Head of Platform – ERP

Loughborough, Leicestershire
The Access group
Head of Platform – ERP Join the Access Family and see how we make software ideas become a reality!Our core value of Love Work, Love Life, Be You’ has been central to our success and so we’re looking for people to join us who share our passion for making things better every day and help us continue to grow. We are the number one UK headquartered software provider in the UK and are forecasted to grow to a global population of over 12,000 employees by 2026. What are we all about?At Access, we love software and how technology never stays the same. It’s this obsession that drives us to work closely across sectors to understand the business needs of our customers – from the Hospitality sector, to Manufacturing industry, to Not for Profit’s to Construction, and many more. We’re passionate about helping our customers stay one step ahead of the challenges facing their industry and business, currently helping over 60,000 customers to have the freedom to do more. About you:We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Head of Platform Engineering to lead our ERP Division’s infrastructure management efforts. In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for the comprehensive management of infrastructure, collaborating with both third-party providers and internal teams. Your influence over product engineering teams will be essential in extracting the utmost performance and value from the system, while also coordinating data centre moves and ensuring all teams are kept informed. Additionally, this role includes accountability for Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), ensuring high system reliability and efficient incident response.Day-to-day, you will:

• Infrastructure Management: Oversee and manage all aspects of the ERP Division’s infrastructure, encompassing both cloud-based and on-premises systems. Work in tandem with internal teams and third-party vendors to guarantee smooth operations and high availability.
• Performance Empowerment: Equip product engineering teams with the necessary tools, best practices, and guidance to enhance system performance, scalability, and efficiency. Collaborate closely with these teams to meet performance objectives.
• People Leadership: Manage and guide a team of platform and DevOps engineers, promoting their professional growth and development. Offer guidance, mentorship, and support to maintain a high-performing team.
• Cost Management: Formulate and execute cost management strategies for public cloud services (e.g., Azure) and internal infrastructure. Monitor expenditures, optimise resource utilisation, and ensure cost-efficient operations.
• Data Centre Coordination: Spearhead data centre relocations, expansions, or migrations. Strive for minimal service disruption during such activities, upholding data integrity and system uptime. Coordinate comprehensively with all pertinent teams for a seamless transition.
• Incident Management: Lead blameless post-mortems for any infrastructure incidents, focusing on root cause analysis and remedial actions. Collaborate with teams to implement corrective measures and prevent future occurrences.
• Influence Product Teams: Serve as a technical advisor and collaborator for product engineering teams, assisting them in making informed decisions regarding system architecture, scalability, and performance enhancements. Help to build a site reliability engineering culture.
• Infrastructure Strategy: Develop and implement a strategic roadmap for the ERP Division’s infrastructure, considering emerging technologies, scalability, security, and cost-efficiency.
• Vendor Management: Manage relationships with third-party infrastructure providers, negotiate contracts, and ensure service-level agreements (SLAs) are met. Continuously evaluate and optimise vendor performance and costs.
• Security and Compliance: Assure that the ERP Division’s infrastructure adheres to all relevant security and compliance standards. Establish and enforce best practices for data protection and cybersecurity.
• Reporting: Regularly report and update senior management and stakeholders.

• Your skills and experiences might also include:
• Experience in platform engineering, infrastructure management, or a similar leadership role within an ERP or enterprise-level environment.
• Proven track record of successfully managing infrastructure at scale, including both on-premises and Azure-based solutions.
• Strong expertise in data centre coordination, migration, and expansion projects.
• Extensive experience in empowering and collaborating with product engineering teams to optimize system performance and achieve business objectives.
• In depth knowledge of Windows (90% of estate) and Unix based (10% of estate)
• Comprehensive understanding of cybersecurity and compliance requirements relevant to SAAS systems.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills and the ability to make critical decisions under pressure.
• Strong vendor management and negotiation skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Relevant certifications (e.g., Azure Certified Solutions Architect, Certified Information Systems Security Professional) are a plus.

What does Access offer you?We are a growing software company, and we deliver on what we say we do! We take the development of our people very seriously and we will work with you to carve out your success plan and an opportunity to accelerate your career and make a real difference.On top of a competitive salary, our standard 25 days holiday (which goes up the longer you’re with us), and a matched pension scheme you’ll also be able to choose from a range of benefits to suit you. We pride ourselves on being an organisation that gives back so you’ll also have a charity day you can take to support something that matters to you.