IT Director, Platforms and Operations

Who we are and what we do

About Hachette UK

Hachette UK is a creative powerhouse and the UK's second largest book publishing group. Our mission is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity.

We're made up of 12 autonomous publishing divisions and over 60 imprints with a rich and diverse history and an incredible range of authors. We're also the market leader in e-books and publish a range of bestsellers in audio format, the fastest growing part of our business.

Our award-winning adult publishing divisions are Orion, which won Publisher of the Year at the 2021 British Book Awards; Little, Brown; John Murray Press; Hodder & Stoughton; Headline; Quercus; Octopus, Bookouture and Dialogue Books. They publish fiction and non-fiction in digital, audio and print format, from the world's best and most diverse authors, including Brit Bennett, Candice Carty-Williams, Martina Cole, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, Stephen King, Stieg Larsson, Nelson Mandela, Stephenie Meyer, Maggie O'Farrell, Delia Owens, Ian Rankin, J.K. Rowling, Colson Whitehead, and Malala Yousafzai. Hachette Children's Group publishes a wide and vibrant range of books for children across all age ranges, while Hodder Education is a market leader in resources for both primary and secondary schools.

Hachette UK is part of Hachette Livre, the world's third largest trade and educational publisher. As well as our headquarters in Carmelite House, London, and our state-of-the-art book distribution centre in Didcot, Oxfordshire, we have recently opened five new offices in Manchester, Bristol, Sheffield, Newcastle, and Edinburgh. The UK region also includes offices in Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, the Caribbean, and Ireland.

It's an exciting time to join our business because the publishing market continues to grow and thrive. The UK remains the largest exporter of physical books in the world and book adaptations for film and TV are the foundation of the UK's creative industries.

What you'll be doing

This role is based in London or one of Hachette UK's regional offices and reports to the CIO, Hachette UK. The role has a dotted line to the Group VP, Platforms and Operations in the US.

The role is accountable for a newly-formed Platforms and Operations Directorate that contains the following Teams:

• Infrastructure
• Networks
• Data Platforms and Analytics
• Web
• Service Desk
• Service Improvement
• End User Computing

The role will be accountable for the IT operating expenditure for Platforms and Operations through the direct management of ~35 FTE and ~100 supplier contracts. It will also be accountable for all capital expenditure related to the development of the technology it is accountable for, ranging from £0.5 - £2.0M per annum.

The role will be a member of the IT Leadership Team and responsible for the execution of the Group IT strategy and development of the division. As a member of the ITLT they will play a major role in fostering an inclusive, positive and productive culture and working climate.

What you'll be doing:

• Deliver the IT organisation, processes and technology solutions required to deliver the frontline support services and the underlying technical infrastructure, data and web platforms that support the HUK business plan targets and growth, within the operational and financial constraints
• Lead, manage and develop their IT team (circa 35) in order deliver to colleagues, customers and client publishers
• Foster an inclusive, positive and productive culture in order to be an employer of choice and support the HUK changing the story strategic pillar
• Negotiate, manage and maintain relationships with technology partners to ensure that each meet or exceeds contractual obligations
• Create, manage and maintain excellent working relationship with stakeholders
• Lead the creation, management and maintenance of an 18-24 month plan/roadmap in order to effectively deliver the necessary change to support the growth of the HUK divisions and the HUK IT strategy
• Actively participate in HUK IT Leadership Team and support the CIO in creating the necessary strategy and culture in order to deliver the HUK and Hachette Livre business plans

These are the main requirements of the role and is not an exhaustive list of duties. It is intended to reflect the nature, range, and context of the work, which will change over time.

Who we are looking for

Skills/Knowledge/Personal Attributes:

• An excellent leader, possessing the ability to motivate, re-energise and inspire teams
• Trustworthiness, integrity and honesty; Ability to accept feedback from others with humility
• Broad business and technical acumen; able to work out where an organisation will derive the most value from technology investment
• The ability to shape and communicate a clear strategy, which will inspire the confidence of business and IT teams
• A broad and up to date understanding of the infrastructure required to support enterprise applications, web applications, digital and customer data/ insight platforms
• Operational/technical management awareness. A good grounding in best practice governance, process, and tools
• A passion for service delivery excellence and customer satisfaction
• The ability to manage expectations at all levels and take pragmatic decisions where necessary
• The ability to deliver in a multicultural, multidivisional organisation
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Competency with numbers

Experience:

• An experienced, personable and commercially focused IT leader
• A strong change manager and innovator. Able to work with business leaders to shape a strategic roadmap for distribution technology
• An excellent technologist, with a firm understanding of the current and emerging technologies as well as these technologies' interaction with enterprise applications and data, employing this knowledge to envision and provide superior business solutions
• Experience of delivering enterprise scale infrastructure and front line services which enable secure growth and adaptability for an organisation

What we offer

Our staff are our greatest asset, and our benefits reflect this:

• 28 annual leave days per year, increases to 29 days after 2 years' service and goes up to 30 days after 5 years' (+ bank holidays)
• Private medical insurance
• Generous pension schemes
• Rent deposit loans
• 2 community days per year
• Summer hours (finishing at 1pm on Fridays during the summer months)
• Retail discounts through Hachette rewards
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Eye care vouchers
• Wide-ranging training library
• Development programmes (including mentoring)
• Up to 70% off book purchases
• A charity bookshelf
• 12 Staff-led employee networks that are voluntary, including Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing and religious networks
• Season ticket loans
• And much more!

This role can be based at our London, Sheffield or Didcot, with a blend of in-office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.

Our commitment

Hachette employs people on the basis of their abilities. We aim to attract and develop talent from a base as broad as the world of readers we want to reach, with a wide and representative range of age, faith, disability, race, gender, sexuality and socio-economic, regional and cultural backgrounds.

If you are shortlisted and need us to make any adjustments to help you attend for interview, please let us know.

The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking junior roles. For more information visit www.booktradeentrysupport.org

Location: London, GB

Posted Date: 12/19/2024