Head of IT & Platform Operations

Tito & Friends; Wien; Hybrid; EUR 80,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work

Job summary

Tito & Friends in Vienna, Austria, seeks a hands-on head of Workplace IT and Platform Operations to unify identity, access, networks and security across the group. You will lead from the front, write Terraform, debug the network, and mentor a distributed team of engineers.

You will own AWS and Kubernetes infrastructure, ~350 servers, 200 users’ devices, and build a cohesive IAM model (Entra ID, SSO, 2FA). Expect on-call, budget ownership, and travel between sites.

Qualifications

• Minimum 6 years in infrastructure and operations with 3+ years leading teams.
• Strong hands-on skills in cloud and platform operations: AWS, Kubernetes, Linux, networking, Terraform or similar IaC.
• Solid knowledge of workplace IT: Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune and/or Jamf, VPN, firewalls.
• Experience with security and ISO 27001, SOC 2 or comparable frameworks.
• Willingness to travel regularly between sites (around 20–25%).

Responsibilities

• Lead a distributed team of around 8 engineers across several European sites, coaching by doing and handling hard technical problems.
• Stay hands-on: own critical parts of the infrastructure, participate in on-call, and set technical standards by example.
• Own operations of our SaaS infrastructure: AWS, a self-hosted Kubernetes cluster and ~350 virtual servers.
• Own workplace IT for around 200 users: devices, device management, VPN, office networks, firewalls, accounts and user support.
• Build a unified model for identity and access management across the group: Entra ID, SSO, 2FA, password management, DNS and domains.
• Set priorities, SLAs and an on-call setup that works without heroes.
• Drive security and compliance: ISMS, GDPR, audit readiness, and NIS2 where relevant.
• Own the IT budget, vendors and hosting contracts; keep cloud and hosting costs under control.
• Standardize and automate: infrastructure as code, documentation, ticketing, runbooks.
• Be the go-to counterpart for product, engineering and management on infrastructure decisions.

Job description

We are a European group in market research, audience measurement and survey data, with around 200 people across several countries. Our companies run SaaS platforms, online panels and research services. All of them depend on fast, secure and reliable infrastructure.

The role

Our workplace IT and platform operations currently run as separate teams , but the boundaries no longer make sense: identity, access, domains, networks and security cut across both. You would bring them together and lead them as one unit. You would own how IT works across the group, from a new laptop to a production Kubernetes cluster.

This is not a hands-off, manager-only role. You would lead from the front: you jump into incidents, write the Terraform, debug the network, and show your team how it’s done. You spend a real part of your week hands-on, and you earn respect through skill, not title.

What you’ll do

• Lead a distributed team of around 8 engineers across several European sites, covering workplace IT and platform operations. You coach by doing: pairing, reviewing, and taking on hard technical problems yourself.
• Stay hands-on: own critical parts of the infrastructure yourself, take part in on-call, and set the technical standard by example.
• Own operations of our SaaS infrastructure: AWS, a self-hosted Kubernetes cluster and around 350 virtual servers.
• Own workplace IT for around 200 users: devices, device management, VPN, office networks, firewalls, accounts and user support.
• Build one consistent model for identity and access management across the group: Microsoft 365 / Entra ID, SSO, 2FA, password management, DNS and domains, onboarding and offboarding across all systems.
• Set priorities, SLAs and an on-call setup that works without heroes.
• Drive security and compliance: ISMS, GDPR, audit readiness, and NIS2 where relevant.
• Own the IT budget, vendors and hosting contracts. Keep cloud and hosting costs under control.
• Standardize and automate: infrastructure as code, documentation, ticketing, runbooks.
• Be the go-to counterpart for product, engineering and management on infrastructure decisions.

What you bring

• At least 6 years of hands‑on work in infrastructure and operations, including 3+ years leading teams while staying technically active.
• Strong hands‑on skills in cloud and platform operations: AWS, Kubernetes, Linux, networking, Terraform or similar IaC tools.
• Solid knowledge of workplace IT: Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune and/or Jamf, VPN, firewalls.
• Practical experience with security and compliance frameworks such as ISO 27001, SOC 2 or comparable.
• Experience leading distributed, multi-country teams, and willingness to travel regularly between our sites (around 20–25%).
• You decide, prioritize hard and explain things clearly to engineers and non-technical people alike.
• You still enjoy getting stuck in - if you haven’t touched a terminal in years, this isn’t the role for you.
• Experience merging or restructuring IT teams is a strong plus.
• Fluent English is essential, with excellent communication and stakeholder management skills. German language skills are a strong advantage.
• Proven professional experience in Austria and/or Germany, with a good understanding of local business practices, workplace culture and stakeholder expectations.
• Demonstrated experience leading multicultural, internationally diverse teams, ideally within a European business environment. Strong intercultural communication skills, with the ability to build trust and collaborate effectively across different nationalities and working styles.
• This position is based at our headquarters in Vienna. Candidates must already have the legal right to work in Austria. Relocation assistance is not provided; candidates relocating to Vienna would be responsible for their own relocation arrangements.

What we offer

• A real mandate: you design the setup, you don’t just inherit it.
• Direct line to group management and short decision paths.
• Hybrid work, flexible hours.
• Competitive salary in the range of EUR 80K-95K annual gross, depending on location and experience, plus a performance-based bonus from the second year onwards.