Head of IT Operations (Riga)

HHHub.eu (Taupai, UAB); Baltics Corners; Hybrid; CAD 144,000 - 193,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model in Riga centre

Health insurance after probation

Career growth opportunities

Dynamic, innovation-driven environment

Job summary

HHHub.eu (Taupai, UAB) is seeking a Head of IT Operations to own production infrastructure, IT service management, and operational resilience within a regulated EU banking environment in Riga.

You will lead ITIL-aligned processes, manage on-call and incident response, and ensure security, availability, and compliance while partnering with Engineering, Risk, Compliance, and Audit teams.

Qualifications

• Experience leading production IT environments in regulated sectors.
• Strong knowledge of ITIL-based ITSM and change control.
• Ability to design and oversee disaster recovery and business continuity.
• Experience with audits, risk, and regulatory requirements (DORA knowledge valued).
• Vendor management across cloud, data centers, software.
• Excellent stakeholder management across technical and business teams.
• Professional working proficiency in English.

Responsibilities

• Own production infrastructure including servers, networks, cloud and on-premise environments.
• Lead ITSM processes: incident, problem and change management.
• Establish on-call, escalation and major incident management structures.
• Own reliability, monitoring, disaster recovery, and business continuity testing.
• Oversee infrastructure security controls: patching, access management, hardening.
• Ensure compliance with banking regulations and ICT risk requirements.
• Coordinate regulatory and audit activities with auditors and regulators.
• Manage vendor relationships and service levels across technology providers.
• Own end-user IT services including helpdesk and workplace tech.
• Define and monitor SLAs, KPIs and operational metrics.
• Collaborate with Engineering for controlled deployments and stability.
• Lead continuous improvement of IT operational processes and documentation.

Skills

IT infrastructure leadership

ITSM & ITIL

Incident, problem & change management

Operational resilience & disaster

Regulatory & audit engagement

Vendor & contract management

Stakeholder management

English proficiency

Tools

ITIL framework

Monitoring & alerting tools

Job description

About the Company

Our client is a fully licensed EU bank that provides modern banking infrastructure for FinTech companies, payment institutions, e-commerce businesses, and other digital-first companies.

Combining traditional banking expertise with a FinTech-native approach, the bank provides solutions including Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS), e-commerce acquiring, payment infrastructure, safeguarding accounts, lending, and business banking services.

About the Role

As Head of IT Operations, you will own the Bank's production infrastructure, IT service management, operational resilience, and end-user technology environment.

In a highly regulated banking environment, you will ensure critical technology services remain secure, available, resilient, and compliant. The role combines infrastructure leadership, IT operations, cybersecurity controls, business continuity, vendor management, and regulatory engagement.

You will work closely with Engineering, Information Security, Risk, Compliance, and business stakeholders to ensure the Bank's technology environment can reliably support its continued growth.

Responsibilities

• Own the Bank's production infrastructure, including servers, networks, cloud and on-premise environments, infrastructure architecture, and capacity planning;

• Lead IT Service Management (ITSM) processes, including incident, problem, and change management in line with ITIL principles;

• Establish and maintain effective on-call, escalation, and major incident management structures;

• Own system reliability and operational resilience, including monitoring, alerting, disaster recovery, business continuity planning, and regular testing;

• Take responsibility for infrastructure and operational security controls, including patch management, vulnerability management, access controls, and infrastructure hardening;

• Ensure IT operations meet relevant banking, regulatory, audit, and ICT risk requirements, including DORA and applicable local regulatory requirements;

• Coordinate IT-related regulatory and audit activities, including communication with auditors and regulators, evidence collection, remediation planning, and implementation of corrective actions;

• Manage relationships with infrastructure, data centre, cloud, software, and licensing vendors, ensuring appropriate service levels, controls, and commercial oversight;

• Own end-user IT services, including helpdesk, workplace technology, device management, and employee IT support;

• Define and monitor operational performance and service availability through relevant SLAs, KPIs, and operational metrics;

• Partner closely with Engineering and other technology teams to ensure controlled and reliable production deployments and ongoing system stability;

• Lead and continuously improve IT operational processes, documentation, controls, and ways of working.

Requirements

• Strong experience in IT infrastructure and operations leadership, ideally within banking, financial services, FinTech, payments, or another highly regulated environment;

• Proven experience managing business-critical production environments across cloud and/or on-premise infrastructure;

• Strong knowledge of IT Service Management and ITIL-aligned practices, particularly incident, problem, and change management;

• Solid understanding of networking, servers, cloud infrastructure, monitoring, capacity planning, and operational security;

• Hands-on experience with disaster recovery, business continuity, operational resilience, and recovery testing;

• Strong understanding of infrastructure security controls, including patching, vulnerability management, identity/access management, and security remediation;

• Experience working with IT audits, regulatory requirements, and evidence-based technology controls;

• Knowledge of ICT risk and regulatory frameworks relevant to EU financial institutions, including DORA, would be highly valuable;

• Experience managing technology vendors, third-party providers, contracts, and service levels;

• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to work effectively across Engineering, Security, Risk, Compliance, Audit, and senior leadership;

• Professional working proficiency in English.

Key Competencies

• Operational Ownership - takes responsibility for stable, secure, and reliable technology services;

• Risk & Resilience Mindset - balances operational performance with security, regulatory, and business continuity requirements;

• Leadership & Decision-Making - creates accountability and stays decisive during critical situations;

• Stakeholder Collaboration - works confidently across Engineering, Security, Risk, Compliance, auditors, and external partners

The Employer Offers

• Modern office in the centre of Riga with a hybrid working model;

• Opportunity to directly contribute to the Bank's technological development and future digital initiatives;

• Dynamic working environment with a supportive management team that values innovation;

• Collaborative, supportive, and innovation-driven working environment;

• Health insurance after the probation period;

• Long-term career growth within a stable organisation committed to continuous technological development.

If you know how to keep critical technology secure, resilient, and reliable while navigating the demands of a regulated banking environment, this role gives you the ownership to shape IT operations where technology performance directly impacts the business