IT Team Lead - Infrastructure

Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

Overview of the role

We have an exciting opportunity for an IT Team Lead – Infrastructure to join our global IT function.

This role is responsible for leading and managing a multi-disciplinary infrastructure team covering Compute, Storage, and Network services across both on-premises and cloud environments (Azure).

You will combine strong technical expertise with people leadership to ensure the delivery of secure, resilient, and high-performing infrastructure services. Acting as the senior escalation point, you will drive operational excellence, standardisation, and continuous improvement while aligning infrastructure services to organisational strategy.

This is a pivotal leadership role, ideal for someone who thrives in hybrid infrastructure environments, enjoys building cross-skilled teams, and can bridge traditional silos between compute and network domains.

Key responsibilities and duties include:

Leadership & People Management

* Lead, coach, and develop a cross-functional infrastructure team covering compute, storage, and networking

* Drive cross-skilling initiatives to build a flexible, multi-disciplinary team

* Conduct performance reviews, 1:1s, and development plans aligned to organisational goals

* Manage team capacity, workload, and priorities across BAU, incidents, and projects

* Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, inclusion, and continuous improvement

* Act as a key representative in IT leadership and cross-functional forums

Technical & Operational Leadership

* Provide technical direction and standards across:

* Compute (Windows/Linux, VMware, Azure)

* Storage (SAN/NAS, backup & recovery)

* Network (LAN/WAN/SDWAN, firewalls, VPN, cloud networking)

* Act as the primary escalation point for complex infrastructure and network incidents

* Ensure high availability, performance, and security of all infrastructure services

* Oversee network operations, including connectivity, security controls, and remote access

* Ensure infrastructure is secure, compliant, and audit-ready

Service Delivery & Operations

* Own and improve ITIL processes (Incident, Problem, Change, Capacity, Availability)

* Ensure SLA adherence and service quality across all infrastructure domains

* Drive root cause analysis and problem management to prevent recurring issues

* Maintain comprehensive documentation, including diagrams and standards

* Manage vendor relationships and third-party services

Continuous Improvement

* Define and contribute to the infrastructure roadmap across compute, storage, and network

* Lead cloud transformation, modernisation, and migration initiatives

* Drive automation and Infrastructure-as-Code adoption

* Optimise cost, performance, and capacity across infrastructure services

* Champion innovation and service improvement initiatives