Head of Strategic Operations (Technology)

Salary: £95,000 - 95,000 per year

Requirements:

• Significant experience operating at a senior level in technology leadership.
• A track record of shaping long-term technology direction in complex, multi-supplier environments.
• Experience working with a technology managed service provider (MSP) is advantageous.
• Experience challenging supplier strategies and influencing roadmap outcomes.
• Strong understanding of enterprise architecture principles and operational service models, without owning architectural governance.
• Experience operating in regulated or large-scale enterprise environments.
• Proven ability to act as a deputy or senior strategic adviser to executive leadership.
• Strong facilitation skills for strategic discussions and governance forums.
• Ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly to executive audiences.
• Ability to work across organisational boundaries without formal authority.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain a forward-looking 24–48 month technology horizon view for Technology Operations, identifying emerging risks, opportunities and market shifts that may affect our strategic position.
• Identify remedial actions and budget provision to mitigate risks, while identifying required change activity.
• Scan the external technology landscape and translate insights into structured options and strategic recommendations for our Technology Operations leadership team.
• Challenge and shape supplier roadmaps to align them with our enterprise technology direction and avoid dependency, stagnation or unmanaged lock-in.
• Ensure broader enterprise technology initiatives are understood and reflected in our retained Technology Operations strategy.
• Identify long-term technical debt, platform dependencies and strategic capability gaps, and recommend mitigation or investment options.
• Ensure Technology is onboarded and aligned with ITIL service design principles, including capacity, performance and availability.
• Understand our overall business strategy and create a Technology Operations strategy that supports our strategic goals.
• Translate strategic direction into influence across the retained organisation, embedding future-facing thinking in governance and decision-making.
• Act as deputy to the Technology Operations Director, providing leadership continuity and representing Technology Operations in strategic and cross-functional forums when required.
• Align Technology Operations with wider enterprise technology programmes and transformation initiatives, working beyond functional boundaries where required.
• Support the development of long-range technology positioning papers, investment cases and strategic narratives for executive decision-making.
• Build and maintain relationships across Group functions, business units and strategic suppliers to keep us externally informed and internally aligned.
• Promote disciplined innovation, structured optionality and evidence-based strategic thinking across Technology Operations.
• Assess strategic initiatives and emerging technology opportunities for value, feasibility, risk and organisational readiness.
• Provide clear insight and reporting on long-term technology trends and their potential operational, financial and regulatory implications.

Technologies:

• Support
• ITIL
• Embedded

More:

We are hiring a permanent Head of Strategic Operations (Technology), reporting to our Technology Operations Director. The salary is £85,000–£95,000, with a car allowance, and the role is hybrid, with ad-hoc attendance at our London and Folkestone offices in line with business needs. Our benefits include 25 days holiday plus bank holidays, the option to purchase up to five additional days, a pension matched up to 10%, an annual company performance-related bonus of up to 15%, a £4,800 annual car allowance, private medical insurance after one years service, life assurance at four times salary from joining, wellbeing support, colleague and family discounts, retail, travel and entertainment offers, enhanced maternity and paternity leave, grandparents leave, income protection and access to Saga Academy. We are the UKs specialist provider of products and services for people aged over 50, with a portfolio spanning cruises, holidays, insurance, personal finance products and Saga Magazine. We value customer service, inclusion, age inclusivity and multigenerational teams, and our values are Make it Happen, Do the Right Thing, Customer First, Excellence Every Day and Our People Make Us Special.

last updated 42 week of 2026