The Role's Purpose
The Head of IT at Plexal will be a strategic and hands-on IT lead who can evolve our technology function. This role is pivotal in ensuring the smooth operation of IT systems across our offices, co-working facilities and event spaces, while also supporting the digital needs of a growing team of approximately 100 employees. This role will combine technical expertise with leadership skills to deliver robust, secure, and scalable IT solutions that support business growth and innovation.
What You'll Do
IT Strategy & Leadership- Contribute to and be responsible for the implementation of the company’s tools and technology strategy.
- Lead and manage the IT team and external vendors.
- Oversee IT budgets, procurement, and asset management.
Infrastructure & Systems Management- Maintain and improve IT infrastructure across offices and event spaces (e.g., networking, AV systems, Wi-Fi, access control).
- Ensure high availability and performance of systems and services.
Employee IT Support- Oversee end-user support for hardware, software, and connectivity issues.
- Champion a positive IT support experience for all employees.
Cybersecurity & Compliance- Implement and monitor cybersecurity policies and practices.
- Ensure compliance with data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR).
- Conduct regular risk assessments and audits.
Tool Rollout, Maintenance & Development- Lead the implementation, integration, and ongoing development of business tools and platforms (e.g., Power BI, collaboration tools, workflow automation).
- Ensure tools are effectively adopted, maintained, and aligned with business needs.
- Provide training and support to teams to maximise tool usage and impact.
Project Management- Lead IT projects such as system upgrades, cloud migrations, and software rollouts.
- Collaborate cross-functionally to support digital transformation initiatives.
This role will likely require business travel across Plexal sites.You may be asked to undergo Security Clearance (min. requirement: British Citizen or min. of 5-year residency in country, no significant gaps out of UK). Pre-existing SC welcomed.
Why us?
Plexal’s Values:
Mission: We inherit the mission of UK government and deliver it in an agile and creative fashion.
Collaboration: We believe in the power of working together.
Equality: We strengthen ourselves as a team by embracing the different.
Care: People are at the heart of what we do; we care about our customers, members and colleagues.
As a start-up, we thrive in a dynamic and fast-paced work environment dedicated to empowering innovators. We embrace individuals who leverage technology and creativity to tackle our greatest challenges head-on. We strongly advocate for maintaining a harmonious work-life balance, our goal is to ensure every member of our team can authentically be themselves and live their best lives. We firmly believe that innovation and creativity flourish when we cultivate a diverse workforce, comprising highly skilled individuals with a wide range of perspectives to contribute.
In return we will offer you:
- Annual bonus scheme
- A generous pension scheme (with a company contribution of up to 10%)
- Private healthcare, life assurance and critical illness cover
- 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
- Volunteering day
Plexal is an equal opportunities employer and we actively encourage applicants from individuals from all backgrounds. We are a Disability Committed employer and are willing to make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.
About us
Plexal is the innovation company solving society's challenges through collaboration with government, startups and industry. The business is closing the gap between organisations – small and large, local and global, private and public – and working towards a common goal: using science and technology to deliver national security and prosperity. It was founded in 2017 as the innovation centre at Here East and is owned by clients of specialist real estate investment advisory company Delancey.
Providing bespoke consultancy services and state-of-the-art workspaces for over 1,000 innovators, Plexal sources the right partners from our ecosystem of 15,000 connections. It supports entrepreneurs, startups and scaleups building emerging technologies and operates across multiple sectors including cyber, healthcare, intelligence and defence, government, public safety, financial services and telecoms.
Expanding on its existing presence in London and Manchester, Plexal acquired a majority shareholding in Hub8 – the Cheltenham network of co-working spaces for cyber-tech, digital and creative startups and SMEs. This is part of an ongoing mission to build the UK’s most connected cyber ecosystem, with GCHQ’s more than 70-year heritage in Cheltenham.
Plexal delivers projects for key government departments and global tech companies including the National Cyber Security Centre, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Amazon Web Services and IBM. The NCSC For Startups alumni of over 60 companies has collectively raised over £430m and created over 700 jobs, while 72 cyber startups that have gone through Plexal’s LORCA accelerators have collectively raised over £300m, generated more than £68m in revenue and hired over 800 people.
