Candidate Brief for the position of Director of ICT Imperial College London April 2018
Background Imperial College London is a science-based university with an international reputation for excellence in teaching and research. Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial is committed to developing the next generation of researchers, scientists and academics through collaboration across disciplines. Located in the heart of London, Imperial is a multidisciplinary space for education, research, translation and commercialisation, harnessing science and innovation to tackle global challenges. With further campuses spread across west London and the South East, the College recently opened its state-of-the art White City campus which will focus on research and translation activities. Strategy 2015-2020 Since Imperial launched its Strategy 2015-2020 it has made significant progress, producing groundbreaking research, world-changing collaborations and critical policy interventions. Breakthroughs have included wirelessly transferring power to drones while in flight, the discovery of a new form of light and major new research in climate change amongst a multitude of others. The strategy focuses around four key themes: Discovery and the natural world Engineering novel solutions Health and wellbeing Leading the data revolution Foundations We will continue to specialise in science, engineering, medicine and business. This is the foundation on which we build our future. We will maintain world-class core academic disciplines. All research and education must be underpinned by a deep understanding of the fundamentals. We will encourage multidisciplinary research. Only by bringing together expertise from different disciplines can we solve today s global challenges. We will embed our educational experience in a vibrant, research-led, entrepreneurial environment. By learning alongside researchers who are experts in their fields our students gain the practical, entrepreneurial and intellectual skills to tackle societal problems. People We will build a supportive, inclusive and highly motivated staff community across all disciplines, functions and activities. This will help us to attract and retain the talented and diverse staff we need to achieve our mission. We will enrich the student experience. Providing a broad range of activities, services and support for our students beyond their studies helps them to develop wider talents and to be successful. We will build strong relationships with our alumni and friends. This lifelong exchange of ideas and support benefits all of us. 2
Partners We will strengthen collaboration with business, academia, and non-profit, healthcare and government institutions across the globe. No university can achieve excellence or realise the full benefits of its work by itself. We will inform decision makers to influence policy. Our excellence, breadth of knowledge, connections and London location allow us to bring together and inform key decision makers in governments and industries for the benefit of society. We will share the wonder and importance of what we do. Collaboration with the public, schools and our local communities fosters a shared passion for and understanding of our work. Enablers We will strengthen and diversify our revenues. Delivering our mission requires investment in our staff, students and facilities. We will provide professional support, consistent processes and appropriate technology for all of our staff and students. The pursuit of excellence in research and education requires excellence in all that we do. We will act courageously and innovatively when pursuing new opportunities. We need to take academic and financial risks to sustain excellence in research and education. Faculties and Departments Imperial's research and teaching is organised within a network of faculties and academic departments. Imperial currently has the following four faculties: Faculty of Engineering The Faculty of Engineering is unique in the UK in supporting world-class education and fundamental research across the full range of engineering disciplines. The Faculty is led by the Dean, Professor Nigel Brandon, and is home to over 1,200 staff and 5,000 students. Faculty of Medicine The Faculty of Medicine brings together five departments based across several campuses to create a world-class teaching and research environment. The Faculty is currently led by the Dean, Professor Jonathan Weber, and is home to nearly 2,500 staff and 3,500 students. Faculty of Natural Sciences The Faculty of Natural Sciences fully embraces teaching and research activities across core scientific disciplines. The Faculty is led by the Dean, Professor Tom Welton, and employs approximately 1,200 staff, teaches 3,000 undergraduates and 1,400 postgraduate students. The Imperial College Business School The Imperial College Business School combines cutting-edge thinking and insight with new technology to develop innovate solutions to real world problems. The Business School is led by 3
the Dean, Professor Francisco Veloso, and employs over 200 staff and teaches 1,300 postgraduate students. Background to the Role Led by the CIO Mike Russell, IT at Imperial has been evolving over the last five years, adopting contemporary industry-style approaches and driving improved service levels and capability to support specialist needs. The incumbent ICT Director has been a key part of this evolution and is now taking the opportunity to retire. Currently ICT at Imperial delivers robust, reliable customer focused core IT services supporting the bulk of the University s activities. The new Director of ICT will build on these successful foundations driving even greater excellence, but also seeking to innovate and move the ICT team further towards becoming a strategic, value-add offering. The Role Job Title Department / Section Location Reporting To Working Closely with Director of ICT Information and Communication Technologies Division South Kensington Campus Chief Information Officer Academic, Faculty and Professional Services Representatives, Head of Information Services Level Professional Services Level 7 Working Hours Type Not normally less than 35 hours per week Permanent Job Purpose The Director of ICT is responsible for the delivery of the core IT services to a leading, research intensive university. ICT provides a high level of customer service and satisfaction in an increasingly complex IT environment. This is achieved via the direct management of Customer Services, Service Operations and Project Delivery and Development functions. The Director of ICT reports to the Chief Information Officer and will hold accountability for a significant range of systems and budget, appropriate for a world class university. As a leading member of the senior management team, they assist the CIO in running a quality driven, ITIL oriented, proactive and constantly evolving service to a broad range of stakeholders. S/he will contribute to the strategic development of all ICT s services to meet the needs of our staff and students engaged in Research, Teaching and Support Services. 4
The purpose of the role is to own Information Technology delivery. The role includes strategic direction to shape ICT to meet future demand, accountable for investment programmes and implementing change as well as operational oversight of service and product delivery. The role works alongside a Head of Information Services who will manage the delivery of services to create, curate and deliver information management. Governance and financial management of the departments resources are key components of the job. Scope Imperial College currently has approximately 8000 staff and 17,000 students. Annual turnover is circa 950m per annum. Imperial College is distributed over eight campuses, of which the South Kensington site is the largest. ICT is organised into three groups; ICT, Information Management and the Transformation Office. The division (overall around 260 staff) provides the technical, administrative and management support for multiple complex IT systems and the services essential to the College s Teaching, Research and Support Services customers. Reporting to the CIO, you will manage a team of up to 200 permanent staff through three direct reports with associated personnel development and organisational administration and an annual budget in the region of 20m. ICT Operating Model ICT is organised as 5 sections to provide resources. These are Service Strategy and Planning (SSP), Project Delivery and Development, Service Operations, Customer Services and Transformation Office. Within SSP, Service Line Managers for Education, Research, Business Support and Infrastructure are accountable for the services that ICT deliver. Project Delivery and Development, Service Operations and Customer Services will report to the Director of ICT. The Head of SSP fulfils the role of Head of Information Services and will report directly to the CIO. The CIO also has a Transformation Office to provide heads of Governance, Commercial Relationships, Enterprise Architecture and developing new capabilities (currently an Information Insight service and a Business Process Authority). Job Description Director of ICT Management Responsibilities & Activities Key Responsibilities Accountable for and provide inspirational leadership for the delivery of IT services Collaborate with College peers to deliver coordinated services to the university community to meet strategic goals Manage a large team of specialists to work together, attracting, recruiting and retaining the best Accountable for staff lifecycle including recruitment, retention, growth and progression Accountable for budget forecasting and management Report against service levels against leading and lagging indicators of performance 5
Focus on continuous improvement in processes and customer experience through innovation and emerging technologies Ensure ICT provides value for money to College Lead in all IT aspects and services, including: Desk top lifecycle, support and operations Service Management function including Help Desk and support layers. Service level management including incident and problem management Data Centre and network operations Research Computing Services including high performance computing, big data storage and cloud facilities. AV installation and support E-learning and associated education administration services Business support systems including ERP operation Project management, project support office and delivery of change Software development and application integration Software provision and licensing and audit Contingency planning and business continuity Security Supply chain management Strategy and Planning Have a full understanding of the College s strategic vision. Shape the strategy and vision for ICT. Able to articulate, lead and ensure engagement from staff for the challenges ahead to meet the College s strategic plan. To proactively identify, by working with and influencing Faculties and Departments and other appropriate groups, the most appropriate strategic direction for ICT to support Research and Teaching within the College. Responsible for ensuring ICT meets the needs and requirements of Faculties and their Departments. To develop an integrated vision, by forging and maintaining excellent working relationships across College. Define working practices, methods and professional standards, continuously seek improvements and contribute to overall ICT standards and processes e.g. ITIL, Prince2, Agile, DevOps. To be able to support projects to deliver both systems of record and agile, fast burn developments. To recognise when more responsive approaches are appropriate. Maintain an up to date knowledge of emerging best practice and use this in support of continuous improvement. Be sighted on disruptive change and plan to manage such opportunities and threats. To define and communicate strategy and policy at a high level, both within ICT and the wider College. Develop a strategic plan and associated budgets and present this to audiences at all levels across College. 6
Business Liaisons Work with senior Academics, to meet Research and Teaching needs and the longer-term IT based opportunities within the overall College/Faculty strategy and objectives. Work with senior Administrators and ICT relationship managers (Digital Partners, Service Line Managers, Project Managers and Section Heads) to agree business needs and longer-term IT based strategic priorities. Understand and identify the major technology and business challenges ahead and confidently network with key senior Research and Teaching members of the College, as well as external experts to plan a coherent, sustainable IT architecture and service. Represent ICT on any relevant College Committees. Orchestrate and maintain excellent relationships and liaison with other Academic institutions, partners, suppliers and any relevant bodies gaining added value where possible. Staff Management and Budgeting Provide overall direction and leadership to the relevant groups, ensure that structures are optimal, responsibilities are clear, objectives are set, success measures are in place, performance reviews take place and the group is highly engaged and motivated. Ensure regular communication takes place and teams fully understand the ICT strategy, programme, project and service plans and that any significant changes or initiatives are explained and communicated effectively. Recruit, develop and grow the capability of staff, motivating, mentoring and developing them to better meet the current and future requirements of the department. Ensure that on-the-job coaching of staff takes place and that skills are transferred providing appropriate resilience of services and succession plans are in place. Manage change where necessary. Coordinate the development of the ICT budget and Planning Round and control expenditure to meet the budget promises. Challenge conflict across ICT, ensuring that any issues are resolved. Customer Satisfaction Ensure ICT remains a customer orientated organisation sustaining high levels of customer satisfaction. Maintain and develop contacts at Head of Finance, Head of Department, Faculty Operating Officer and other senior academic levels to ensure ICT s policies and strategic services remain relevant to our customers and reflect their developing needs in research and teaching. Develop and sustain appropriate Governance of ICT to ensure proper academic teaching and research customer input and influence on ICT s strategy and direction. 7
Optimise customer satisfaction. Develop, implement and refine a structure of SLA s and KPI s to provide confidence in service monitoring and delivery to stakeholders. Ensure services provided by all parts of ICT meet the SLA s and KPI s as defined. Influence and manage vendors to ensure best value and quality services for College using partnership engagement where effective. Benchmark, to compare ICT s activities with comparable organisations to ensure that ICT provides exceptional service with value for money As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the post -holder may be required to undertake other duties which are broadly in line with above key responsibilities. Imperial College is committed to equality of opportunity and of eliminating discrimination. All employees are expected to adhere to the principles set out in the Equal Opportunities in Employment Policy. Promoting Race, Equality Policy and Disability Policy and all other relevant guidance/ practice frameworks. Person Specification Specialist Skills & Abilities The successful candidate must be able to show that they have relevant practical experience in the following: Senior level IT leadership skills gained in complex, information driven organisations Providing an exemplary customer service Ability to manage a demanding, challenging and highly IT literate customer base IT service provision, management and development using standards such as ITIL and COBIT. Management within a Quality Management System to ISO9001 and ISO27001. Supplier selection against specified requirements and subsequent vendor management. Ability to lead, inspire, motivate and engage staff and colleagues at all levels demonstrable communication and influencing skills. Ability to manage the business change process which is required with the introduction of new systems and procedures, forming strong user relationships and gaining customer confidence and acceptance. Ability to resolve complex and cross-group IT issues and plot a way forward to the satisfaction of customers. Estimating, forecasting and budgeting with strong numerical analytical skills. Managing senior level direct reports demonstrating leadership, ensuring all team members continue to develop and strengthen skill sets and deliver a strong customer service as a joinedup team. Project management preferably aligned to PRINCE 2 and Agile IT Governance, SLA s and KPI s 8
Knowledge A wide knowledge of all aspects of IT and how to apply it to a complex, information intensive organisation Some experience of e-learning technologies, research data management and high-performance computing is desirable Essential Personal Capabilities The following general capabilities will be required: A demonstrable track record of delivering results. Inspirational leadership skills able to attract, recruit and retain the best Strong business understanding, the ability to build deep and productive relationships widely across the business Ability to oversee and implement new strategies and vision Creative and holistic thinker having business and enterprise intelligence allied to technology vision Experience in managing and motivating a senior IT management team with an appropriate level of delegation and trust A degree qualification or equivalent Ability to ensure all team members continue to develop and strengthen skill sets Excellent organisational, planning and risk management skills, with the ability to bring discussions to an optimal conclusion Excellent interpersonal skills, with exceptional communication ability: good listener, selfconfident presenter, able to take people on a journey Able to accommodate other view points and assimilate into an enterprise model of increasing convergence and integration Confident with full project lifecycle, best practice and quality standards A team player who can balance need, risk and pragmatism when developing solutions Excellent analytical skills, structured and methodical approach; able to simultaneously manage multiple varied activities Good understanding of technical issues and technology Clearly identifying management goals and either organising, facilitating or personally addressing. Ability to cope with challenging IT questions, both verbally and in writing. 9
How to Apply The preferred method of application is online: www.berwickpartners.co.uk/65685 If you are unable to apply online please email your application to response.manager@berwickpartners.co.uk All applications will receive an automated response. Closing date for applications is midnight on 20 th May 2018 All candidates are also requested to complete an online Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form which will be found at the end of the application process. If you have any queries or would like more information in regard to this document please contact: Alex Richardson IT & Digital Leadership Practice D: 0161 498 3407 alex.richardson@berwickpartners.co.uk 10