Head of IT, DevOps and AI

Burns Sheehan; Greater London; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Burns Sheehan Ltd is seeking a Head of DevOps & IT to drive a greenfield cloud transformation, migrate on-premise infrastructure to the cloud, and unify DevOps with IT under a single leadership. The role reports to the CTO and sits at a C-suite level minus one, guiding cultural and technical change while modernising across the technology estate.

You will champion AI tooling, oversee security posture with ISO certification, and partner with senior leadership to shape the technology strategy and

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading both DevOps and IT functions, ideally rising through DevOps or infrastructure engineering.
• Track record of cloud migration and infrastructure modernisation from on-premise to cloud.
• Strong Azure experience; AWS knowledge valued.
• Hands-on leadership with Kubernetes, Terraform and Docker at a senior level.
• Experience managing hybrid Windows and Linux environments.
• Security awareness across ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the cloud migration strategy, moving pipelines and infrastructure from on-premise to Azure (with potential AWS evaluation).
• Lead the modernisation of legacy IT estate, including Active Directory, MFA, VPN rationalisation and Microsoft 365 optimisation.
• Unify and lead the combined DevOps and IT function, enabling modern practices and faster deployments.
• Drive continuous delivery for new product releases, enabling more frequent deployments.
• Own the security posture and ensure ISO certification compliance and Cyber Essentials Plus.
• Champion AI adoption across engineering and IT to embed modern tooling and automation.

Skills

Leadership

Cloud strategy

AI adoption

Security mindset

Modernisation drive

Tools

Azure

AWS

Kubernetes

Terraform

Docker

Active Directory

Microsoft 365

Job description

Head of DevOps & IT - Cloud Transformation, Infrastructure Modernisation, AI Adoption - £100,000 - £120,000 + package

A world-leading building engineering software company is seeking a Head of DevOps and IT to drive a full-scale technology transformation across its DevOps and IT functions.

This organisation has recently secured major private equity investment to accelerate its transformation into a modern, cloud-first technology business. With a new CTO at the helm and full backing to modernise, they now need a forward-thinking DevOps and IT leader to make it happen.

The Head of DevOps and IT role:

Reporting directly into the CTO, you'll sit at C-suite minus one level and participate in monthly business strategy. You'll bring together an IT team and DevOps team under a single, unified function - and lead the migration of the entire technology estate from on-premise infrastructure to the cloud.

You'll blend strategic leadership with enough hands-on technical credibility to earn the trust of both teams, driving cultural and technical change in an organisation that is ready and eager to modernise after years of being held back.

Head of DevOps and IT - Key Responsibilities:

• Define and execute the cloud migration strategy, moving all pipelines and infrastructure from on-premise to Azure (with potential AWS evaluation).


• Lead the modernisation of the legacy IT estate - including Active Directory, MFA, VPN rationalisation and Microsoft 365 optimisation.


• Unify and lead the combined DevOps and IT function, enabling teams to adopt modern practices and ways of working.


• Drive continuous delivery capability for new product releases, enabling faster and more frequent deployments.


• Own the security posture of the organisation, maintaining ISO certification and implementing Cyber Essentials Plus.


• Champion AI adoption across the engineering and IT function, embedding modern tooling and automation into everyday workflows.


• Partner with the CTO and senior leadership to shape technology strategy and contribute to broader business goals.


• Modernise desktop application deployment and distribution for a complex, large-scale software product.

Head of DevOps and IT - Requirements:

• Proven experience leading both DevOps and IT functions, ideally having come up through a DevOps or infrastructure engineering background.


• Demonstrable track record of cloud migration and infrastructure modernisation, moving organisations from on-premise to cloud environments.


• Strong Azure experience essential; AWS knowledge highly valuable.


• Hands-on familiarity with Kubernetes, Terraform and Docker at a leadership level - enough to guide and credibly challenge your team.


• Experience managing hybrid Windows and Linux environments.


• Security awareness across ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus frameworks.


• A genuine enthusiasm for AI and modern tooling - this is a culture-shaping requirement, not a nice to have.


• Comfortable operating at a senior leadership level, influencing strategy while remaining close enough to the technical detail to lead credibly.

Are you a technology leader ready to take ownership of a genuine greenfield transformation - unifying teams, migrating to the cloud and shaping the future of a world-dominant software business from the ground up?

Head of DevOps & IT - Cloud Transformation, Infrastructure Modernisation, AI Adoption - £100,000 - £120,000 + package

Burns Sheehan Ltd will consider applications based only on skills and ability and will not discriminate on any grounds.