IT Operations Lead Azure

Freelance Assignment: IT Operations Lead Azure
About the Organisation
Join a leading pan-European distribution company with:
* €5+ billion in annual revenue
* 10,000+ employees across multiple countries

Role Overview

Reporting directly to the Group CIO, the IT Operations Lead Azure will own and steer the operational strategy for Microsoft Azure and hybrid infrastructure across the enterprise. This role is not hands-on, but requires deep technical understanding of Azure to lead teams, challenge vendors, and guide architectural decisions. Key focus areas include:
* Ensuring platform reliability, scalability, and cost-efficiency
* Driving cloud governance, security, and compliance
* Leading infrastructure modernization and operational harmonization

Key Focus Areas

* Strategic ownership of Azure and hybrid infrastructure operations
* Driving standardization and modernization across regions
* Partnering with IT leads and business stakeholders to enable agility and growth

Core Responsibilities

Azure & Hybrid Infrastructure Strategy

* Define and oversee group-wide Azure operations strategy, including governance, networking, identity, and security
* Guide teams and partners through modernization, migration, and cloud adoption efforts
* Ensure consistency, best practices, and architectural alignment across all regions
* Translate business needs into operational Azure capabilities

Operational Leadership & Governance

* Lead cross-regional infrastructure alignment (Azure + on-premise)
* Introduce and enforce operational frameworks, policies, and KPIs
* Drive platform performance, availability, and scalability through structured oversight
* Ensure visibility into operational health, capacity, and cost metrics

Security, Compliance & Resilience

* Work with the CISO to implement and govern a zero-trust model
* Enforce GDPR and enterprise compliance across the Azure landscape
* Own disaster recovery and business continuity strategies for critical services
* Ensure security posture management and vulnerability oversight

Service Delivery & Vendor Management

* Standardize and govern ITIL-based processes (incident, change, problem management)
* Define SLAs, track KPIs, and drive service improvement initiatives
* Manage cloud service providers and infrastructure vendors, ensuring alignment with business and operational goals
* Drive optimization across contracts, licensing, and cloud resource allocation

Stakeholder Engagement & Leadership

* Act as a key advisor to the CIO on Azure trends and innovations
* Collaborate with country IT leads, architects, and operational teams
* Promote alignment between infrastructure strategy and business priorities
* Steer transformation programs around automation, AIOps, and modernization

Candidate Profile

Strategic & Technical Competence

* 5+ years in IT infrastructure or operations leadership
* Proven experience overseeing Azure operations at scale (enterprise/multi-country level)
* Strong knowledge of Azure components: networking, identity, security, governance, cost control
* Experience with hybrid cloud environments and modernization programs
* Familiar with frameworks such as ITIL, FinOps, AIOps, and enterprise architecture

Leadership & Communication Skills

* Excellent stakeholder management across executive, technical, and vendor levels
* Ability to challenge solution designs, ensure operational alignment, and drive outcomes
* Financial acumen in managing cloud budgets and vendor contracts
* Visionary mindset with operational pragmatism

Contract Details

* Freelance interim role at group level
* Immediate start preferred
* High visibility role across the European IT leadership landscape
* Hybrid/remote working model with occasional travel

Interested?
Please send your CV to be considered for this strategic and high-impact Azure leadership assignment.

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