Senior Manager – Network Infrastructure and Operations

17937BR

University IT

Managerial, Professional and Specialist Staff – MPSS

Advert

Senior Manager
Network Infrastructure and Operations

We want to make Cardiff University an institution that is respected the world over. Our vision is to be a world-leading, research-excellent, educationally outstanding university, driven by creativity and curiosity, which fulfils its social, cultural and economic obligations to Cardiff, Wales, the UK and the world. We expect to improve our standing as one of the top 100 universities in the world and the top 20 in the UK.  Ensuring the security of our research, teaching and administrative systems and their data from theft, compromise and corruption is of crucial importance to enable us to achieve our vision.

University IT provides critical support to c7,000 staff, 35,000 students, and 38 academic and professional service schools and departments. The needs of learning and teaching, research and core services present an ever-changing set of challenges in an organisation that is constantly evolving. We support the University to deliver The Way Forward 2018-23 strategy and its relevant sub-strategies, providing fully integrated, professional programme and project management, business change management, and IT workstreams.

Opportunity

The successful candidate will strategically and operationally lead and manage the university’s data centres and networking infrastructure, motivating a team of professionals who ensure the availability of the university’s complex IT environment. You will be a skilled and passionate individual to drive the development and implementation of campus networks, data centre architecture and associated products across our hybrid, fixed and cloud network estate. The successful candidate will lead a high performing team, driving performance, knowledge growth and ongoing development of university strategic priorities.  Key initiatives include the development of an internal network operations centre to ensure that we deliver excellent proactive operational monitoring and a data centre infrastructure refurbishment programme. This role is crucial in supporting the delivery of highly available IT services to student, staff, and research communities.

You

As a passionate and knowledgeable data centre and networking infrastructure specialist, you will provide specialist and expert advice to colleagues within university IT and the wider university.  You will support the senior leadership team by providing advice, insight and guidance in data centre and network infrastructure trends and developments. You will need to demonstrate a commitment to driving forward service and delivery improvements, have excellent business stakeholder and supplier management skills and instil a culture of continuous service improvement.
As a member of the University IT Operational Management Team, you will support cultural change within the department, explaining the need for and importance of adhering to technical controls and processes to protect the integrity of the university’s data, infrastructure and systems.
What we offer

Cardiff University can offer many attractive benefits to its employees, including a competitive salary, 37 days annual leave per annum and a generous pension scheme.  More information on what we can offer can be found at https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/jobs/what-we-can-offer.

This is a full time, open ended position.

Salary: £59,421 – £64,914 per annum (Grade 8)

Date advert posted: Tuesday, 30 January 2024

Closing date:  Tuesday 13 February 2024

Please be aware that Cardiff University reserves the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds.  We therefore welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age.  In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Job Description

You will have defined authority and responsibility for an area that is of significant importance to the delivery of the IT service within the University, including technical, people management, financial and quality aspects.
As the senior manager responsible for multiple teams, including other team managers, you will be responsible for team development and pastoral care & welfare of those staff. Specifically, you will:

• Establish team objectives and delegate responsibility for delivery of these, conducting appraisals and performance reviews to track achievement, identify training and development activity and performance manage staff.
• Be a point of contact for team welfare issues, ensuring University procedures and policies are followed, dealing with issues relating to discipline, grievance, and capability, offering staff guidance and support and being capable of dealing with complex issues where there are no set guidelines or procedures.
• Take responsibility for the management culture in your teams, ensuring that any direction from the IT Director or your manager is followed and cascaded as appropriate.
• Be responsible for ensuring your teams are fully equipped for their work environment, including having appropriate risk assessments, operating procedures, equipment and training to ensure they can work safely wherever required. 
• Ensure you and your team are compliant with University procedures and guidelines.
• Be asked to carry out some duties associated with a more senior management role for developmental purposes or more junior management role for operational reasons.

You will set the overall standards in your teams to carry out all tasks and procedures efficiently and effectively to meet agreed levels of service or specific requirements of Service or Operational Level Agreements. You will gather and record service level information and produce statistics for use in measuring key performance indicators (KPIs), and ensure that you team meets the required targets. You will ensure that the needs of customers are both met and future requirements anticipated, such that University colleagues have the support they need from IT service to fulfil their roles.

You will be expected to receive, understand and convey complex issues and information about IT solutions and strategies and communicate both verbally and in written form to effectively inform and influence a diverse range of both technical and non-technical audiences to a common aim. This will involve the production and delivery of presentations, reports and other documentation including guidelines, procedures, business cases and budget proposals. 

You will contribute to the overall IT strategy, owning specific areas of this that relate to your team’s areas of expertise. You will ensure that the strategic roadmap is clearly identified and leveraged against appropriate University needs by embedding it in overall actions plans.

You will plan, organise and track people and financial resource within your area including:

• Development of appropriate long-term action plans to deliver solutions and services critical to both the day-to-day operation of the University and achievement of its strategic goals and objectives. 
• Operational resource plans and timelines for delivery of the team workload in accordance with programme and business as usual demand.
• Budget submissions, input to business cases for new developments, tracking and monitoring of actual expenditure against plans

Person Specification

Important note: It is the University’s policy to use the person specification as a key tool for short-listing. Candidates should evidence that they meet ALL of the essential criteria as well as, where relevant, the desirable. As part of the application process you will be asked to provide this evidence via a supporting statement. Please ensure that the evidence you are providing corresponds with the numbered criteria outlined below. Your application will be considered based on the information you provide under each element. When attaching the supporting statement to your application profile, please ensure that you name it with the vacancy reference number, e.g. Supporting Statement for #####BR.

Essential Criteria

Experience

Expertise/Competence/Skills

Specific Qualities

10. A resilient, determined and confident team player, comfortable with making decisions and highly customer focused coupled with excellent people management skills.

Desirable Criteria

11. Direct University IT experience and / or other public sector experience but ideally with some non-public service sector exposure.

12. Qualification in ITIL management or similar.

13. Knowledge of asbestos legislation, protocols and procedures.

14. Welsh Speaker

Additional Information

Job description cont:

You will respond to escalated, complex and high impact problems in a timely fashion, leading your teams in problem solving including investigations into service issues, complaints, ineffective areas of working and to identify and propose solutions to fill gaps in existing IT service. You will ensure that solutions proposed take into account strategic implications for the University and IT technology and do not limit future choice. You will report issues and non-compliances to Board level, and propose and monitor action for resolution. 

You will influence internal policy formation and business planning relevant to your team’s area of specialism through networks in the University and participation in relevant University groups and other forum. You will develop relationships with internal and external customers/suppliers/partners at senior management level – influencing external developments to the benefit of the University as a whole.

You will take the initiative for continuous professional development of yourself and your teams, keeping skills up to date and maintaining awareness of developments in IT so that you can understand the risks and implications of new technologies for the University. You will also maintain awareness of good practice frameworks, within the sphere of Business and IT, including capability and maturity models, and standards.

You will be a point of reference within the University for your area of responsibility and subject matter expertise, either through direct knowledge or by being able to leverage technical expertise from within your teams or the wider IT team. You will be recognised as a knowledgeable contact for your area of responsibility within and outside the University.

You will plan and manage the implementation of processes and procedures, tools and techniques for the identification, assessment, and management of risk inherent in the operation of business processes and of potential risks arising from planned IT-enabled change in your area of responsibility.
You are expected to participate in any projects as appropriate and to carry out any tasks as directed by your line management that are appropriate to their grade and/or skill set.

The post holder is expected to have or be prepared to develop an appropriate knowledge/skill level in the current technologies in use and to develop an appropriate knowledge/skill level in any new technologies introduced to their area.

• Develop and implement network strategies and policies to ensure the availability, reliability, capacity and security of the network.
• Provide leadership and management of the network team consisting of Data Centre and Network Engineers
• Manage vendor relationships and work with the Procurement team to negotiate contracts for data centre and network equipment and services.
• Continuously monitor and evaluate core network performance and make recommendations for improvements.
• Continuously stay updated with new technology and trends in networking and make recommendations for new technology adoption to create business benefit.

Current technologies:

•    Dell and HP Aruba network switching

•    Aruba Wireless Infrastructure

•    Infoblox network management

•    Infrastructure Monitoring Tools (Nagios)

•    Network and Data Centre Monitoring tools (Entuity/Solar Winds/sFlow Network Monitoring – Isx struxureware – Data Centre Infrastructure Management)  

•    UPS and PDUs (Triplite and Reilo)

Job Category

Information Technology