Job Description:

Job Title: Digital Manager

Reports to: Business Operations Director

Location: Mobile / Southeast - travel between Entities

Employment Type: Full Time

Role Overview

We are establishing a centralised Digital Hub to provide smaller business entities with specialist IT and Cyber Security leadership aligned to defence‑sector and UK Government requirements. We are seeking an experienced Digital Manager who can operate confidently across strategic, operational, and technical domains-providing leadership, insight, and direction across Digital, Data, and Cyber.

This is a hybrid strategy and delivery role, requiring someone who can:

• Pivot fluidly between strategic leadership and hands on operational engagement.
• Build strong, personable relationships across multiple organisations, customers, and suppliers.
• Oversee and direct IT service providers, ensuring solutions are secure, compliant, and aligned with organisational needs.
• Bring a blend of relationship management, account management, and delivery management, driving outcomes through influence and clarity, not command-and-control.
• Possess the technical understanding necessary to challenge suppliers, validate proposals, and make informed decisions.

The environments spans multi classification networks, legacy and modern systems, outsourced service providers, and evolving cloud footprints. The Digital Manager will lead a small internal team and act as the trusted partner for stakeholders across the business.

Key Responsibilities

1. Operational & Technical Oversight

Azure & Cloud Oversight

• Ensure the IT service provider is effectively managing Azure services, identity, governance, logging, monitoring, and security controls.
• Provide clear direction and challenge to providers on architecture, configuration, and best practice.
• Interpret cloud issues, risks, and proposals, then translate them into business relevant decisions.
• Maintain a strong understanding of Azure capabilities, limitations, and associated best practices.

Infrastructure & Network Oversight

• Oversee the performance and security of on premises networks across multiple classification levels.
• Ensure infrastructure services meet operational needs and regulatory requirements.
• Provide direction on improvements, upgrades, and service optimisation.
• Validate provider recommendations, ensuring technical decisions are aligned with business priorities.

Incident & Problem Management

• Coordinate and support high priority incidents with suppliers and internal teams.
• Ensure root cause analysis is completed and improvement actions are implemented.
• Act as a key escalation point for operational challenges.

Legacy & Obsolescence Management

• Work with providers to assess lifecycle status, technical debt, and obsolescence risk.
• Develop roadmaps for modernisation, replacement, or retirement of legacy systems.
• Provide structured oversight of migration strategies.

1. Strategic Leadership & Planning

Technology Strategy & Roadmapping

• Define long term digital, cloud, and cyber strategies aligned with organisational goals.
• Provide strategic guidance for cloud adoption, infrastructure modernisation, and secure-by-design principles.
• Influence investment decisions through evidence-based recommendations.

Governance, Standards & Compliance

• Ensure alignment with policies, architectural standards, and governance frameworks.
• Oversee assurance activities, supporting compliance with NIST standards and regulatory obligations.
• Drive maturity improvements across service management, cyber resilience, and digital capability.

Cybersecurity Strategy & Assurance

• Ensure that the full NIST CSF lifecycle, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover, is embedded into operations.
• Review security posture reports, risk assessments, and compliance results.
• Guide the prioritisation of security improvements and validate provider delivery.

1. Relationship, Account & Stakeholder Management

Soft Skills & Behaviour

• Highly personable, engaging, and approachable.
• Able to build trust quickly with a diverse range of stakeholders.
• Diplomatic when managing sensitive issues or pushing back on suppliers.
• Skilled at resolving competing priorities and fostering collaboration.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as the primary link between business leadership, IT suppliers, and technical teams.
• Communicate complex issues in a clear, accessible manner.
• Influence without authority, using clarity, credibility, and demonstrated understanding.

Supplier & Customer Management

• Hold service providers to account for performance, compliance, and delivery outcomes.
• Ensure contractual obligations are met and challenge deviations effectively.
• Balance customer needs across multiple entities, ensuring consistency and compliance.

1. Delivery & Team Leadership

• Lead and mentor a small internal IT & Cyber team.
• Delegate effectively, providing support and coaching.
• Foster a culture focused on service excellence, collaboration, and continual improvement.

Service Delivery Oversight

• Oversee service performance, SLAs, KPIs, and operational health.
• Drive service improvement plans with measurable outcomes.
• Ensure change management processes are robust, secure, and well-governed.

Budget and Vendor Management

• Control IT budgets across multiple entities.
• Oversee procurement decisions and contract renewals.
• Ensure supplier relationships remain value-driven and aligned with organisational strategy.

Qualifications & Experience

Essential Experience

• 7+ years in senior IT roles overseeing digital, infrastructure, cloud, and cyber operations.
• Strong understanding of Azure platforms, architecture, identity, governance, and security.
• Proven ability to guide, challenge, and collaborate with outsourced IT providers.
• Broad understanding of networking, infrastructure, and enterprise technologies.
• Experience in multi‑customer, multi‑classification, secure environments.
• Experience in cybersecurity, NIST frameworks, and assurance processes.
• Experience leading teams and managing vendors.
• SC Clearance (or eligible).

Skills & Competencies

Soft Skills

• Highly personable and relationship‑
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Skilled at influencing decisions, managing expectations, and mediating between stakeholders.
• Balanced decision‑making with the ability to simplify complexity.
• Strong customer focus and service-oriented mindset.

Technical Competencies

• Strong conceptual understanding of Azure governance, identity, security, and architecture.
• Ability to assess provider solutions for quality, security, and compliance.
• Good understanding of secure-by-design principles.
• Familiarity with VMware, Wintel, enterprise networking, SOC operations, and vulnerability management.
• Ability to translate technical information into clear business recommendations.

Desirable Qualifications

• Azure certifications (AZ‑900, AZ‑104, AZ‑305, AZ‑500) or equivalent knowledge.
• CISSP, CISM, TOGAF, ITIL, PMP.
• Degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or related fields.
• Experience with ICS/SCADA environments.

What We Offer

Opportunity to shape digital transformation across multiple organisations.

A role that blends leadership, oversight, relationship management, and operational engagement.

Close involvement with senior leadership to influence strategic planning.