Director of Information Technology Services
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Salary c£75k plus pension
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is seeking to appoint a new IT Director to shape and
deliver the transformation and improvement of IT services to the School. As a senior manager, the
Director of Information Technology Services will take a hands-on role in ensuring the effective delivery of
business aligned IT services, at this world leading centre for research and postgraduate education.
Information Technology delivers critical services to students and staff as well as enabling internationally
collaborative research & development -the School was recently cited as one of the world’s top universities
for collaborative research.
Due to the growth and success of the School it is currently modernising and improving its professional
services to support this growth, as part of this change, IT delivery has been altered from a federated
model to a centralised IT function which requires an exceptional senior technology professional to lead it
forward.
The Role:
 Operate as a senior leader within the school, fostering positive relationships with key
stakeholders. Stimulate, influence and manage the demand for a strong service based
commercially aligned IT Service.
 Provide strong functional leadership to the newly formed IT division and introduce a culture of
service excellence. Maintain the momentum of the departmental change as well as delivering
continued impetus to the business change programme.
 Conceive, shape and deliver a service based commercially aligned IT strategy which meets the
new and evolving demands of the School.
The Candidate:
 With significant ability and experience, ideally in to the Higher education sector, you will have
the ability to understand the needs of the organisation and translate them in to an appropriate,
deliverable IT strategy.
 An outstanding communicator with the ability to proactively build relationships with a wide
range of senior stakeholders both internally and externally to the School.
 An excellent leader able to swiftly form cohesive teams, to create a shared vision for the new IT
division incorporating a customer service focused ethos.
Informal enquiries to the Chief Operating Officer, Dr Andrew Young at andrew.young@lshtm.ac.uk.
Applications should be made on-line via our website http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. The reference for this post is
IT46. Online applications will be accepted by the automated system until 10pm on the closing date 19th
April 2013.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is committed to being an equal opportunities
employer
lshtm.ac.uk 1
JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSON SPECIFICATION
POST:
Director of Information Technology Services
DIVISION/DEPT/UNIT:
ITS
RESPONSIBLE TO:
Chief Operating Officer
GRADE:
PSP9
THE LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a world-leading centre for research and
postgraduate education in public and global health, with 4,000 students and more than 1,300
staff working in over 100 countries. The School is one of the highest-rated research institutions
in the UK, and was recently cited as one of the world’s top universities for collaborative
research.
Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in
partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and
translation of knowledge into policy and practice. Founded by Sir Patrick Manson in 1899, the
School is now part of the University of London and has expanded in recent years at its two main
sites on Keppel Street and Tavistock Place. Our research funding has grown to over £60 million
per annum from national and international sources including the UK government, the European
Commission, the Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The School’s multidisciplinary expertise includes clinicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, social
scientists, molecular biologists and immunologists. We work with our partners worldwide to
support the development of teaching and research capacity, and our alumni work in more than
180 countries.
Further information is available at http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/introducing/index.html
___________________________________
Improving health worldwide
lshtm.ac.uk 2
JOB DESCRIPTION
Background
Historically ITS services and support were operated by faculties and central services and
functioned as autonomous units.
The Senior Leadership Team have undertaken a significant transformation programme and as
part of the programme the separate units were brought together into a single Information
Technology Service (ITS). We now seek an exceptional individual to lead this service in
transforming the IT landscape and the provision of IT service to the School.
There are several opportunities, both strategic and operational: the initial drivers are around
the integration and development of the new combined service, while ensuring current service is
maintained. There is also a need to focus on the successful delivery of a number of business
applications (Agresso, Resourcelink and SITS) and the adoption of these across the School.
Challenges of policy and governance as well as formal project management methods arise as a
consequence of these large School-wide investments. A review will be required of the
infrastructure and its capacity and capability for the future. The School also needs to accelerate
its e-services and self services both internally and externally.
There are significant opportunities for vendor partnerships, and joint working and partnerships
with other HEIs, to help develop and enhance the service.
The role holder will bring with them strong leadership and management skills, expertise in
leading ITS in a complex organisation and experience of identifying change and delivering that
change.
Job Purpose
The Director of Information Technology Services leads the ITS function for the School and will
chair appropriate School committees and governance groups. S/he also represents the School
externally.
The role holder reports to the COO and advises the Senior Leadership Team on all matters
relating to ITS and information management. S/he also works closely with the Library and
Archive Service, Finance and Human Resources in particular.
Responsibilities
1. Lead and develop the provision of the Information Technology Service in order to provide a
comprehensive support system within the School
2. Lead and inspire the ITS teams so that they are motivated and engaged to deliver that
service to the School
3.
Proactively promote an understanding of ITS developments and opportunities within the
School, to ensure that plans and strategies are realistic and deliverable
4. Keep up to date with and evaluate ITS trends, to ensure that the School benefits from
innovation in the marketplace
5. Develop an ITS operational plan, in line with business needs and aligned with the School’s
strategic plan
lshtm.ac.uk 3
6. Determine overall priorities and allocation of resources and direct the ITS team so that the
operational plan is delivered on time, to budget and to specification
7. Direct the ITS team to deliver the ITS service in line with agreed SLAs so that the School
operates as efficiently as possible
8. Lead, with the Procurement team, the negotiation of major supplier contracts, and maintain
relationships, to ensure that the School gets value for money and quality service from those
suppliers
9. Monitor and review the performance and development of direct reports so that they meet
their objectives and continue to develop
10. Chair ITS governance groups or other School committees as appropriate
11. Manage the annual budget cycle and develop business cases for positive change
12. Undertake any other duties as reasonably required or directed by the Chief Operating
Officer
13. Manage your own continuous professional development, internal collaborations and
external networks, in order to contribute to service quality, research excellence and
innovation
14. Demonstrate the School’s values through your behaviour at work, including your duties and
responsibilities in respect of equality and diversity, health and safety, data protection, and
any other legislative requirement
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Qualifications
The successful candidate should:
Hold a relevant postgraduate qualification
Hold an undergraduate degree or equivalent
Essential/ Tested
Desirable
by*
Desirable
A, I
Essential
A, I
Essential
A, I
Essential
A, I
Essential
A, I
Essential
A, I
Essential
A, I
Essential
A, I
Background & Experience
The successful candidate should have a background in, or experience of:
Leading the provision of IT services in an HE provider or similar organisation
Leading a team in a programme and project environment to effect significant
business change
Delivering objectives; challenging staff and the business to deliver beyond
expectations
Significant budgetary experience, reporting on and accounting for financial
performance of a service
Negotiating IT services and contracts and management of contractor
relationships
Benchmarking processes and procedures
lshtm.ac.uk 4
Development of strategy in IT services including the use of the web to deliver
services
Essential
A, I
Using an effective external network and connections in the IT or other sectors
to the benefit of the organisation as a whole
Desirable
A, I
Essential
A, I
Essential
A, I
Desirable
A, I
The ability to articulate ‘the big picture’ and cut through technical complexity
Essential
A, I
Continuous development of personal skills and behaviours appropriate to the
LSHTM environment
Essential
A, I
The ability to work across teams and share resources where necessary to
deliver
Essential
A, I
Knowledge
The successful candidate should have demonstrable knowledge of:
Industry operating models and developments in ITS
Programme and project management, preferably with demonstrable
knowledge of one or more of Agresso, Northgate Resource Link or SITS
Business operations within HE
Skills & Competencies
The successful candidate should demonstrate:
* A = application; I = interview; T = test
SALARY AND CONDITIONS OF APPOINTMENT
The appointment is available immediately. The appointment will be made on LSHTM’s
Professional Support Pathway Grade 9. Starting salary will be up to circa £75,000 per annum,
inclusive. Membership of the USS Pension Scheme is available.
APPLICATIONS
Applications should be made on-line via our website at http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. The reference
for this post is IT46. Online applications will be accepted by the automated system until 10pm
of the closing date 19th April 2013. Any queries regarding the application process may be
addressed to Oliver.Daly@lshtm.ac.uk.
The supporting statement section should set out how your qualifications, experience and
training meet each of the selection criteria.
Please provide one or more paragraphs addressing each criterion. The supporting statement is
an essential part of the selection process and thus a failure to provide this information will
mean that the application will not be considered. An answer to any of the criteria such as
“Please see attached CV” will not be considered acceptable. Applications should also include the
names and email contacts of 2 referees who can be contacted immediately if short listed.
Please note that if you are short listed and are unable to attend on the interview date it may not
be possible to offer you an alternative date.
lshtm.ac.uk 5