Director of IT and Digital Strategy

DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL STRATEGY
JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title:

Director of IT and Digital Strategy

Responsible to:

Chief Operating Officer

Main Purpose:

Sedbergh School is looking to appoint an exceptional Director of IT and Digital Strategy who brings a
combination of technical, managerial and interpersonal skills together with excellent knowledge of the
technology environment, ideally within the education sector.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this is a pivotal leadership role at the heart of an ambitious,
values-led charitable School. The successful candidate will take the lead in the management of the school’s
information technology and digital infrastructure, ensuring robust, secure, and future-proofed
infrastructure that effectively supports teaching, learning, safeguarding, administration, and
communication across the school community. This includes leading digital transformation initiatives,
maintaining secure reliable systems, driving innovation in education technology, cloud and digital
platforms, ensuring compliance with data protection and cyber security standards, and aligning IT Strategy
with the school’s overall vision and improvement priorities.

Roles and Responsibilities:

IT Governance and Security

•

Lead on the procurement of digital technology across the school and ensure that purchasing
decisions relating to IT are consistent with the organisation’s vision and strategy, and provide
optimum value for money.

•  Develop, implement, and regularly review a whole-school digital strategy aligned with the school

•

strategy.
Lead on the practice of information governance, providing expert knowledge and assurance to
ensure that sensitive and confidential data is managed appropriately and in line with legislation.
•  Ensure that the organisation remains compliant with the requirements of information governance,

GDPR and Freedom of Information.

•  Ensure that disaster recovery plans are in place for all IT services and that these are routinely

tested, weaknesses identified and appropriate risk mitigation plans implemented.
Lead and implement the development and implementation of the school’s cyber security strategy.

•

Service Improvement

•  As the lead for IT across the school, and lead on delivering a high quality IT service for all

departments.

•  Analyse user needs and to design and implement a programme for user training on core systems,

particularly Microsoft platforms.

•  Provide analysis on the baseline performance of all IT systems.
•  Provide advice on innovative opportunities and support the organisation in the use of digital

technology.

•  Propose changes to the IT and digital functions making recommendations for other service delivery,

particularly in relation to strategic and operational plans.

•  Develop and implement policies for implementation of IT and digital transformation projects and

initiatives.

Strategic Leadership

•  Be key and permanent member of the Infrastructure Working Group and Governors Infrastructure

Committee, where digitisation will be prioritised and accordingly funded.

•  Continually review existing digital capabilities and make recommendations for embedding a digital-

first culture.

•  Develop key relationships with senior leadership and individuals across the school to influence the
wider agenda and to position Sedbergh School as a digital market leader within the education
sector.

•  Develop and implement a user-led IT strategy which delivers growth and digital solutions and

positively impacting engagement with staff, pupils, and parents.

•  Apply highly specialised expertise and knowledge to deliver collaborative improvements and

planning to meet the requirements of the organisation.

•  Present complex information, data, and facts in a clear and appropriate manner to senior leaders to

aid in making informed decisions. This is to include implementation of dashboards and KPI
monitoring tools.

•  Develop a five-year refresh and investment plans, including capital, revenue and staffing resources

for IT.

Team Management

•
•

Line manage the IT infrastructure and support service teams across the Sedbergh Schools Group.
Liaise with and coordinate external IT contractors to ensure parity of service and best value for
money

•  To work closely with senior staff across the organisation, supporting their development plans, and

maintaining up to date knowledge of current trends in the digital fields.

•  To organise and undertake annual digital assessment and audits.
•  To develop a positive approach to identifying talent and skills within the IT team.

Organisational Development

•  To provide effective leadership, professional expertise and support on IT and digital transformation

related matters.

•  To work with curriculum leads to understand the educational strategy and ensure this is reflected

and supported by developments in digital strategy.

•  To lead cultural change aligned to the organisation’s vision and values.
•  To encourage staff to work collaboratively and to increase the level of consistency surrounding the
use of digital technologies across the Group, identifying opportunities for collaboration and cost
saving.

•  Challenge existing practice, ensuring progressive solutions, which considers models of best practice

and delivers best value.

•  Produce reports when required and supply relevant professional input to meetings.
•  To participate in the reviewing of all relevant policies to make sure they are workable and satisfy

requirements.

•  To promote and champion equality and diversity within a positive and engaging culture.
•  To take an active and critical approach to team assessment and quality improvement through

robust critical review and action planning.
Support the roll out of annual training and audit trails for all staff.

•

Budget and Financial Management

•  To work with the finance department for the drafting of the annual IT budget.
•  Monitor IT expenditure to analyse and evaluate performance, manage risk, identify problem areas,

and develop solutions, to maximise efficiencies and effectiveness.

•  Use time and resources effectively, reviewing all areas of responsibility regularly and reporting to

the Chief Operating Officer any deficiencies found, or future developments needed.

Health and Safety:

All staff should be aware of the school’s health and safety policy and implement it as appropriate.

Safeguarding:

All staff employed by Sedbergh School are expected to take responsibility for promoting and safeguarding
the welfare of children and young persons for whom they are responsible or with whom they come into
contact.

These roles and responsibilities provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a
definitive list.  Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the level of this post.

Sedbergh School is committed to safeguarding & protecting the welfare of children. Applicants must be
willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past
employers
and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Registered Charity No 1080672