IT Infrastructure & Security Lead

Company Overview: The Airedale Group are the leading market design, installation, and maintenance provider for commercial kitchens in the UK hospitality and food service industry. We work alongside clients from the initial designs through to bespoke fabrication and installation. Coupled with the largest body of professional maintenance engineers in the country, we offer the complete end-to-end solution to our extensive client base. We have long-standing relationships with many of the biggest multi-site brands in the UK.

Job Overview:

We are seeking an ambitious and technically strong IT Infrastructure & Security Lead to take ownership of the reliability, security, and ongoing maturation of the group’s technology.

This role will oversee the helpdesk function, managing a team of three, demonstrating leadership and influential skills to make gradual steps toward a future Head of IT position. The successful candidate will combine strong technical capability with excellent stakeholder management skills, bringing structure, security discipline, and strategic direction to an IT environment that is already functional but continuing to mature.

The role will inherit a mixed technology landscape comprising both on-premise and cloud infrastructure, multiple Microsoft 365 tenants, an evolving Intune and Autopilot estate, active Cyber Essentials Plus initiatives, and a capable internal helpdesk function.

The postholder will be expected to balance hands-on operational delivery with longer-term planning and improvement activity. The successful individual will be comfortable remaining close to the technology, ensuring day-to-day operational stability while identifying opportunities to modernise infrastructure, improve governance, and strengthen cybersecurity posture.

A strong background in data security, Cyber Essentials, and ISO-aligned governance is essential. Familiarity with ISO27001 is highly desirable, alongside an appreciation for operational standards, compliance frameworks, and continuous improvement principles such as ISO9001.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, implementation, and support of secure and resilient IT infrastructure.
• Manage cloud and on-premise environments, including servers, storage, networking, and virtualisation.
• Oversee Microsoft 365, Azure/AWS environments, Active Directory/Entra ID, and endpoint management.
• Ensure high availability, disaster recovery, backup, and business continuity capabilities.
• Monitor infrastructure performance, capacity, and reliability.
• Manage third-party IT vendors, MSPs, and technology partners.
• Drive infrastructure improvement and modernisation initiatives.
• Own the organisation’s cybersecurity strategy and operational security posture.
• Lead ongoing Cyber Essentials Plus initiatives and ensure continued compliance maturity.
• Support and contribute to ISO-aligned governance and security improvement activities, including familiarity with ISO27001 principles and broader operational standards such as ISO9001.
• Implement and maintain security controls aligned with recognised frameworks (e.g. ISO27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, NIST).
• Lead vulnerability management, patching, endpoint protection, SIEM, and threat monitoring activities.
• Manage identity and access controls, MFA, privileged access, and conditional access policies.
• Lead incident response activities and coordinate remediation efforts.
• Conduct risk assessments and support audit and compliance activities.
• Drive improvements in data security, governance, and cyber resilience across the organisation.
• Deliver security awareness initiatives and promote security best practice across the business.
• Proactively engage with senior stakeholders and develop strong relationships with operational and business leaders to align technology direction with organisational priorities.
• Act as the senior escalation point for infrastructure and security issues.
• Develop and maintain IT policies, standards, and operational procedures.
• Lead and mentor the internal helpdesk function, developing IT team members where applicable.
• Manage infrastructure and security budgets and technology roadmaps.
• Produce regular reporting on operational performance, risk, and security posture.

Experience Required:

• Proven experience in an IT Infrastructure, Systems, or Security leadership role.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft technologies including:
  • Microsoft 365
  • Azure / Entra ID
  • Windows Server
  • Intune / Endpoint Management
  • Active Directory
• Strong networking knowledge, including firewalls, VPNs, switching, and wireless technologies.
• Strong understanding of cybersecurity, data security, and operational IT governance.
• Experience working with or supporting Cyber Essentials / Cyber Essentials Plus initiatives.
• Familiarity with ISO27001 principles and broader governance or quality frameworks such as ISO9001.
• Experience with backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning.
• Strong troubleshooting and incident management capability.
• Experience managing third-party suppliers and service providers.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and relationship-building skills.
• Ambition and capability to progress toward a future Head of IT or broader technology leadership role.

What we offer:

Airedale is a well-established group with real operational scale, a leadership team that is actively investing in technology maturation, and an IT function that is functional but has significant headroom for improvement. The postholder will have real autonomy, genuine influence on technical direction, and a clear pathway into a Head of IT role as the organisation continues to grow and the function develops.