Head of IT & Platform Operations

About us We are a European group in market research, audience measurement and survey data, with around 200 people across several countries. Our companies run SaaS platforms, online panels and research services. All of them depend on fast, secure and reliable infrastructure. The role Our workplace IT and platform operations currently run as separate teams , but the boundaries no longer make sense: identity, access, domains, networks and security cut across both. You would bring them together and lead them as one unit. You would own how IT works across the group, from a new laptop to a production Kubernetes cluster. This is not a hands-off, manager-only role. You would lead from the front: you jump into incidents, write the Terraform, debug the network, and show your team how it’s done. You spend a real part of your week hands-on, and you earn respect through skill, not title. What you’ll do - Lead a distributed team of around 8 engineers across several European sites, covering workplace IT and platform operations. You coach by doing: pairing, reviewing, and taking on hard technical problems yourself. - Stay hands-on: own critical parts of the infrastructure yourself, take part in on-call, and set the technical standard by example. - Own operations of our SaaS infrastructure: AWS, a self-hosted Kubernetes cluster and around 350 virtual servers. - Own workplace IT for around 200 users: devices, device management, VPN, office networks, firewalls, accounts and user support. - Build one consistent model for identity and access management across the group: Microsoft 365 / Entra ID, SSO, 2FA, password management, DNS and domains, onboarding and offboarding across all systems. - Set priorities, SLAs and an on-call setup that works without heroes. - Drive security and compliance: ISMS, GDPR, audit readiness, and NIS2 where relevant. - Own the IT budget, vendors and hosting contracts. Keep cloud and hosting costs under control. - Standardize and automate: infrastructure as code, documentation, ticketing, runbooks. - Be the go-to counterpart for product, engineering and management on infrastructure decisions. What you bring - At least 6 years of hands-on work in infrastructure and operations, including 3+ years leading teams while staying technically active. - Strong hands-on skills in cloud and platform operations: AWS, Kubernetes, Linux, networking, Terraform or similar IaC tools. - Solid knowledge of workplace IT: Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune and/or Jamf, VPN, firewalls. - Practical experience with security and compliance frameworks such as ISO 27001, SOC 2 or comparable. - Experience leading distributed, multi-country teams, and willingness to travel regularly between our sites (around 20–25%). - You decide, prioritize hard and explain things clearly to engineers and non-technical people alike. - You still enjoy getting stuck in - if you haven’t touched a terminal in years, this isn’t the role for you. - Experience merging or restructuring IT teams is a strong plus. - Fluent English is essential, with excellent communication and stakeholder management skills. German language skills are a strong advantage. - Proven professional experience in Austria and/or Germany, with a good understanding of local business practices, workplace culture and stakeholder expectations. - Demonstrated experience leading multicultural, internationally diverse teams, ideally within a European business environment. Strong intercultural communication skills, with the ability to build trust and collaborate effectively across different nationalities and working styles. - This position is based at our headquarters in Vienna. Candidates must already have the legal right to work in Austria. Relocation assistance is not provided; candidates relocating to Vienna would be responsible for their own relocation arrangements. What we offer - A real mandate: you design the setup, you don’t just inherit it. - Direct line to group management and short decision paths. - Hybrid work, flexible hours. - Competitive salary in the range of EUR 80K-95K annual gross, depending on location and experience, plus a performance-based bonus from the second year onwards. Interested? Please apply via our online application form. Send us your CV and a few lines on how you’d approach merging two IT teams. No cover letter clichés needed.