Director of IT & Automation - Appen

Appen

About The Position

Appen is looking for a Director of IT & Automation to lead its IT function and shape how a modern, AI-native company operates. This is a senior leadership role that combines technical depth, operational judgment, and people leadership. The successful candidate will work closely with the CPTO and senior leaders across the business to align technology, risk, service, and investment priorities. The role involves building and leading a high-performing team across IT support, enterprise technology, and automation, hiring proactive individuals who leverage AI to enhance their work and fostering a culture of ownership, continuous improvement, and practical problem-solving. The ideal candidate will view AI as a genuine lever for transforming IT operations, not just another tool, and will be comfortable transitioning between strategy and execution, delving into technical details when necessary.

Requirements

8+ years in IT, including significant leadership experience.
Proven experience leading IT, including IT support and service delivery, in a fast-paced technology, software, or services environment.
Hands-on knowledge of Microsoft 365 and enterprise IT administration.
Technical credibility across enterprise SaaS, cloud infrastructure, endpoints, identity, and integrations.
Able to diagnose problems, challenge technical decisions, and understand how systems actually work.
Experience with SOC 2, ISO 27001, and IT security governance.
Commercial acumen across vendor management, negotiation, and technology spend.
A demonstrated track record of turning AI and automation into working solutions for real IT problems, with examples of processes you have automated, redesigned, or eliminated.
Executive presence and the ability to build credibility with senior leaders, technical teams, and vendors.
Proactive, resourceful, and comfortable operating with ambiguity.

Nice To Haves

Deep AWS experience
Cloud cost management
Experience administering Salesforce, Workday, or Atlassian
Familiarity with Databricks or Anthropic
DevOps/SRE exposure

Responsibilities

Set the IT roadmap across enterprise technology, support, security, and automation.
Lead IT support, endpoint management, and major incident response.
Shape the IT operating model and team as Appen grows.
Own the health, configuration, and integration of Appen's core enterprise technology environment.
Provide technical leadership across Microsoft 365, including administration, identity, access, and security.
Oversee the broader enterprise technology environment, including Salesforce, Workday, Atlassian, AWS, Databricks, and Anthropic, ensuring platforms are well integrated, governed, and fit for purpose.
Own IT's role in SOC 2 and ISO 27001, including controls, audit readiness, evidence, and remediation.
Maintain appropriate security, access, and endpoint controls across the IT environment.
Identify technology and operational risks before they become incidents.
Establish practical governance for AI use across IT, balancing adoption with security, privacy, and compliance.
Make AI and automation core tools for improving IT operations and employee experience.
Identify opportunities to eliminate manual work and apply AI, automation, agents, and self-service to areas such as help desk triage, onboarding, provisioning, IT administration, and vendor management.
Use tools such as Claude, Cowork, agents, and AI-enabled workflows to build and improve solutions.
Partner with Engineering and Product on larger automation initiatives.
Manage Appen's technology vendor portfolio, including selection, negotiation, performance, and renewals.
Drive license rationalization, vendor consolidation, and technology cost optimization.
Maintain clear visibility of technology spend and partner with Finance on investment decisions.
Build and develop a high-performing IT team across support, enterprise technology, and automation.
Create a culture where people solve problems rather than simply manage them.