Head of IT Operations

Final date to receive applications: 31 May 2026

Department: Internal Operations

Location: London

Compensation: £105,000 / year

Salary: c. £105,000

Bonus: Discretionary

Location on site: Kings Cross, London (Tuesdays‑Thursdays - 3 days in our office, Monday + Friday - anywhere)

Employment Type: Permanent, full time

ARIA is a R&D funding agency created to unlock technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone. We fund scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of the possible. From climate change to AI, society faces enormous challenges and opportunities that can be uniquely addressed by science and technology. ARIA was created to activate the UK’s world-class R&D in new ways, so we can meet these head on.

Our success is shaped by one question: how will ARIA transform the lives of the UK’s future generations? Whether that’s a life‑changing new technology or a burgeoning new industry, it should be obvious that ARIA played a catalytic role.

ARIA is seeking a senior technology operations leader to own our enterprise IT operations and operational technology services. As the Head of IT Operations, you are accountable for ensuring ARIA’s enterprise IT foundation environment is secure, resilient, reliable and operationally effective. You will lead the oversight and evolution of ARIA’s enterprise operational technology landscape – spanning cyber security, infrastructure operations, service provider management, SaaS application landscape governance, and end‑user IT experience.

While our on‑site Managed Service Provider (MSP) delivers day‑to‑day operational support, you retain accountability for the performance, security, governance and continuous improvement of our IT ecosystem. You will lead internal IT staff and our external managed service provider to ensure IT services remain trusted, secure and effective for the organisation. This is not a coordination role. It requires an experienced operator who can confidently own the service, drive performance, proactively identify risk and improvement opportunities, and ensure technology effectively enables ARIA’s mission.

• Lead ARIA’s IT Operations function and continuously evolve the organisation’s operational technology maturity, resilience and effectiveness.
• Own accountability for ARIA’s enterprise IT operations and operational service environment, ensuring services are stable, secure, reliable and aligned to organisational needs.
• Act as the senior accountable lead for ARIA’s MSP and operational technology partners, holding providers to account against SLAs, contractual obligations and continuous improvement objectives.
• Drive a culture of operational excellence, proactive service improvement and enablement‑first IT operations.

• Maintain accountability for ARIA’s enterprise operational cyber security posture, operational technology risks, resilience planning and compliance obligations.
• Lead governance frameworks, operational standards, policies and controls across enterprise IT domains to ensure proportionate and effective risk management.
• Oversee incident response readiness, disaster recovery planning, operational resilience and security assurance activities.
• Partner with leadership teams to translate operational technology risks into clear organisational decisions and priorities.
• Ensure ARIA’s enterprise IT controls, security foundations and support models evolve to safely enable AI‑native ways of working, including increased use of AI tools, automation, data platforms and bespoke technical solutions.

• Oversee ARIA’s enterprise operational infrastructure, cloud environments, identity and access management, SaaS estate, devices and core operational systems.
• Maintain visibility and governance across ARIA’s enterprise operational technology assets, ensuring systems remain secure, supportable and operationally sustainable.
• Lead the management and oversight of enterprise application lifecycle management, rationalisation, operational supportability and cost optimisation.
• Ensure…