Director of Information Technology

The RHS are seeking a new Director of IT who will provide strategic and operational leadership across the RHS’s technology environment, ensuring that systems, infrastructure, applications, data platforms and support services are reliable, secure, resilient, integrated and cost-effective. As a member of the Leadership Team, they will define and deliver an enterprise-wide IT strategy, lead a multidisciplinary function of around 50 staff, oversee a substantial operating budget and multi-year investment, and act as a trusted adviser to senior leaders and Trustees. The successful candidate will bring significant senior leadership experience across IT operations, infrastructure, enterprise applications, cyber security and service delivery within a complex, multi-site organisation. They will combine strong strategic and commercial judgement with broad enterprise technology knowledge, excellent communication and influencing skills, and a collaborative, pragmatic approach to governance, risk, suppliers and organisational change. Key responsibilities - Defining and delivering an enterprise-wide IT strategy aligned to RHS priorities, covering core services, infrastructure, cyber security, enterprise applications, data platforms and support capability. - Ensuring reliable, secure and high-performing technology services across all RHS sites and functions, with effective service levels, monitoring, incident response, disaster recovery and business continuity arrangements. - Owning the resilience, performance and lifecycle of the technology estate, including infrastructure, networks, cloud platforms, end user computing, business applications and integrations. - Establishing effective technology governance, architecture, standards, change control and security controls across enterprise and customer-facing platforms. - Leading a multidisciplinary IT function of around 50 staff, building the capability, capacity and culture required for responsive support, operational excellence and disciplined delivery. - Owning the IT operating budget of approximately £8m to £10m, directing multi-year investment and securing value through strong financial, supplier, contract and commercial management. - Working closely with Digital, Innovation, Data and business colleagues to enable secure, integrated and supportable digital, data and AI innovation. - Acting as a trusted adviser to the Leadership Team, Trustees and senior stakeholders, translating complex technology issues into clear choices on risk, cost, benefit and operational impact. Working for the RHS To work for the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is to join a thriving charity, whose mission is to be there for everyone on their lifelong adventure with gardening. Everything we do is built on the transformational power of gardening – and the benefits it brings to people, places and our planet. And we couldn’t do this without our people. We’re proud of the knowledge, enthusiasm and ideas that each one of our team members brings. From working across our social media channels, to volunteering in the RHS Gardens, from serving customers in our garden centres to running national marketing campaigns, we believe that every member of the RHS team should have the opportunity to make a difference. Our careers portal here provides a comprehensive overview of what we offer, the teams that work at the RHS and our great benefits. Safeguarding and Inclusion The RHS is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk and expects all personnel to share in this commitment. We are an inclusive employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.