Regional Service Director – North America

Howden•New York, NY

22h•Hybrid

About The Position

The North America Service Director is a strategically important role responsible for the delivery of the IT support service within a region, serving users across multiple entities (Dual, Broking and Howden RE). This senior leadership position ensures that the regional hub team are providing a high quality, compliant service to all customers. The Service Director must balance the competing priorities of multiple executive stakeholders (COOs, CIOs, CEOs and HGS). The Service Director will represent the regional businesses requirements into Group IT services, and Group IT services strategy and ways of working within the business, ensuring the businesses needs are understood, Group IT deliver against SLAs, and the hub delivers Group standard IT support. The service director is responsible for championing Group IT service into the business and delivering a scalable service at the most efficient cost.

Requirements

Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (MSC preferred).
ITIL v4 certification required.
10+ years in technology roles, with 5+ years in leadership
Track record of operating across complex international environment supporting a business across multiple Divisions / Regions / Countries
Proven track record in regulated industries, preferably insurance or financial services
Strong technical thought leadership with excellent communication skills to drive forward change agenda with non-technical senior stakeholders
Proven ability to establish relationships and partnerships with senior executives, divisional CEO/COO/CIOs
Building and inspiring a high-performing IT technical services team.
Leading talent acquisition, coaching, and career development initiatives, ensuring diversity, innovation, and technical excellence.
Deep knowledge of IT support and infrastructure
Resilient, inclusive leader with high integrity and accountability
Innovative continuous improvement mindset
Financial planning and budget management for Opex and Capex expenditures
Commercially focused
Progressive thinker staying up to date with new technologies
Strategic thinker with a pragmatic approach to execution.

Nice To Haves

PMP, CISSP, or equivalent credentials strongly preferred.
Cloud certifications (AWS, Azure, or GCP) desirable.

Responsibilities

Lead a team of IT professionals to deliver compliant IT infrastructure and support services to all users regionally.
Balance the competing priorities of the regions’ business units and country specific requirements, deploying resources in the most efficient way.
Maintain and promote awareness of emerging cyber security threats and the risks they pose to IT infrastructure and support services.
Support Group-led, strategic initiatives as they arise, for example the implementation of the new Target Operating Model for technical services and compliance readiness programmes including SOC2 and US SOX.
Build relationships in each business and entity served by the regional hub, ensure a deep understanding of the nuances of each business and their requirements while striving for consistent service delivery.
Be the go-to person for all businesses in the region, representing them into Group.
Ensure all resources within the hub have a shared understanding of the strategy for IT support and deliver with this in mind.
Be an active part of the technical services leadership team influencing strategy, governance and standards and driving adoption within the region.
Be the escalation point in the region for urgent requirements and issues.
Work with the business on demand planning, project requirements for the coming year, growth expectations so the infrastructure team can plan for the growth.
Play a key role in annual budgeting and forecasting, understanding the business needs and ensuring the Group IT teams are prepared.
Act as a trusted partner to the business making decisions to best support and balance the requirements of the region.
Facilitate the business region in the Architecture Review Board when a regional project is being presented and at Change Advisory boards to ensure the regional impact is considered or to support a change which is required for their region.
Build and inspire a high-performing IT technical services team where required.
Lead talent acquisition, coaching, and career development initiatives, ensuring diversity, innovation, and technical excellence.
Have and maintain relevant IT skills, be proficient in enterprise architecture methodologies and frameworks, as well as product development methodologies.
Be knowledgeable on various cloud, network, storage and security technologies, as well as cloud computing models and services particularly Microsoft technologies.
Experience with Supplier Performance Management including Contract Management
Demonstrable record of execution and delivery in a complex multi business line / product environment
Strong stakeholder management and influence
Deep knowledge of IT support and infrastructure
Resilient, inclusive leader with high integrity and accountability
Innovative continuous improvement mindset
Financial planning and budget management for Opex and Capex expenditures
Commercially focused
Progressive thinker staying up to date with new technologies
Strategic thinker with a pragmatic approach to execution.