
- Manage security products and controls, including firewalls, anti-virus, encryption, monitoring, BYOD and endpoint management, and own IT's contribution to data protection and UK GDPR compliance.
- Ensure compliance with data protection regulations.
Person specification
Essential skills and experience:
- 5+ years of experience in an IT management or senior engineering role.
- Strong track record designing and managing resilient, virtualised, high availability infrastructure across multiple sites.
- Strong practical networking knowledge: routing, firewalls, VLANs, Wi-Fi and VPNs.
- Experience selecting and implementing major business systems, including ERP, and integrating them with wider platforms.
- Hands-on experience administering NAS storage such as TrueNAS/FreeNAS, including shares and permissions, RAID/ZFS pools, snapshots and backup integration.
- A track record of building or improving helpdesk processes and measuring how well they work.
- Excellent communication skills, able to translate complex technical details for non-technical colleagues and directors.
- Comfortable operating both strategically and hands-on, closing the gap between board-level planning and day to day technical delivery.
Desirable:
- Confident administering Google Workspace, identity and device management.
- Familiarity with ITIL or similar service management frameworks.
- Exposure to physical-site technology such as CCTV and access control.
- Working knowledge of endpoint security, backup and disaster recovery.
- Experience managing suppliers, contracts and budgets.
- Networking certifications such as CompTIA Network+ or Cisco CCNA.
Pay: £55,000.00-£65,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company events
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee discount
- Enhanced maternity leave
- Enhanced paternity leave
- Private dental insurance
Work Location: In person
