Head of IT

Job summary

Reporting to the Director of Business Services, the Head of IT is responsible for oversight of all IT provision across CCW.

The primary focus for this permanent role will be to:

To manage the day to day provision of IT services including contract and vendor management.

To manage the provision of all technology and telephony to end-users, including; support, hardware, software.

To ensure the security and integrity of our systems and data against cyber and data breaches.

To provide project management in respect of projects relating to both IT and wider business activities.

To ensure internal IT processes align to best practise, such as ITIL.

To provide technical advice and guidance to all departments.

To provide systems administration for the core IT estate, based primarily on a Microsoft stack.

Job description

Head of IT

Location: Birmingham
Contract: Full-time
Working Pattern: Blended working
Reporting to: Director of Business Services

Permanent

Salary: £55,000 - £68,000

About us:

CCW is the passionate, independent voice representing water consumers in England & Wales. We support thousands of people each year, providing free advice and helping people to resolve their complaints with their water company in an easy, caring way. We champion everyone’s needs and interests, completing and showcasing research that influences water companies, government, and regulators to make change happen.

We are a government Arm’s Length Body sponsored by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Our values:

We expect and support all CCW colleagues to embody and celebrate CCW’s values through ositive Energy, Respect for all, Innovative spirit, Delivery of our promises and being Engaged as one (PRIDE).

The Head of IT will lead and manage the technology department, ensuring the delivery of effective IT services and infrastructure. This role requires a strong understanding of operations and the ability to drive strategic IT initiatives in a Birmingham-based organisation.

This public sector organisation plays a key role in serving the community and operates within a collaborative environment. As a medium-sized entity, it focuses on delivering impactful services and ensuring operational excellence through innovation and technology.

• Oversee the IT department, ensuring smooth delivery of all technology services and infrastructure.
• Develop and implement IT strategies aligned with organisational goals.
• Manage IT budgets, ensuring cost-effective solutions and compliance with financial policies.
• Ensure the organisation's IT systems are secure, robust, and scalable.
• Lead and mentor a small team, fostering a culture of professional growth.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify and implement technology solutions that meet business needs.
• Monitor and evaluate emerging technologies to enhance operational efficiency.
• Ensure adherence to public sector regulations and data protection standards.

Civil Service Competencies:

The postholder needs to demonstrate the following:

• Seeing the Big Picture: Understand how their role fits with and supports organisational objectives and public service priorities.
• Changing and Improving: Seek out opportunities to create effective change and suggest innovative solutions.
• Making Effective Decisions: Use evidence and knowledge to support accurate, expert decisions and advice.
• Leading and Communicating: Communicate with clarity, conviction, and enthusiasm, supporting others to deliver results.
• Collaborating and Partnering: Work collaboratively with colleagues and stakeholders to achieve organisational goals.
• Delivering at Pace: Take responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive.

Person specification

A successful Head of IT should have:

Essential Criteria

• Professional management qualification or equivalent experience.
• ITIL Foundation V4/5.

• Project Management experience.
• Supplier management experience.
• Extensive experience in the Microsoft technology stack (Intune, Defender, Exchange, Entra ID, and M365 suite).
• Awareness of cyber security best practices and frameworks (Cyber Essentials, Secure by Design, Cyber Assessment Framework).
• Strong understanding of ITSM processes.

• Excellent stakeholder management skills with ability to communicate at all technical levels.

• Excellent customer service skills.
• Strong problem solving and creativity skills.
• Strong strategic thinking skills.
• Ability to work with minimum supervision.
• Willingness to provide hands on support.
• Be prepared to work flexibly which may mean occasional evening/weekend work and travel.

Desirable Criteria

• ITIL Managing Professional v4.
• MS-102: Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert.
• Agile, Prince 2 Project Management.
• Budget management experience.
• Experience in working with SaaS, PaaS and IaaS solution providers
• Experience with ITSM systems (ServiceNow, Halo, Freshdesk, etc).
• Experience with CRM systems (Dynamics, Salesforce, Oracle Service Cloud).
• Effective line management skills.
• Strong collaborative mindset and willingness to work across team boundaries.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £55,000, Consumer Council for Water contributes £15,933 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

If you are interested in this opportunity, please submit your application via the Michael Page link Head of IT - JN-042026-6986064 , Michael Pageby midday 16th April 2026.

Please submit an expression of interest, along with your CV. Your expression of interest should include why you are interested, what you would bring to the role and how you align to our Values. This should be no more than 500 words.

Disability Confident Scheme: We guarantee an interview to anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post. To be eligible for the guaranteed interview scheme you must have a disability or long-term health condition. The disability could be physical, sensory or mental and must be expected to last for at least 12 months. You do not have to be registered as a disabled person to apply under the scheme.

If you would like to apply through this scheme, please request a Disability Confident Scheme form

We want everyone to have a fair chance, no matter their age, disability, gender identity, marital status, family status, race, religion/belief, sex or sexual orientation. All applications are considered fairly based on merit. To enable us to monitor this, candidates are asked to complete the voluntary Equal Opportunity Monitoring form. The information provided will be kept confidential and will be used for monitoring purposes only.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Sarah Galeski
• Email : sarahgaleski@michaelpage.co.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : sarahgaleski@michaelpage.co.uk