Our client is a highly successful, manufacturing enterprise headquartered in Sligo. With a massive, diverse operational footprint, encompassing numerous industries, they're a cornerstone of the regional economy. To support their next phase of digital transformation, they are seeking a high-calibre Head of IT to lead their technology strategy and drive enterprise-wide transformation.
Role Purpose
The Head of IT will hold ultimate accountability for the Group’s IT infrastructure, cybersecurity and business (ERP) systems. This is a pivotal leadership role requiring a blend of strategic vision and hands-on execution. The successful candidate will lead a talented team of technical specialists to maintain high-availability operations across all sites, while simultaneously steering a business-critical, full-lifecycle rollout of Microsoft Dynamics.
Key Responsibilities
1. ERP Transformation & Business Systems (MS Dynamics)
- Program Leadership: Act as the ultimate project champion and steering lead for the ongoing Microsoft Dynamics rollout across the entire ecosystem.
- Development & Analysis: Direct the activities of the ERP Programmers and Business Systems Analysts to ensure system customisations, integrations, and data migrations are executed seamlessly.
- Process Optimisation: Partner with business unit leaders to map legacy workflows to MS Dynamics, driving standardisation, data integrity, and cross-functional efficiency.
2. Cybersecurity, Risk & Governance
- Security Posture: Take full ownership of the Group’s cybersecurity strategy, protecting sensitive commercial, financial, and customer data across a highly distributed network.
- Threat Mitigation: Implement robust identity management, endpoint security, backup protocols, and incident response frameworks to minimize vulnerability to ransomware and breaches.
- Compliance: Ensure IT practices align with GDPR and relevant statutory frameworks, reporting risk profiles directly to the CFO.
3. Infrastructure & Multi-Site Operations
- High Availability: Ensure 24/7/365 connectivity and operational uptime for their business units and different sites.
- Infrastructure Lifecycle: Manage cloud, hybrid, and on-premise infrastructure networks, guiding the Infrastructure Specialists on hardware/software lifecycles and vendor management.
4. Leadership & Financial Management
- People & Culture: Lead, mentor, and upskill a team of professionals, fostering a collaborative, high-performance culture across infrastructure, analysis, and development disciplines.
- Financial Alignment: Work hand-in-hand with the CFO to manage the IT budget (CapEx and OpEx), ensuring clear ROI on technology investments and accurate forecasting for the Dynamics rollout.
Candidate Profile & Requirements
- Experience: Minimum 5+ years in a senior IT leadership role (IT Manager, Head of IT, IT Director) within a multi-site environment.
- ERP Expertise: Proven track record of successfully delivering or heavily steering a large-scale ERP rollout—direct experience with Microsoft Dynamics is highly advantageous.
- Technical Breadth: Strong foundational knowledge spanning distributed network infrastructure, cybersecurity frameworks (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001), and software development lifecycles.
- Stakeholder Skills: Exceptional communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into commercial language for the CFO and executive board.
- Location: Based in or willing to commute to Sligo to ensure a strong visible leadership presence across key regional sites.
For a confidential discussion on the role please contact Chris O Toole
