IT Operations Manager

£500 to £600 per day Inside IR35

Initial 9 months with strong likelihood of extension or transition into IT Manager

Stratford, London Predominantly office based, initially 5 days per week

The British Council is delivering a major national programme as part of Erasmus+ and requires an experienced IT Operations and Onboarding specialist to support the mobilisation of over 150 staff across the UK.

This is a hands on role focused on ensuring a smooth onboarding experience, strong IT service delivery, and effective coordination across Digital and Technology teams, suppliers, and business stakeholders.

You will act as the key point of contact for onboarding and operational IT support within the programme, ensuring users are fully set up, supported, and productive from day one.

• Own and coordinate end to end onboarding across large scale hiring waves
• Manage Joiners Movers Leavers processes, including bulk onboarding activity
• Ensure all users have appropriate system access, devices, and support
• Act as the on site IT point of contact for troubleshooting and user support
• Liaise with service desk and wider D&T teams to resolve issues quickly
• Track and manage tickets, service requests, and operational performance
• Work closely with HR, suppliers, and internal teams to remove onboarding blockers
• Maintain onboarding documentation, processes, and governance
• Support service delivery improvements and operational efficiency
• Act as a bridge between programme teams and IT functions

• Strong experience in IT operations, service delivery, or IT support environments
• Proven experience managing onboarding or JML processes at scale
• Background working in large or complex organisations
• Hands on approach with ability to troubleshoot and support users directly
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills
• Experience working with service desk environments and ITSM processes
• Ability to coordinate across multiple teams and suppliers
• Comfortable working in a fast paced, high volume environment

• ITIL certification or strong ITIL knowledge
• Experience in large scale onboarding, migrations, or transformation programmes
• Exposure to Microsoft environments including Windows, M365, Intune
• Experience working with outsourced IT or third party suppliers

• Someone visible, proactive, and hands on
• Someone who fixes problems, not just escalates them
• Someone who can handle volume and pressure
• Someone who improves processes while delivering day to day support

*Rates depend on experience and client requirements