Modern Workplace Technology Manager - Corporate Communications Group

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Overview of the role
The Modern Workplace Technology Manager is responsible for supporting our international workforce and hybrid/agile way of working, leveraging industry leading co-creation and collaboration technologies. They will take ownership for the strategic development of desktop services and the management & implementation of our communication and collaboration systems, ensuring best practice and operational effectives across all areas of the business.

The Modern Workplace Technology Manager has the following key objectives and core responsibilities:
• To ensure that the desktop services function is fit for purpose throughout the
organisation, taking into account trends and the future requirements of the business
as well as providing an efficient and cost-effective operational service to staff.
• To define, create and implement the strategic framework of all internal and external IT communications & collaboration systems and software to ensure their effectiveness, security, scalability, flexibility, and continuity of operation.
The role is seen as 80% operational (40% SW/HW & 40% Microsoft 365 Support), with the balance focussing on leadership, management, and the strategic development of activities across the two main areas of responsibility.

Reporting Relationships
Reporting to: Director of Modern Workplace and Business Security
Direct Reports: EUS Analysts
Working closely with: Infrastructure & Security Teams and the rest of the Positive Change Group

Responsibilities
Strategic Direction
- Support the strategic development and operational effectiveness of technological peripherals, equipment, and the desktop environment. Implement and optimise DaaS solutions, ensuring their functionality aligns with end-user requirements and supports the organisation's objectives.
- Manage the IT asset and lifecycle process for the Group, including procurement, stock control, request fulfilment, maintenance, and disposal, ensuring alignment with the overarching strategy defined by the Director.
- Implement and maintain a communication framework to enhance collaboration and flexible working. Ensure the operational delivery of tools and technologies that support an agile workforce while adhering to security protocols.
- Execute the operational components of the Technology Plan, ensuring all deliverables meet established strategic goals and timelines while coordinating closely with cross-functional teams.
- Track and report on budgetary performance, providing accurate operational data to support strategic budget forecasting and minimising any discrepancies between forecast and actual expenditures.
- Maintain and update operational dashboards, tracking software licensing, budget utilisation, and other critical metrics, ensuring timely and accurate reporting to senior stakeholders.
- Identify and recommend emerging technology trends to improve operational efficiency and contribute to the continuous enhancement of modern workplace initiatives.

Operational Management
- Provide technical expertise and day-to-day leadership to the support team, ensuring analysts have the guidance, tools, and resources required to deliver exceptional service.
- Ensure the operational readiness and functionality of all key technological equipment, including laptops, desktops, printers, and copiers, coordinating maintenance and troubleshooting as needed.
- Document and implement communication software practices, ensuring processes are clear, accessible, and adhered to by all relevant stakeholders.
- Manage the IT support ticketing system lifecycle, ensuring tickets are tracked, prioritised, and resolved efficiently, with a focus on delivering excellent colleague satisfaction.
- Implement and manage AI-driven service desk solutions, such as chatbots and predictive issue resolution.
- Implement quality assurance procedures for incoming work requests, ensuring adherence to established standards and providing feedback to improve service delivery.
- Monitor and report Help Desk SLA performance, identifying opportunities for improvement and maintaining accountability for team metrics.
- Maintain and update documentation related to desktop configurations, deployments, support procedures, and change management to ensure clarity and operational consistency.
- Ensure adherence to internal work practices, optimising processes to meet operational efficiencies while aligning with ISO 27001 requirements under the guidance of the Director.
- Manage incident escalation processes, ensuring incidents are appropriately escalated and resolved in a timely manner, with regular updates provided to senior leadership.
- Identify and implement process improvements, including the use of scripting technologies (e.g., PowerShell) to enhance team efficiency and automation capabilities.
- Foster a proactive team culture, focusing on identifying and addressing potential challenges before they become issues, and maintaining a high standard of service delivery.

Communications systems
- Ensure operational readiness and functionality of communication tools and systems to support a secure and agile workforce.
- Implement and enforce secure remote working practices, following policies set by the Director, and ensure team compliance with secure mobile device and network management.
- Support AI-driven workplace tools, such as intelligent meeting assistants, automated document management, and smart collaboration platforms.
- Coordinate and deliver training programmes for communication systems/tools, ensuring staff can effectively use available technologies. Provide feedback to the Director on training needs or gaps.
- Maintain a central repository of training materials for communication systems, ensuring they are well-organised and accessible to staff.
- Monitor and report on communication system performance, addressing operational issues and user feedback to ensure services remain reliable and effective.

Provisioning/Monitoring/Measuring/Reporting
- Provision desktop components and manage deployment in alignment with established Standard Operating Environments (SOEs). Collaborate with the Senior Desktop Support Analyst to ensure smooth provisioning processes.
- Review and improve operational procedures, working with the team to identify inefficiencies and implement enhancements.
- Use AI tools to streamline IT workflows, automate software deployment, and enhance security monitoring.
- Track and maintain software licensing, ensuring compliance with established audit protocols and assisting the Director in optimising usage.
- Deliver operational reports on KPIs, providing insights into trends, risks, and areas for improvement. Ensure reports support strategic objectives outlined by the Director.
- Manage budgetary processes, including expenditure tracking, purchase order management, and reconciling monthly operational costs.

Team and Business Management
- Lead and support the IT support team, providing guidance to ensure operational excellence and high-quality service delivery.
- Collaborate across teams, ensuring effective communication to understand business needs and aligning IT operations with organisational objectives.
- Manage and deliver key projects, ensuring they align with the overarching strategy defined by the Director and are executed efficiently.
- Assist in succession planning, ensuring readiness for the timely replacement or upgrade of key desktop components.
- Administer software and support contract renewals, ensuring compliance and alignment with the organisation's renewal strategy.
Commercial Responsibility
- Assist in managing the IT budget, providing operational insights and detailed tracking to support the Director's strategic oversight. Ensure efficient use of allocated resources to achieve cost-effectiveness at the operational level.
- Maintain relationships with third-party vendors, ensuring service reliability and cost efficiency. Collaborate with the Director to escalate and negotiate high-value contracts when necessary.
- Support contract administration processes, ensuring all contracts are documented, reviewed, and executed in alignment with organisational standards and frameworks established by the Director.
- Manage day-to-day software and support contract renewals, ensuring timely processing and compliance. Provide operational insights to the Director to inform long-term contract strategies.
- Implement operational processes to track IT service ROI, identifying and suggesting incremental opportunities for cost savings or efficiency improvements under the guidance of the Director.
- Provide reporting and insights into IT expenditure and vendor performance, contributing to the organisation's broader cost-optimisation efforts.

Measures of Success
- Operational execution of the annual Modern Workplace Plan, ensuring timely implementation of key projects and initiatives.
- Less than 5% discrepancy between operational spend and approved budget, ensuring disciplined financial management at the tactical level.
- Monthly updates to the Executive Dashboard, tracking budget performance, licensing, security patching, and key operational metrics.
- Achieve efficiency gains and cost savings through improved work processes, automation, and technology-driven optimisations.
- 98% of IT support tickets responded to within the same day, with 90% resolution within three days, where feasible.
- Achieve high IT service satisfaction scores, maintaining a 95th percentile ranking in employee satisfaction surveys for IT support services.
- Meet all internal SLAs related to IT support, software, communication tools, and service provisioning.
- 100% compliance with security patching and workstation updates, ensuring a secure and resilient IT environment.
- All provisioning requests completed on schedule, with timely reporting on software and hardware deployment.
- Zero service disruptions due to unmonitored contract expirations, ensuring proactive contract and license management.
- No employee remains without a functional workstation for more than two hours, ensuring minimal productivity disruptions.
- Annual PDPs completed for all team members, with regular team meetings to manage workload, priorities, and ongoing professional development.
- Efficient team time management and resource allocation, ensuring balanced workloads and high operational performance.

Qualifications, experience & skills:

5+ years of commercial experience, including:
- Managing IT operations and service delivery, ensuring effective day-to-day management of IT support, infrastructure, and collaboration tools.
- Hands-on IT service management, with a strong understanding of ITIL frameworks and best practices.
- Supporting modern workplace technologies, including cloud-based collaboration tools, device management, and enterprise security solutions.
- Working with business leaders and IT teams to ensure alignment of IT services with organisational needs.
- Managing IT support functions, including overseeing help desk operations, ticketing systems, and IT asset management.
- Monitoring and maintaining IT infrastructure, including network services, email, hosting, and desktop environments.
- Supporting IT governance and compliance, implementing security and operational policies in line with company frameworks.
Technical Expertise:

2+ years of commercial experience in:
- Microsoft 365 and Azure AD administration, including access controls, security policies, and user management.
- Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, and Teams Administration, ensuring seamless communication and collaboration.
- Endpoint security and compliance, including device management via Microsoft InTune & Jamf
- PowerShell scripting for task automation, improving operational efficiency.
- Active Directory and Identity Management Solutions, ensuring secure authentication and access control.
- Security and compliance monitoring, assisting in audits and risk management processes.
Qualifications & Certifications:
- A degree (or equivalent) in IT or a related field.
- Additional certifications desirable, such as ITIL Foundation, Microsoft 365 Certified: Modern Desktop Administrator, or Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals.

About Us :

The Positive Change Group
Business is changing fast - shaped by AI, transparency and rising social expectations - and trust now decides who wins.
Positive Change Group brings together specialist agencies in reporting, culture and communications to help organisations build stronger, more connected stakeholder relationships - aligning what you say with what you do to drive performance, resilience and trust. Clients get deep specialist expertise with seamless access to wider Group capabilities as priorities evolve.

We're trusted partners to some of the world's leading organisations, delivering award-winning work that turns complex challenges into meaningful progress. By combining human insight with data and technology, we create intelligent stakeholder engagement that brings clarity, builds commitment and delivers measurable impact.
One partner across your stakeholders - practical, joined-up and built for what's next.

Join the people driving positive change:
Change starts with people. Our global teams bring together different disciplines, nationalities and perspectives, driven by a shared belief that business can be a force for good.
Guided by our Group Values - to learn and grow, go together, show respect, be courageous and deliver excellence - we bring these principles to life every day through our work and each other.
We call it The Changemaker Way: a culture built on trust, inclusion and doing what's right. It's how we learn, lead and grow - and make a difference that lasts.

Come join us !
Joining Black Sun and The Positive Change Group means becoming part of an inclusive, dynamic community where your talents are nurtured, and your career can thrive. With competitive salaries, hybrid working, and continuous professional development, you'll not only grow but also have the opportunity to make a difference every day, shaping the future of communications - and having fun along the way.

We pride ourselves on being committed to offering equal opportunities to all potential employees and have zero tolerance for discrimination. We foster a business culture where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best work and be relevant in a rapidly changing world. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds to apply and would encourage you to let us know if there are steps we can take to ensure that your recruitment process enables you to present yourself in a way that makes you comfortable.
For more information, please visit:
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www.positivechangegroup.com
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