IT Director

< >< > Our client is an international, privately held company operating in a data-driven digital environment. Headquartered in Geneva with teams across Europe, North America and Asia, the organisation is undergoing strong growth and product expansion. Technology plays a central role in enabling its strategy, innovation roadmap, and operational excellence. < >< > To support this growth, our client is strengthening its internal leadership team and is seeking an IT Director to own and drive the technology function end to end. < >< > The IT Director is responsible for defining, implementing, and operating the company's technology strategy in direct alignment with business objectives. This role provides leadership over software engineering, data engineering, infrastructure, and technical delivery, while ensuring scalability, reliability, and cost efficiency. < >< > This is a hands-on leadership position combining strategic ownership with operational execution. The IT Director owns the technical roadmap, ensures on-time and on-budget delivery, and puts in place best practices, documentation, and governance to guarantee long-term sustainability. < >< > The role acts as a key interface between executive management and operational teams, translating business, product, editorial, and commercial requirements into clear and executable technical solutions, while fostering strong cross-functional collaboration.Technology Delivery & Execution Own the end-to-end delivery of the company's technology platforms, systems, and internal IT organisation. Define realistic delivery timelines and ensure commitments are met. Identify and remove blockers impacting delivery velocity and quality. Provide regular status updates to executive management and stakeholders. Ensure quality, reliability, and security standards are met prior to production releases. Oversee UAT processes and ensure defects are properly tracked and resolved. Technology Planning & Business Alignment Translate business requirements and product specifications into actionable technical plans. Evaluate build vs. buy options and recommend the most effective solutions. Break down the technology roadmap into structured workstreams with effort, cost, and timeline estimates. Ensure technical plans are clearly communicated to non-technical stakeholders. Team Leadership & Management Lead and manage engineers, data engineers, and DevOps resources. Set clear objectives, deliverables, and accountability for team members. Conduct performance reviews and manage performance improvement when needed. Recruit, onboard, and structure the internal technology team to support both current and future needs. Ensure clear ownership, efficient workflows, and minimal duplication of effort. Vendor & Partner Management Manage relationships with external vendors, agencies, and contractors. Monitor delivery quality, timelines, and contractual compliance. Oversee transitions from external providers to internal teams where appropriate. Budget & Financial Ownership Prepare and own the IT and technology budget (headcount, cloud infrastructure, tools, vendors). Track and report spend against budget on a regular basis. Proactively identify risks, overruns, and optimisation opportunities. Ensure vendor contracts and renewals offer strong value for money. Cross-Functional Collaboration Work closely with product, editorial, and commercial teams to support business priorities. Act as a strategic partner to management on initiatives with a strong technology component. Ensure technology decisions support overall company objectives. Infrastructure, Security & Operations Oversee cloud infrastructure with a focus on reliability, security, and scalability. Establish and maintain modern DevOps and CI/CD practices. Ensure monitoring, incident response, and business continuity processes are in place. Drive automation to improve efficiency across the IT function. Product delivery IT Management < >< > Experience 7+ years in senior technology or IT leadership roles. Proven experience delivering complex digital products in fast-paced environments. Experience managing technology teams of 5-15 people. Strong background in vendor and partner management. Experience owning and managing technology budgets. Exposure to data-intensive, analytics-driven, or digital platforms is a strong asset. Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (GCP preferred or similar). Technical & Strategic Skills Strong understanding of modern software development practices, DevOps, and CI/CD. Ability to assess architecture, code quality, and technical trade-offs without being a daily coder. Solid understanding of cloud cost optimisation and infrastructure governance. Knowledge of data pipelines, APIs, and scalable system design. Ability to turn business needs into structured technical execution plans. Leadership & Communication Clear and effective communicator with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Results-oriented, accountable, and proactive in issue resolution. Strong organisational and prioritisation skills. Collaborative leadership style, comfortable working with diverse business functions. Startup environment.