Director of IT

Reporting to: IT Partner

Contract type: Full-time permanent

Base: 40 Mespil Road, Dublin 4

Job purpose

Crowe is a leading business advisory and accountancy firm, ranking among the top 10 firms in Ireland. We are now seeking to recruit an IT Director to join a busy, dynamic IT department. The firm currently has 13 partners and over 170 staff.

The purpose of this role is to work with the business to be central to the design, refinement, implementation, and delivery of the firm's IT strategy.

This position will play a pivotal role in enabling Crowe to achieve its future vision. The role entails overseeing the IT team for the daily operation and assistance of Crowe's IT infrastructure, as well as being involved in choosing solutions, managing changes, and enhancing the IT setting at Crowe.

Working closely with the senior executive team, the ideal candidate will possess experience in team collaboration, strong communication and leadership abilities, a solid history of establishing, assisting, preserving, and directing proactive IT support services, and clear accomplishments in leading project programs for IT service provision.

Key result areas

Strategic IT

1. Understand and have significant knowledge of established and future technology trends, supported by a high level of commercial ability and business experience.
2. Ensure organisation delivers on IT strategy.
3. Demonstrate strong capabilities in terms of technical and business analysis, combined with astute financial awareness.
4. Maintain up to date knowledge of IT standards, industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices relevant to our industry.

IT operations

1. Proactively seek ways to engage and collaborate with all business departments on the use of technology to deliver business process improvements.
2. Developing training materials for the maintenance of IT systems in the team and be able to deliver training as required.
3. Be able to identify problems, evaluate trends, and anticipate the IT requirements of the firm through the analysis of the helpdesk operation and leading of weekly IT and other user meetings; effectively troubleshoot all issues to identify root cause and resolve.
4. Ensure department overall delivers on:
   1. All IT maintenance & support requests/issues are resolved within established SLAs; administer all aspects of IT environment;
   2. Administration of all aspects of information and cyber security, including firewall, AV, encryption, and other internal security systems;
   3. Maintain all data backups and ensure they are functioning correctly. Ensure business continuity and disaster recovery solutions are in place and tested;
   4. Develop, document, and implement policies and procedures for all IT systems changes and associated data, to allow all staff members to effectively support the entire IT service catalogue;
   5. Communicate all necessary knowledge on the changes/improvements to the IT environment and/or introduction of new IT services to all users and IT team members.
5. Manage the primary relationship with all third-party IT providers to ensure the firm's IT systems are running efficiently and effectively as all times, and that all requirements are met.
6. Manage all IT budgets and forecasting.
7. Maintain a prominent level of IT knowledge, keeping up to date with the latest technologies and participate as required in all upgrades and/or introduction of new IT services as required. Be accountable for individual learning that is relevant to the role and be ready to share with colleagues and stakeholders as required.
8. Take responsibility for all IT procurement.
9. Ensure Crowe is compliant with all existing and upcoming data protection regulations.
10. Manage team resources to ensure essential cover is available during leave etc.

Accountability in leadership and teamwork

1. Develop and maintain relationships founded on trust and respect with all stakeholders.
2. As a Function Leader, instil, reinforce and set example of working in line with our firm's values and management competencies.
3. Take responsibility for your own personal development, keeping skills and knowledge up to date and growing new skills to enhance ability to contribute to the company overall.
4. Be fully conversant and understand the authority levels of this role and those of all relevant stakeholders to ensure full compliance with the firm's policies, procedures and regulations.
5. Manage the day-to-day supervision, on-the-job training and mentoring of direct reports and fully participate in all Performance Management initiatives as required.

Person specification

Essential knowledge & skills

• Third level degree (or equivalent) in computing science or information technology.
• Minimum 10+ years working in an IT support & change environment which includes a full understanding hardware and software configuration, application change management, software application configuration, and day-to-day maintenance of an IT environment; with minimum 5 years at Management level (people and systems).
• Extensive experience of active directory (AD), server virtualization technologies, Cloud technologies (Azure, AVD), networking (LAN, WAN, WLAN), storage management, data security, and disaster recovery planning.
• Extensive working knowledge of software application configuration and support / Microsoft OS (various MS Windows & MS Windows Server versions) / databases (SQL) / data backup & recovery technologies, and file & print services administration.
• Working knowledge of IT hardware including configuration support & maintenance of mobile device / PC / server / multi-function printing, network & telecom components.
• Proven experience in configuration and maintenance of Cisco network, firewall, and endpoint security.
• Previous support experience with M365 including Azure AD and Exchange administration, SharePoint/Teams/One Drive administration.
• Desirable knowledge and experience in configuration and support of key applications: Caseware, Alphatax, Star, Sage (and other applications as required).
• Proven ability to troubleshoot any IT issue effectively, identifying root causes through analysis, and bringing to a timely resolution.
• Proven experience in leading IT service upgrades/changes/integrations and implementations.
• Working knowledge of cybersecurity measures including EDR, MDR, SIEM, vulnerability scanning.
• Experience in managing suppliers/vendors to be accountable to rigorous SLA’s and performance reviews.
• Track record of successful IT budget development and management.
• Ability and willingness to take responsibility for management of tasks to ensure goals and deadlines are met.
• Experience of IT procurement, including all hardware as well as software subscriptions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Essential competencies:

• People Leadership: Proven experience in managing high performing IT support teams; ability to listen, build rapport, influence and build relationships.
• Practice Management: Proven ability to focus on performance, prioritise work tasks,

  achieve service level agreements, meet deadlines, and produce results. Demonstrate creative & effective problem-solving ability, with strong analytical skills. Ability to effectively manage multiple tasks simultaneously and remain calm under pressure.

• Client Leadership: Commitment to providing a high quality and professional service to all clients, having empathy with stakeholders needs. Ability to liaise with and manage third party service providers. Ability to present complex technical information clearly and concisely to a variety of audiences. Displays confidentiality, confidence, agility and affinity with suppliers/vendors and sector specialisms.
• Business Development: Takes ownership of self-learning. A passion for improving the delivery of services with a commitment to continuous improvement. Willingness to take on new tasks as instructed, as well as develop other skills as required and/or on own in initiative.

To apply

Please send your CV with covering letter to [email protected].