UK

United Kingdom · Technology and data · Director/VP (16-20 years)

VP of Global IT Operations

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  • Experience bandDirector/VP (16-20 years)
  • Direct reports5-8 reports
  • Reports toChief Information Officer (CIO)
  • UK framework levelUsually a director, accountable for a division and its numbers

Also advertised as Director of Global Infrastructure · Head of IT Operations (Global) · VP, Infrastructure & Operations

Built on 43,079 real UK job descriptions we analysed · grounded in what real qualifications cover

Two short quizzes about you

1From this job to a course

The qualifications matched to this job

OTHM Level 5 Diploma in Project Management OTHM Qualifications · Level 5 · covers 1 of 4 standards
NOCN Level 5 Diploma in Computer Engineering (IT Infrastructure) NOCN · Level 5 · covers 1 of 4 standards
Highfield Level 5 Diploma in Operations Management Highfield Qualifications · Level 5 · covers 1 of 4 standards

Matched from the standards this job is measured against: a suggestion, not an official ruling.

The units you would start with

Managing and Improving Operations NOCN Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Leadership of Performance and Productivity
Digital Business Practices OTHM Level 5 Diploma in Project Management
Operations Management in a Workplace Setting NOCN Level 5 Diploma in Computer Engineering (Information Technology and Data Science)
Project Implementation Highfield Level 5 Diploma in Operations Management

The future skills this job leans on

Data Fluency turning numbers into a decision
Automation Fluency building AI into how work runs
Sustainability Fluency building care for people and planet into the work
Systems Fluency seeing the whole picture
Trust Fluency keeping the digital world safe
Your Plan Illustration

Built for VP of Global IT Operations

4 units that map to this job, from the qualifications that cover it.

  1. Managing and Improving Operations NOCN · covers 1 of 4 standards Level 7
  2. Digital Business Practices OTHM Qualifications · covers 1 of 4 standards Level 5
  3. Operations Management in a Workplace Setting NOCN · covers 1 of 4 standards Level 5
  4. Project Implementation Highfield Qualifications · covers 1 of 4 standards Level 5
These are the real units behind this job, in the order they rank for it. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

2AI and this work

Will AI change your work as a VP of Global IT Operations?

Nobody can say exactly how. Here is what this job is being asked for next, and where to start.

The new skills this role is being asked for

  • Advanced AIOps & Predictive Operations
  • Edge Computing Operations Strategy
Why each one is rising

The future skills this job leans on

We'll only ever tell you what we can actually back up. No hype, no scare tactics.

What happens when you start

Next, a free account. We build your VP of Global IT Operations plan as you set up, starting with the free Automation Fluency module. No card.

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3What this role really is

A VP of Global IT Operations manages the strategy behind an organisation's IT infrastructure, keeping systems running across every region.

4What you'd actually use

The tools this job runs on, and how well you'd need to know each one.

ServiceNow (ITSM Platform) Strategic/Architect

Defining the platform's strategic roadmap, negotiating enterprise licence agreements (ELAs), and integrating modules like GRC/SecOps to drive organisational efficiency and compliance. You'll ensure it's a core enabler, not just a ticketing system.

AWS/Azure/GCP (Cloud Providers) Strategic/Architect

Developing and executing our multi-cloud strategy, negotiating enterprise discounts and private pricing with providers, managing region selection for data sovereignty, and high-level capacity planning across our global footprint.

Datadog (Observability Platform) Strategic/Architect

Owning the entire observability strategy, managing platform costs, evaluating new tools (e.g., Honeycomb, New Relic), and defining business-level SLOs. You'll ensure we have complete visibility into our global systems.

Ansible/Terraform (IaC/Automation) Strategic/Architect

Mandating Infrastructure as Code (IaC) adoption across all teams, setting organisational standards for automation, choosing the strategic toolset, and measuring 'toil reduction' across the entire operations function.

Okta (Identity Management) Strategic/Architect

Defining the enterprise identity and access strategy (e.g., Zero Trust), managing critical vendor relationships, and ensuring compliance with regulations like SOX and GDPR related to identity and access.

Anaplan (Financial Planning) Strategic/Architect

Building, defending, and managing the entire multi-million pound global IT Operations budget. This includes modelling Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for cloud vs. on-prem and presenting detailed variance analysis to the CFO.

Diligent/BoardVantage (Board Reporting) Advanced

Preparing and presenting quarterly slides on uptime, security posture, major project status, and strategic initiatives to the board's technology committee. This requires clear, concise, and impactful communication.

5What you get to decide, and how that grows

Power in a job isn't your title. It's what you're allowed to decide. Here's how it grows as you move up.

The choiceComing in Where you are nowThe step above
Global IT Operations Strategy N/A N/A N/A
IT Operations Budget Allocation N/A N/A N/A
Major Vendor Contract Negotiation N/A N/A N/A
Organisational Design & Hiring (IT Ops) N/A N/A N/A
Response to P1 Global Incidents N/A N/A N/A

6How you'll be judged

The scoreboard, and what is not on it. The hard targets, how often each is actually looked at, and the quiet signals that never reach a dashboard.

System Availability (Tier-1 Services)
The percentage of time our most critical, customer-facing systems are operational and accessible.
Target · Achieve and maintain 99.99% ('four nines') uptime for all tier-1 services.

If a critical service has 4 minutes of downtime in a month, that's 99.991% availability. Your job is to keep that number high, even as we scale.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Reduction
Reducing the overall cost of running our global IT infrastructure, including cloud spend, licensing, and hardware.
Target · Reduce infrastructure unit cost by 15% year-on-year, without compromising reliability.

Identifying and implementing a strategy that cuts our cloud spend by £2M annually while improving service delivery.

Cloud Spend vs. Budget Variance
How closely actual cloud expenditure aligns with the approved budget.
Target · Maintain less than 5% variance on our multi-million pound global cloud budget.

If the Q1 cloud budget was £5M, actual spend must be between £4.75M and £5.25M. Anything outside that range needs a clear explanation and action plan.

Mean Time To Recovery (MTTR) for P1 Incidents
The average time it takes to restore service after a Priority 1 (critical) incident.
Target · Reduce global MTTR for P1 incidents from 45 minutes to under 20 minutes.

After a major outage, getting services back online in 15 minutes instead of an hour. This means having robust runbooks, automation, and quick decision-making.

IT Ops Employee Engagement & Retention
The satisfaction and stability of your global IT Operations team.
Target · Improve team satisfaction scores by 10% and reduce voluntary attrition by 5% year-on-year.

Implementing career development programmes and improving work-life balance initiatives that lead to a happier, more stable team, reducing the need for constant recruitment.

Strategic Influence & Partnership
Your ability to shape the broader technology and business strategy, not just react to it.
  • You're regularly invited to C-suite strategic planning sessions. Product and Engineering VPs proactively seek your input on new initiatives. Your recommendations on infrastructure investments are consistently adopted. You're seen as a trusted advisor, not just an executor.
Operational Resilience & Security Posture
The overall strength and adaptability of our systems against disruptions and threats.
  • Successful, no-fault disaster recovery drills. Minimal impact from major external security events (e.g., zero-day exploits). Positive feedback from internal and external security audits. Proactive identification and remediation of systemic risks, not just reactive fixes.
Global Vendor & Partner Relationship Management
The effectiveness of our relationships with key technology suppliers and service providers.
  • Achieving favourable terms in major contract renewals. Vendors are responsive and committed to our success. You're seen as a fair but firm negotiator who gets the best for the company. There are no nasty surprises in vendor performance or billing.
Culture of Continuous Improvement
Fostering an environment where the team constantly seeks to optimise processes, automate toil, and learn from incidents.
  • A high volume of blameless post-mortems leading to tangible improvements. Increased adoption of automation across the team. Engineers are actively proposing and implementing new tools and methodologies. Your team is seen as innovative and forward-thinking.

7Would you like it

Both sides. What people enjoy, and what grinds them down.

What people enjoy
Strategic Impact & Business Enablement

You'll get a real kick out of seeing your infrastructure strategy directly enable a new product launch or a major market expansion. Knowing that your team's reliability allows the business to innovate freely is a huge driver.

Successfully rolling out a new global cloud region that reduces latency for customers in a key growth market, directly contributing to increased sales and market share.

Problem Solving at Scale

You're energised by tackling complex, multi-faceted operational challenges – think global outages, massive cost overruns, or integrating a newly acquired company's messy tech stack. The bigger the puzzle, the better.

Designing and implementing a new AIOps platform that reduces P1 incidents by 50% across a global estate, solving a persistent reliability challenge.

Building High-Performing Global Teams

You love mentoring leaders, fostering a culture of excellence, and seeing your team members grow and succeed. Building a truly world-class, distributed operations team is a core satisfaction.

Developing a leadership programme for your managers that results in higher team engagement scores and a clear talent pipeline for future roles.

What frustrates people
  • The constant battle between reducing infrastructure budget by 15% and simultaneously being held to 99.99% uptime SLAs.
  • The politics of 'No' – having to be the bad guy who says no to developers wanting root access or business units wanting to bypass security for speed.
  • Post-acquisition chaos: trying to merge wildly different networks, security policies, and tech stacks from a newly acquired company.
  • The sheer volume of 'urgent' requests that derail your strategic plans, only to be deprioritised a day later.
  • Dealing with legacy systems that are critical but undocumented, unstable, and impossible to replace quickly.
What this role does not give you
  • A predictable, low-stress daily routine.
  • Complete autonomy without significant financial or security oversight.
  • A role where you can avoid difficult conversations or tough decisions.
  • A quiet environment free from urgent, high-stakes incidents.

8Who you work with

This role directly shapes our ability to operate globally, impacting every employee and customer interaction with our technology. You'll be the one making sure our systems can handle growth, that our data is safe, and that we're getting the best value for our significant IT spend. Frankly, without solid IT Operations, the business grinds to a halt. Your decisions here have a multi-million pound impact on our bottom line and our market reputation.

Inside the business
  • C-Suite (CEO, CFO, CTO, CISO)
  • Regional Business Unit Leaders
  • Product & Engineering VPs
  • Finance Leadership
  • Legal & Compliance Teams
Outside the business
  • Major Cloud Providers (AWS, Azure, GCP)
  • Key Technology Vendors (ServiceNow, Okta, Datadog)
  • External Auditors & Regulators
  • Industry Peers & Technology Forums

9What you need before you start

Not a wish list. The things you would be expected to already have.

  • Proven track record of leading large, geographically dispersed IT Operations teams (25+ people, including managers) for at least 5 years.
  • Extensive experience managing multi-million pound IT infrastructure budgets (£2M+), demonstrating significant cost optimisation achievements.
  • Demonstrated success in driving major IT transformation programmes (e.g., cloud migration, SRE adoption) from strategy to execution.
  • Experience presenting complex technical and operational information to C-suite executives and Board members, with a clear focus on business impact.
  • Deep understanding of modern cloud architectures (AWS, Azure, GCP) and hybrid environments, including cost management and security best practices.

10What to practise next

Where the job is going, and what to do about it starting this week.

Quantum Computing Readiness Strategy

While still nascent, quantum computing has the potential to break current encryption standards and solve problems intractable for classical computers. As a VP, you need to understand its long-term implications for our security posture, data processing, and competitive advantage, and start planning for its eventual impact.

Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) · Quantum-Safe Architectures · Quantum Computing as a Service (QCaaS)

  • This quarter: Read introductory materials on quantum computing and its impact on cryptography.
  • Next 6 months: Engage with our CISO and security architects to discuss a preliminary PQC readiness assessment.
  • Next 12 months: Develop a high-level strategic roadmap for addressing quantum risks and opportunities within IT Operations.
  • Ongoing: Monitor industry developments and engage with experts in the quantum space.

Quick win: Initiate a discussion with your security team about the current state of post-quantum cryptography standards and what it means for our long-term data protection strategy.

Sustainable IT Operations (GreenOps)

Organisations are increasingly under pressure from regulators, investors, and customers to reduce their environmental footprint. As a VP, you'll be responsible for driving initiatives that make our IT operations more energy-efficient and sustainable, impacting everything from data centre choices to cloud resource optimisation.

Carbon Footprint Measurement for IT · Cloud Sustainability Optimisation · Circular Economy Principles in IT · Renewable Energy Sourcing for Data Centres

  • This quarter: Conduct an initial assessment of our current IT operations' carbon footprint.
  • Next 6 months: Develop a 'GreenOps' initiative plan, identifying key areas for energy reduction and waste minimisation.
  • Next 12 months: Set measurable targets for reducing our IT carbon footprint and integrate them into our operational KPIs.
  • Ongoing: Collaborate with procurement and facilities teams to source more sustainable IT hardware and services.

Quick win: Start by optimising cloud resource usage – identifying and shutting down idle instances, rightsizing VMs – which has both cost and environmental benefits.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Regularly attend industry conferences (e.g., AWS re:Invent, Microsoft Ignite, Gartner IT Symposium) to stay abreast of emerging technologies and trends.
  • Participate in executive leadership programmes or peer groups (e.g., CIO forums) to hone strategic leadership and networking skills.
  • Engage in continuous learning through online courses (Coursera, edX) in areas like AI/ML for operations, advanced cloud architecture, or cybersecurity.
  • Mentor junior leaders within the organisation, giving back your experience and developing future talent.
  • Contribute to industry thought leadership through speaking engagements, articles, or whitepapers, positioning yourself and the company as innovators.

12The rising capability

The rising capability

Zavmo analysis

What's rising in its place

This is where the work is heading, and the higher pay with it. Get fluent here and the shift stops being a threat and starts being your edge.

Advanced AIOps & Predictive Operations

The sheer volume and complexity of operational data (logs, metrics, traces) make manual analysis impossible. AIOps is moving beyond simple anomaly detection to truly predictive capabilities, preventing incidents before they impact customers and optimising resource allocation automatically.

  • Multi-Variate Anomaly Detection
  • Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Automation
  • Self-Healing Infrastructure
  • Predictive Capacity Planning

Edge Computing Operations Strategy

As more data is generated and processed closer to the source (IoT, retail branches, manufacturing floors), managing these distributed 'edge' environments becomes a critical operational challenge. You'll need a strategy for deploying, managing, and securing infrastructure far from central data centres.

  • Distributed Cloud Architectures
  • Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP)
  • Edge Security Models
  • Data Synchronisation & Management at the Edge

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • ITIL v4 Framework
  • SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) Principles
  • Cloud FinOps
  • Zero Trust Security Architecture
  • Disaster Recovery (DR) & Business Continuity Planning (BCP)
  • Global Vendor & Contract Management

14The pathway

The pathway

How you actually get there, here

How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.

  1. 1

    Lead Infrastructure Engineer / IT Operations Manager (Level 4)

    Moving from this to VP usually takes another 8-12 years, assuming you take on increasing scope and leadership responsibilities.

    Skills to master

    • Deepen your strategic thinking beyond project delivery, develop strong financial acumen, master executive communication, and build a track record of leading managers, not just individual contributors.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully led a major global infrastructure project end-to-end, demonstrating strategic impact.
    • Managed a team of 10+ engineers and consistently exceeded operational KPIs.
    • Presented effectively to senior leadership, influencing key technical decisions.
    • Demonstrated strong vendor management and negotiation skills for significant contracts.
  2. 2

    Principal Architect / Senior Manager, IT Operations (Level 5)

    From this level, it's typically 4-8 years to reach VP, focusing on expanding your functional ownership and strategic influence.

    Skills to master

    • Transition from managing a function to owning a business unit's operational strategy. Develop board-level communication skills, master P&L management, and drive multi-year transformation programmes. You'll need to think like a business leader, not just a tech leader.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Owned the strategy and budget for a major IT Operations function (e.g., Cloud Ops, Networking) with clear, measurable success.
    • Successfully built and led a team of managers, demonstrating strong talent development.
    • Consistently delivered on strategic objectives, impacting the wider organisation.
    • Acted as a trusted advisor to senior executives on complex operational challenges.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This role can lead to a Chief Digital Officer position, a board or non-executive director role, or work as a technology advisor or consultant.

The ten Future Fluencies

Zavmo analysis

The credential is what you can do today. These are what keep you valuable.

A qualification proves you can do the job as it's defined today. These ten are what decide whether you're still the obvious person for it in five years. They're the capabilities employers are now writing into senior roles faster than people are learning them. Zavmo weaves them through whatever you study, so you come out with both: the credential and the fluency.

The highlighted ones are the Fluencies your role leans on hardest, from how VP of Global IT Operations is actually changing.

Where it leads

Roles this leads to

Also named as a next step, with no page in the catalogue yet:

  • Chief Technology Officer (CTO) - Infrastructure Focus

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from Managing and Improving Operations, worked against VP of Global IT Operations.

Managing and Improving Operations Level 7

Applied to your work in VP of Global IT Operations

This unit aims to provide learners with knowledge of the procedures involved in analysing process operations and evaluating them to identify areas for performance improvement. Learners will understand the impact of measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and how they contribute to overall performance enhancement.

How the thinking builds
  1. 1 Remember
  2. 2 Understand
  3. 3 Apply
  4. 4 Analyse
  5. 5 Evaluate
  6. 6 Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time.

See Your Progress Grow Illustration
VP of Global IT Operations
  • ITIL v4 Framework
  • SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) Principles
  • Cloud FinOps
  • Zero Trust Security Architecture
  • Disaster Recovery (DR) & Business Continuity Planning (BCP)
  • Global Vendor & Contract Management
This is your Mind Palace on learn.zavmo.ai. Every skill above comes from this role's own record, not an example borrowed from another job. A node lights up when you evidence it, and what you build stays yours between jobs. That is the part a course cannot do.

16The detail, folded away

Everything else the record holds

The career branches in full, how AI is already showing up in the day-to-day, and the questions people ask about this job. Here when you want them, out of the way while you decide.

Where it leads next, rung by rung

Where it leads

The career path, and where it branches

VP of Global IT Operations is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. Chief Information Officer (CIO)

    Roughly 3-5 years from VP, depending on organisational size and opportunity.

    This is a significant jump to C-suite, owning the entire company's technology strategy, not just operations.

    • Defining and driving the overall corporate technology vision.
    • Managing relationships with the executive board and external stakeholders (investors, regulators).
    • Leading large-scale organisational change across all technology functions.
    • M&A strategy and execution at an enterprise level.

  2. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) - Infrastructure Focus

    Similar timeframe, 3-5 years, often in larger, more tech-centric organisations.

    C-suite role, focused on the overarching technology vision and innovation for the company's core products/services.

    • Setting the technical architecture standards for the entire product portfolio.
    • Evaluating and integrating cutting-edge technologies into the product roadmap.
    • Leading large engineering organisations focused on product delivery.
    • Representing the company's technical vision to the market and investor community.
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be real, as a VP of Global IT Operations, your time is precious. You should be shaping strategy, not drowning in operational noise. AI isn't here to replace you; it's here to supercharge your effectiveness, giving you back precious hours every week to focus on what truly matters.

Imagine having a co-pilot that helps you cut through incident chaos, predict budget overruns, and even draft your board reports. That's the reality of AI in modern IT Operations. We're investing heavily in these tools to give our leaders an unfair advantage.

Incident Correlation & Root Cause Analysis

Our AIOps platforms ingest thousands of alerts from servers, networks, and applications. AI correlates them in real-time to pinpoint the likely source of an outage, cutting through the noise. This means you get to the actual problem faster, reducing critical downtime.

Cloud Cost Anomaly Detection & Forecasting

AI models analyse our cloud usage patterns to detect anomalous spend in real-time – for example, a developer leaving a massive GPU instance running. It can also forecast future bills with far greater accuracy than simple trend lines, helping you stay within budget.

Predictive Infrastructure Failure & Capacity Planning

For both cloud and on-premise infrastructure, AI analyses performance metrics to predict when a server or storage array is likely to fail, allowing for proactive replacement. It also models usage trends to predict exactly when new capacity will be needed, preventing bottlenecks.

Automated Post-Mortem & Executive Summary Generation

AI can parse incident timelines from Slack channels, Jira tickets, and meeting transcripts to generate a first draft of a blameless post-mortem report. It can also summarise complex technical changes for a non-technical executive audience, saving you hours of writing.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a VP of Global IT Operations?

Common routes in include Lead Infrastructure Engineer / IT Operations Manager (Moving from this to VP usually takes another 8-12 years, assuming you take on increasing scope and leadership responsibilities.) and Principal Architect / Senior Manager, IT Operations (From this level, it's typically 4-8 years to reach VP, focusing on expanding your functional ownership and strategic influence.). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a VP of Global IT Operations progress to?

This role can lead on to Chief Information Officer (CIO) (Roughly 3-5 years from VP, depending on organisational size and opportunity.) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) - Infrastructure Focus (Similar timeframe, 3-5 years, often in larger, more tech-centric organisations.), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a VP of Global IT Operations?

Increasingly, Advanced AIOps & Predictive Operations and Edge Computing Operations Strategy. These are the skills our record of this role lists as growing.

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17Where to go from here

Other roles at Level 7

Same depth of qualification, different job. Useful if the work appeals but this particular role does not.

 More jobs in technology and data

Stay in the field you know and move sideways rather than up.
If you leave this industry

The skills built in this role apply across industries with a strong technology base, including FinTech, e-commerce, SaaS and manufacturing. Reliability, cost management and security matter in all of them.

This role profile is © 2026 Growth Engineering Technologies Ltd. Built from UK occupational standards and regulated qualification data, and written for Zavmo.

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