Head of Cloud Infrastructure – DevOps, IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS - EMEA

Head of Cloud Infrastructure – DevOps , IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS - EMEA

• Reading, Berkshire / Hybrid
• Salary: £100K - £120K + package

Our client a global technology organisation is seeking an experienced Head of Cloud Infrastructure to lead its EMEA infrastructure strategy, operations, and engineering teams. This is a senior leadership role focused on delivering a resilient, secure, and scalable technology environment, enabling both day-to-day operations and long-term digital transformation.

You will be responsible for shaping and executing the infrastructure vision across EMEA, covering cloud, data centres, networking, and platform services. Leading a distributed team across multiple locations, you will drive modernisation, improve service reliability, and ensure alignment with broader business and technology strategies.

Role & Responsibilities

Strategy & Architecture

• Define and deliver the EMEA infrastructure strategy aligned to business and application roadmaps
• Establish hybrid cloud direction across IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS environments
• Set standards across networking, identity & access management, security, and observability
• Drive technical debt reduction and continuous improvement initiatives
• Collaborate with application teams on target architecture and reusable design patterns

Operations & Service Delivery

• Own infrastructure availability, performance, capacity, and disaster recovery
• Lead ITSM processes (incident, problem, change, configuration) to ensure operational excellence
• Drive automation through Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure changes
• Implement robust monitoring, alerting, and observability practices
• Define and manage SLAs in partnership with application teams

Cloud & Modernisation

• Lead cloud strategy across Azure and/or AWS, including governance, security, and cost optimisation
• Define migration and modernisation roadmaps across hybrid environments
• Build internal cloud capability through upskilling and best practice frameworks
• Ensure compliance with security standards and EMEA regulatory requirements

Leadership & Collaboration

• Lead and develop a high-performing infrastructure team across NetOps, SysOps, and Data Centre Operations
• Create a cohesive team structure with clear ownership, KPIs, and ways of working
• Partner closely with Service Desk, Application, and Cybersecurity teams
• Act as a key stakeholder in architecture forums, project delivery, and investment planning

Vendor & Financial Management

• Own infrastructure budget, focusing on cost optimisation and value delivery
• Manage third-party vendors and service providers, ensuring performance against SLAs
• Evaluate and introduce new technologies and partners to support innovation

Skills & Experience

Leadership & Strategy

• Proven experience leading multi-location infrastructure teams within complex environments
• Track record of transforming teams into collaborative, high-performing units
• Strong ability to translate business strategy into infrastructure and platform roadmaps
• Experience operating within global organisations, ideally across EMEA

Technical Expertise

• Strong knowledge of enterprise infrastructure including:
• Cloud platforms (Azure and/or AWS) and hybrid architectures
• Networking, virtualisation, and data centre operations
• Identity & access management, backup, and disaster recovery
• Experience with DevOps practices, including CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code
• Familiarity with monitoring, logging, and observability tooling
• Solid understanding of security frameworks and compliance requirements

Operational Excellence

• Experience working with ITIL/ITSM frameworks within infrastructure environments
• Ability to drive service improvement, reliability, and performance at scale

Qualifications

• Degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience
• Certifications such as Azure, AWS, ITIL, networking, or security are advantageous