Wellington College Education (China)

Role Description 

JOB TITLE

IT manager

DEPARTMENT

Non-Academic 

LOCATION

Shanghai

LINE MANAGEMENT

Director of Educational Technology (Ed Tech)

OBJECTIVES

Ensure IT service satisfaction.

Manage Network administration and optimisation.

Develop IT team professional capacity.

Be responsible for IT operation enhancement.

Support Ed Tech initiatives. 

Ensure delivery of IT school development plan (SDP) in line with group strategy,

Contribute to the group lead project.

Lead the digitalization and automation of HR processes, including talent management, performance appraisal, and professional development tracking. 

Ensure integration and optimisation of HR systems (HRIS, LMS, recruitment platforms) to improve data accuracy, efficient and user experience.

Enable data-driven workforce decision-making through HR analytics and reporting tools.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

· To take responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the ICT Department including: Help Desk function, switching and cabling infrastructure, wireless networking, server and storage management, backup and recovery, department budget administration and other operational activities

· Report directly to the Director of Ed Tech, acting as bridge between foundational IT infrastructure and the school’s pedagogical technology goals. 

· Develop detailed annual and three-year budget proposals in cooperation with the Director of Ed Tech , Bursar and academic staff

· Work with Central Office and Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to formulate both long term strategy and the ICT Annual Development Plan: Lead the planning of systems and technology and maintain a published systems and technology strategy on a rolling three-year life cycle

· Support all departments (academic and non-academic) in development, procurement and implementation of systems and automated workflows.

· Provide guidance to the ICT Department staff to incorporate, to the extent appropriate, functions and processes in accordance with the best practices of ITIL/ITSM 

· Ensure strong governance across all IT initiatives including Information Governance (IG)

· Be the key stakeholder for ICT Supply side while consulting to the Demand side:

· Provide a support and advisory service to managers and staff in effective design of business processes, effective systems procurement and effective use of systems and technology.

· Adopt an outward facing, ‘one team’ approach and embed and champion a support service which is customer-centred.

RESPONSIBILITIES

All responsibilities are delivered in partnership with colleagues as part of an integrated team

Project Management and EdTech Integration

· Liaise with Director of Ed Tech, SLT and the wider ICT team in an effective and efficient manner, to define and manage technology projects in accordance with the school development plans (SDP) 

· Collaborate with academic team to ensure seamless integration and technical support for Learning Management System (LMS), classroom hardware and digital learning platforms.

· Support 1:1 device programs and mobile learning initiatives by ensuring robust infrastructure and streamlined deployment processes. 

· Ensure that ICT projects are on time, within budget, and achieve the defined objectives 

· Manage hardware procurement and deployment, liaising with vendors and key stakeholders 

· Attend and actively advise and contribute to relevant Governance Groups/Committees

DEPARTMENT AND PROCEDURE ORGANISATION 

· Provide guidance and direction to the ICT team in his responsibility to coordinate daily processes and procedures to meet and address ICT requests from staff, students and their parents 

· Oversee ICT Services Department structure and suggest revision as necessary to ensure service delivery 

· Line manage staff working in the ICT department, including performance management, carrying out regular supervision sessions, appraisals and ensure that training & development needs are identified and addressed

· Implement ITIL/ITSM processes as appropriate to our environment, focusing on development of change, configuration and change management procedures 

· Establish configuration profiles that guide system image creation, oversee release management processes, and serve as a key consultant to ICT strategy development 

· Ensure appropriate monitoring and reporting of service delivery, systems control and preventative maintenance, and staff development

· Manage software patching, virus, network and other threat protection in line with Security Strategy including regular monitoring of threats.

· Coordinate vendor service, insurance and warranty items and associated documentation and approval processes 

· Pro-actively coordinate the School's asset management system, including accuracy in the provisioning of all ICT equipment and an Inventory of all hardware and software assets including mobile devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones etc).

· Liaise with the School's vendors in the supply and maintenance of hardware, software and support 

· Maintain a technical induction and training programme for new staff and managers including Governance, core office systems use and departmental system use. Maintain and enhance eLearning capability.

· Maintain a programme of refreshed training in the above.

· Pro-actively Manage and Meet Service Level Agreements Expectations

· Foster a culture of proactivity, responsiveness and service orientation 

· Provide information, advice and assistance to key ICT stakeholders including SLT 

· Maintain high level communication across all ICT functions within the school ensuring the community is kept abreast of developments in the ICT department and their impact on staff, students and parents 

· Maintain awareness of relevant new technologies and annually publish to SLT new opportunities that have been identified.

· Support departments in obtaining access to data and information in the most effective fashion, including:

o Maintaining a Data Dictionary that defines the data collected across the School that can be reported upon.

o Producing ad hoc reports to agreed time scales.

o Identifying and deploying tools which enable departments to produce reports for themselves.

· Provide a Service Desk to support the workforce using computers, which consistently achieves agreed service targets. Participate as appropriate in problem definition and resolution for escalated issues

· Document and maintain visibility of vendors meeting their SLA agreements 

· Provide monthly reports as required e.g.: breakages, warranty claims, etc. 

ICT STRATEGY AND BUDGET DEDVELOPMENT 

· Work in coordination with CO to develop technology strategy that is linked to group and school objectives and priorities 

· Develop the annual and three-year ICT budget proposal in support of school development plans and Group development plans 

· Advise and consult with SLT in creation of the Education IT budget 

· Manage the ICT Services Department operational budgets

· Maintain a rolling programme of updates to business unit and infrastructure software to ensure continuing support and best value from assets.

INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT 

· Maintain a reliable and extensible standardised technical infrastructure that enables responsive delivery to business goals.

· Jointly maintain and manage the cloud hosted systems in the Microsoft Azure with the rest of Wellington College China schools’ IT managers

· Ensure the uptime and availability of all systems and infrastructure within organisation level agreements (OLA)

· Liaise with School’s vendors on the support and development of the infrastructure and ensuring the SLA

· Maintain a business continuity plan in the event of failures that can be anticipated (e.g. power supply, hard disk) and those that would not be expected (e.g. total loss of a server room).

· Manage data backup, archiving and recovery in alignment with departmental requirements, including a programme of regular testing of recovery.

WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY

· Ensure that safe operating procedures are followed 

· Ensure all workstations meet Health and Safety regulations, notifying relevant Managers when possible improvements are identified.

· Maintain a commitment to Equal Opportunity and Occupational Safety and Health/ Workplace Health & Safety in all aspects of employment and service delivery 

HR DIGITALISATION AND AUTOMATION

· Partner with HR and SLT to map, redesign and automate key employee lifecycle processes (recruitment, onboarding, appraisal CPD, offboarding).

· Lead implementation, integration and optimisation of HRIS and related platforms (e.g. recruitment systems, appraisal tools, LMS).

· Design and maintain automated workflows (e.g. Power Automate) for HR processes such as approvals notifications, document management, and compliance tracking. 

· Support development of self-service HR portals for staff (such as appraisal submissions, CPD records, document access)

GROUP-LEVEL CO-OPERATION

· Provide school-level useful data for data analysis and then to work with CO IT to analyse to make improvement.

· Participate as school representative in group-led projects, actively assume the role of communication and demand analyst, and assist Director of Ed Tech to advance the implementation of new projects.

· Give feedback from day-to-day operations on potential issues in existing Group strategies and processes and provide professional advice to help improve these identified issues.

OTHER

· Other duties as assigned by the Director of Ed Tech, Bursar or Master

PERSON SPECIFICATION

All short-listed candidates will be subject to a technical interview to validate technical capabilities

BASIC QUALIFICATION

· Education: Bachelor’s Degree

· Major: Computer science or IT related

· Language: Fluent written and spoken English and Chinese

EXPERIENCE

· Working Experience: More than 5 years of related experience

· Management Experience: Experience of leadership management of teams is required. Minimum 3 years leading and managing an IT team

EXPERTISE

· Experience of working in an educational setting beneficial but not essential

· Demonstrable experience and knowledge in a range of areas including general network theory (TCP/IP), Microsoft Desktop and Server environments, Apple OS and remote desktop, software deployment, system directories (AD, LDAP), Group Policy and Apple Configurator 

· Excellent organisational and administrative skills plus customer service orientation

· Rigorous approach to problem-solving

· Ability to multi-task and prioritise and manage multiple work processes and projects simultaneously 

· Ability to work to tight timelines

· Able to work long hours and occasional weekends

· Experienced with service desk ticketing systems, reporting and timely resolution 

· Report writing skills – including ad hoc and bespoke reports

· The ability to offer clear and concise oral and written information and advice to key stakeholders; students, staff and parents

· Management of a large operational and capital budget, negotiation skills and ability to add value to services provided

PERSONAL SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

· Demonstrating practice that represents the five core values of Hiba Academy Shanghai at all times (courage, integrity, kindness, respect and responsibility)

· Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, proven ability to translate IT information and communicate effectively with different types of people, across disciplines, all levels and in cross-culture environment

· Commitment to on-going training & development of all ICT Staff 

· Strong track record of solving complex problems, strategic thinking and delivering significant impact.

· Pro-active in preventative maintenance and management of all key systems 

· Patient and persistent in addressing issues and events where there is a high level of demand 

· Strong mindset for continuous development and improvement to meet or exceed expectations. 

Please note that any application with missing materials will not be considered.

Hiba Academy Shanghai is totally committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and young people and expects the same from its employees. All new staff will be subject to enhanced pre-employment clearance, including identity checks, criminal background checks, qualifications checks and employment checks to include an exploration of any gaps in employment.

As an employer of choice, Wellington College Education China is committed to making professional learning and personal development central to its ethos and approach. WCEC fully recognises its responsibilities for safeguarding children. Our safeguarding policy applies to all staff, governors and volunteers working in the Group.