The Donkey Sanctuary is an international animal welfare organisation, offering care and protection to donkeys worldwide. Our vision is a world where every donkey has a good quality of life, and our mission is to improve the lives of donkeys every day. We will achieve this by transforming the lives of donkeys in need worldwide by fostering greater understanding, collaboration and support, and by promoting lasting, mutually life-enhancing relationships. 

These are exciting times for the Charity, and we have an excellent opportunity for a proactive, flexible and professional individual with outstanding influencing and collaborative skills and a strong customer service ethic to join our busy IT Infrastructure and Operations team.  As Head of IS and Data Management you will be responsible for implementing our IS and Data Strategy and driving efficiency using technology across The Donkey Sanctuary. You will lead on the strategic development, management and operating of the IS systems and data infrastructure whilst managing and motivating the teams to deliver an efficient service across the Charity. Experience of leading the certification of Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation and ensuring ongoing compliance is essential to this role.

About you:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent qualification and/or relevant professional experience.
• A comprehensive awareness of existing and developing technologies and how they can be applied to the business.
• Able to recognise business opportunities and experience of presenting a clear strategic vision of how technology can be applied to achieve success.
• Able to demonstrate experience of, implementing and managing IT strategies and priorities.
• Experience of managing n-tier architectures hosted in private and public cloud environments.
• A strong working knowledge of fundamental computing concepts to support utrouble shooting, problem solving and critical thinking methodologies.
• Proven management experience, including performance management.

About the role:

Your principal duties and responsibilities will include –

• Implementing and managing the IS and data strategy which drives the future direction and utilisation of technology within the charity to drive efficiencies and defining business relevant KPI’s to measure its benefits and success.
• Designing and implementing a new target operating model of the charity’s support requirements and implementing standard processes and standard protocols (e.g. ITIL), to improve ongoing controls, customer service, and build a culture of continuous improvement.
• Leading the certification of Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation and ensure ongoing compliance.
• Implementing standards and operating practices for data management, information lifecycle management and security (e.g. cyber essentials plus).
• Leading and continually improving the operational performance of the team to agreed service level agreements.
• Supporting the development of business cases, including presenting on behalf of the Executive Team to the board of Trustees.
• Supporting the Director of Information Systems and Data Management as necessary in championing the use of technology as an innovator and cost reduction enabler.

What we offer in return:

Based in Sidmouth, Devon – an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – this is a full-time, fixed term contract starting as soon as possible until 20 December 2024, working 35 hours per week, 08.30-16.30, Monday-Friday.

The working pattern for this role will combine onsite and home working under our guiding principles for such roles, with onsite attendance currently anticipated to be no more than 1 day every 2 months.

Benefits:  

Competitive pension.

Life assurance.

31 days holiday (including Bank holidays), rising to 34 will each full year of service (pro rata for fixed term contracts).

Wellbeing team.

Recorded Pilates and Yoga classes.

Long service awards.

Healthshield plan –

• Reimbursement of some medical expenses up to the specified limits per membership.
• Offers, discounts and cashback on shopping, travel and entertainment from participating outlets.
• Access to a 24/7 GP and counselling service.

Free parking.

Subsidised restaurant and shop.

The Donkey Sanctuary is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable people (children and adults), and expects all staff and volunteers to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to safer recruitment processes, including an application for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check where required for the post.

Please note: The Guaranteed interview scheme is only applicable to candidates who consider themselves to have a disability applying for roles based within the United Kingdom.