Head of Digital Systems

Heatherwick Studio is a global team of 200 problem solvers dedicated to making the physical world around us better for everyone. We are practical inventors with no signature style. Our motivation is to design soulful and interesting places, led by human experience rather than any fixed dogma

We enjoy pushing the boundaries of what is considered possible. We achieve this by placing collaboration, trust, and teamwork at the heart of everything we do. We look for studio members who have the entrepreneurial spirit to make things happen, and who also take delight in sharing their knowledge and experience. We want self-reflective people who are committed to their own growth and who are unafraid to support the growth of others.

We expect all studio members to work together with honesty and integrity, and to have genuine care for each other. The studio is a creative community and it’s important to use that everyone feels they belong.  We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and all applicants will be considered without regard to ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, family or parental status, national origin, neurodiversity status or disability status.  We encourage all people from historically underrepresented backgrounds to apply. If you want any help with your application, please let us know. 

Job purpose

The studio is expanding its Digital Systems team due to growth in the size and complexity of the organisation. This newly created role will oversee the strategy, vision, plans, investments and activities of the studio’s Digital Systems (IT) team, It will ensure the studio’s digital environment is configured and supported to provide up-to-date, secure, flexible and efficient digital solutions, and lead the studio’s digital technology strategy, assessing current systems and processes and researching opportunities for innovation. This is a key role, providing leadership for the studio in a fast-paced, digitally diverse, intense, exciting and friendly environment.

 

Key responsibilities

Digital Strategy and Research:  Develop digital strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the studio’s operations, including leading digital innovation across the studio, balancing creative excellence with disciplined project leadership, and digital security requirements with the desired pace of change.   Work proactively with the studio’s Digital Design team to research and implement latest technologies in the design and architecture sector to provide best in class service to our clients.

Digital Infrastructure: Lead the team (in-house and external) managing the studio’s digital infrastructure, ensuring continuous internal and external network services with minimum downtime across multiple locations in London and overseas.  Increase the agility of the studio’s digital services through continued adaptation of virtualisation and cloud based services for disaster recovery, user workstations, servers and storage.   Improve the organisation, accuracy and consolidation of the studio’s digital business and design data storage. Identify security vulnerabilities and eliminate them with solutions that increase data security.  Increase the robustness and efficiency of our business continuity and disaster recovery systems.

 

Digital Operational Management: Lead the day to day operations of the studio’s digital systems, including:

• Software: continuous review of software to ensure that the core set of digital tools meet the requirements of the studio’s architects, designers and support staff, including digital solutions for design delivery such as immersive media and complex geometry tools.
• Hardware: lead the hardware strategy for studio members, including desktops, laptops, tablets, mobile devices, telephones and Audio Visual provision within the studio. Ensure all digital assets are proactively maintained throughout the product lifecycle.
• Policies, procedures and knowledge base: Develop and maintain the studio’s Digital System policies and procedures, including architecture, security, and disaster recovery, purchasing and service provision and ensure they are in line with overall studio objectives and with government legislation and industry requirements. Maintain up to date documentation via a knowledge base to ensure useful information is shared amongst all digital support staff.
• Capacity planning: work with the People team to ensure a full understanding of forecast demands on the studio’s digital systems.
• Physical space planning: Lead in planning and delivering digital requirements for new and existing studio spaces, including server rooms, structured cabling, desk set up and meeting room set up, including for overseas offices.

 

Digital Support: Manage the Digital Support team to process digital systems tickets raised by studio members in line with SLAs, producing regular reporting on tickets, identifying trends and proposing and implementing projects to solve underlying issues to reduce the number of tickets raised.

 

Studio-wide Collaboration: Collaborate with the Senior Leadership Team on cross-domain and studio-wide issues, representing the Digital Systems team vigorously and constructively in studio-wide decision making.  Communicate with studio members to ensure all parts of the studio use technology in the best ways possible. Ensure training and guidance for all new systems is provided and that implementation takes into account project and domain team workload and minimum interruption to the studio working time. Research, record, and negotiate the IT needs of each of the studio’s support teams (Finance, HR, Communications, Project Enabling, Operations, Commercial), providing relevant guidance/advice and recognising shared and recurring needs of strategic relevance.

 

Team Leadership: Be an inspirational leader, role model, mentor and coach to the Digital Systems team, supporting their continuous professional development and team wellbeing.  Ensure the team structure and skills are appropriate to support the studio’s current and future plans.  Lead regular team meetings and enable team training and workshops, creating a high performing, engaged team and collaborative culture with high quality internal customer service.

 

Budget and Supplier Management:  Be responsible for the Digital Systems budget by participating in the twice yearly budget and forecast process to map out expected costs of the studio’s digital systems, and managing the delivery within the approved budget.  Develop business case justifications and cost / benefit analysis for Digital Systems spending and initiatives. Negotiate and administer procurement, vendor, outsourcer, and consultant contracts and service agreements,  and manage suppliers to deliver in accordance with the expected standards of the studio.

 

Key relationships

The key relationships in this role are:

• Digital Systems team
• Managed service provider
• Digital Design team
• Senior Leadership Team
• Various third-party suppliers
• Project teams, including Project Leaders, Designers and Project support staff
• Support teams

Experience and skills

Experience

• Proven track record of successfully leading digital strategy and operations
• Experience in the design and architecture sector preferred
• Experience structuring, tasking, motivating, and coordinating multiple teams over diverse areas of scope
• Strong technical knowledge of desktop operating systems, including Windows and Mac OSX.
• Knowledge of hardware trends and specifications for high-performance 3D/VR modelling, rendering, and graphics design
• Experience in Cloud based and Hybrid Environments
• Experience in planning and delivering VDI/blade workstations infrastructures to remote thin/zero clients
• Strong technical knowledge of current network hardware, protocols, and standards.
• Experience in planning, developing and managing co-located IT environments and solutions for crossfirm data exchange and real-time collaboration, ideally in a BIM environment
• Strong experience in monitoring and planning storage and backup strategies
• Proven experience in IT infrastructure planning and development
• Experience in planning, developing, managing and monitoring cybersecurity and cyber resilience solutions and best practices (Firewalls, IPS, Anti-spam, anti-malware)
• In-depth knowledge of applicable data protection best practices and regulations.
• Extensive experience working in a team-oriented, collaborative environment.
• Strong experience in procurement and suppliers/contractors management
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Exchange and Office 365
• Extensive experience in monitoring/reporting/management solutions (e.g. Solarwinds, Nagios, KACE, SCCM, SCOM)
• Experience in designing and developing DR/BCP/HA solutions
• Strong understanding of project management principles.
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Skills

• Outstanding team leadership and management abilities
• Pragmatic, creative problem solver with “can-do” enthusiasm
• Analytical and graphical communication skills
• High tolerance for ambiguity
• Comfort with decision making that balances operational interests against other studio values and priorities
• Sense of humour and calm under pressure
• Taste for the unconventional and imaginative
• Passionate, positive, energetic, highly motivated, with an enquiring mind

 

Contract type

This is a permanent, full time role, based primarily in the studio premises in King’s Cross, London.  Flexibility in working hours is required where work may be required to take place at evenings or weekends.

 

Training and Continuing Professional Development

The studio aims to attract and develop the best talent and create a supportive environment in which studio members can learn and develop. Training is provided to increase technical skills and to address identified professional development needs.