Head of IT

St Thomas Catholic Academies Trust, Luton, LU4 0PF

20 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  asap

• Closing date

  16 July 2026 at 11:59pm

• Date listed

  26 June 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • IT support
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full-time equivalent salary: £63,868.07 - £66,448.34 Annually (Actual)

Head of IT job summary

St Thomas Catholic Academies Trust

Job Description

Purpose of the role

The Head of IT leads the Trust’s IT service and is responsible for the technology that supports teaching, learning and operations across the Trust. Reporting to the Chief Operations Officer and working closely with the Executive team, the postholder provides the strategic direction and operational leadership of the IT function, ensuring that systems are secure, reliable and used well, and that the service continues to develop to meet the needs of pupils, staff and the Trust.

The Head of IT leads the central IT team and works in partnership with school leaders to provide a consistent service across the Trust. The role brings together responsibility for day-to-day service delivery with leadership of the Trust’s longer-term technology development.

Main responsibilitiesLeadership and strategy

With the COO and Executive team, provide input into and deliver the Trust’s IT strategy and roadmap, aligned to the Trust’s priorities, curriculum needs and operational requirements.

Provide professional leadership of the IT function across all schools and central teams, acting as the Trust’s senior adviser on technology.

Contribute to wider Trust planning and provide advice and assurance to leaders and trustees on IT matters.

Maintain clear architecture and standards for the Trust’s systems and infrastructure, supporting consistency and value across schools.

Service delivery and user support

Develop a secure, effective and consistent IT service for staff and pupils across all schools.

Maintain a clear route into the service, with effective logging, prioritisation and resolution of incidents and requests.

Oversee on-site and remote support, balancing responsiveness with planned and preventative work.

Define and maintain the scope of the IT service and the standards of service that schools can expect.

Infrastructure, networks and platforms

Oversee the reliability, security and management of the Trust’s networks, servers, cloud platforms and end-user devices as a single trust-wide estate.

Ensure infrastructure and platforms meet relevant standards, including the DfE Digital and Technology Standards.

Lead the planning and delivery of strategic technology projects, including the consolidation, standardisation and modernisation of systems and platforms.

Hold responsibility for the technical platforms, identity and hosting that underpin the Trust’s management information and data systems.

Oversee support for the digital aspects of operational technologies, such as access control and CCTV.

Information security and resilience

Maintain appropriate technical security controls, filtering and monitoring across the Trust, meeting the DfE Cyber Security Standards and the Trust’s risk and insurance requirements.

Maintain effective backup, disaster recovery and incident response arrangements, linked to the Trust’s business continuity planning.

Provide assurance to the COO and the Trust’s governance functions on the security and resilience of the IT estate.

Service management and improvement

Develop and maintain effective service management practices, including change management, asset and configuration management, knowledge management and service reporting.

Use performance information to monitor the service, identify trends and support continual improvement.

Manage the integration of schools joining the Trust into the IT service.

Team leadership and development

Lead, structure and develop the IT team, setting objectives and managing performance.

Build capability across the team, including specialist skills and early-careers and apprenticeship pathways.

Support the continuity and resilience of the service through staff development, knowledge sharing and succession planning.

Resource and financial management

Manage the IT budget with the COO and CFO, securing value for money across staffing, contracts and licensing.

Procure and manage external suppliers and partners, including specialist and escalation support, against agreed standards.

Maintain effective procurement and contract management across the IT function.

Relationships and communication

Build effective working relationships between the IT service, school leaders and central teams.

Communicate clearly about services and changes and maintain routes for schools to inform technology decisions.

Work with the Trust’s data and governance functions to support effective information management and compliance.

Scope and boundaries

Information governance and Data Protection Officer responsibilities sit within the Trust’s governance function, independently of the IT service. The postholder is responsible for the technical security and data-protection measures that support compliance.

Functional ownership of management information, data and statutory returns sits within the Trust’s data function. The postholder is responsible for the technical platforms on which these depend.

General

Uphold and promote the Catholic ethos, mission and values of the Trust.

Comply with all relevant safeguarding, health and safety, data protection and financial regulations and policies.

Promote equality of opportunity and inclusive practice.

Carry out other reasonable duties appropriate to the grade and purpose of the post. This job description will be reviewed periodically and may be amended following consultation to reflect the changing needs of the Trust.

Further information about the job

The candidate will be required to undergo a full enhanced DBS check and must be eligible to work in the UK.

Visas cannot be sponsored.

If you're interested in teaching or training to teach in England as an international citizen, we can help you understand your next steps.

Commitment to safeguarding

Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment.

Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance.

Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant):
childcare disqualification
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
medical
online and social media
prohibition from teaching
right to work
satisfactory references
suitability to work with children

You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.

Applying for the job

This school accepts applications through their own website, where you may also find more information about this job.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

About St Thomas Catholic Academies Trust

• Type: Multi-academy trust
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/st-thomas-catholic-academies-trust

The directors of St Thomas Catholic Academies Trust (STCAT), are seeking a new Chief Executive Officer (Strategic Executive Leader) to build upon the excellent foundations already in place.

STCAT was formed with eight schools in 2020, and the planned expectation is that three more Diocesan schools in Luton and Slough will join in the near future to form a Trust of twenty schools.

Our new CEO (SEL) will have a strong track record and demonstrable leadership skills, as well as the drive and passion to take on this exceptional opportunity to lead STCAT and its schools in the next stage of the journey.

We hope you find the attached candidate information pack useful in understanding our Trust and the position of CEO (SEL), and encourages you to get in touch to find out more.

To have a confidential conversation about the position please contact our retained consultant Ross Laird at Academicis on 07901 585959 or via email at rlaird@academicis.co.uk.

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