Senior IT & Operations Officer

Salary: £35,657 per year (FTE £39,000)
Working hours: 32 hours/week
Department: Commercial and Operations
Number of posts needed: 1
Location: Hybrid (75% office based, 25% home based)
Working Pattern: Monday to Friday
Reporting to: Chief Operations Officer
Contract: 18 months fixed-term
Application Closing Date: 4 June 2025

Our operations team is led by the Chief Operations Officer (COO) and includes the finance and bookings & venue teams. This is a newly created role that will report directly to the COO and work closely with the wider operations team.

Scope of role

The Senior IT & Operations Officer is responsible for leading the central coordination of IT operations, managing key relationships with two main contractors (IT and estate management), and ensuring seamless integration of IT infrastructure and estate management services. This role involves overseeing the effective and efficient functioning of both IT systems and estate operations for Toynbee Hall and Toynbee Trading, while prioritising the safety of staff and stakeholders on-site. The officer will proactively identify opportunities for improvement, resolve issues, and maintain a collaborative working environment to support business continuity, operational efficiency, and safety standards across all operational areas. Additionally, they will support the procurement of IT and estate-related items, such as IT kit, ensuring timely and cost-effective sourcing of required resources.

Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Information Technology & Systems

• Support the COO and wider SMT with all IT related strategy including procurement and streamline of new IT service provider/s. Including setting up KPIs’ and using these to assess performance.
• Manage the setup of new staff – including the procurement of equipment required for the role – this includes all communication tools.
• Managing the relationship and being the key point of contact with the technology suppliers and technology support providers.
• Identifying cost savings/efficiencies in the tech stack.
• Supporting IT KIT refresh plans and purchase, this includes audit of needs and vendor negotiations and lifecycle planning with the COO.
• Leading on regular assessment of IT and systems needs for all services and administrative staff.

Facilities, Health and Safety & General Administration

• Act as the main point of contact with our property management company. Work with the COO to escalate issues.
• Book in contractors and maintain all required documentation in conjunction with other key stake holders (property manager/agent).
• Be the escalation point for maintenance issues, liaising with the property management company to make sure that issues are dealt with in a satisfactory manner.
• Work with H&S consultants and property managers to ensure all relevant training is planned for and carried out and Risk assessments are being completed and used.
• Work with HR to ensure that all relevant training is planned for and carried out.
• Maintain records for all mandatory tests in conjunction with our property agents.
• Liaise with the Events and Venue Manager to ensure building management is always in place, keyholding, security etc.

Projects

• Manage ad hoc projects on behalf of the operations team; such as refurbishments, implementation of printer management.

General

• Building good working relationships across the organisation
• Representing Toynbee Hall to external audiences
• Developing an open and ‘critical friend’ dialogue within our programmatic work
• Undertaking any other appropriate responsibilities that may arise such as top up of franking machines, and general administrative orders as needed.

Managing Yourself

• Working toward an agreed annual work-plan meeting targets and milestones
• Prioritising and managing your workload
• Taking responsibility for your personal development and seek out opportunities for support and development
• Take part where appropriate in monitoring and evaluation planning and practice.

Essential Criteria:

• Project management experience.
• A high level of organisational skills.
• An ability to understand complex information and communicate it simply.
• Comfortable following processes and supporting other people to do so.
• Independent thought and attention to detail.
• High level expertise to use the Microsoft Office suite particularly Teams, Sharepoint, Excel and Outlook.
• A strong communicator with the ability to form trusting and supportive relationships quickly, internally and externally.
• Able to work proactively, independently and within a team.
• Able to work collaboratively with the wider teams at Toynbee Hall.
• Good negotiation skills.
• Basic level understanding of H&S, GDPR and confidentiality.
• Understand basic budget management and purchasing process.
• IT related qualifications and experience such as cyber security, Microsoft 365 suite skills.
• Good understanding of charity technology needs.

Please download the full Job Description for more details.

Our Benefits Package

We believe in supporting our employees with a well-rounded benefits package designed to enhance work-life balance, financial security, and overall well-being.

Annual Leave

• 25 days of annual leave, plus 3 additional days for our Christmas shutdown (on top of bank holidays).
• After 2 years: +3 extra days of leave.
• After 3 years: +1 additional day.
• After 5 years: A total of 30 days annual leave, plus the 3-day Christmas shutdown.

Pension

• Standard Life Pension Scheme – Employer contribution: 4%, Employee contribution: 5%

Additional Perks & Support

• Enhanced Sick Pay for peace of mind during illness
• Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Leave to support growing families
• Employee Eyecare Vouchers to support your vision health
• Employee Assistance Programme for free, confidential advice and support
• Mental Health First Aid to ensure workplace well-being
• Tenancy Deposit Scheme to help secure your home
• Interest-Free Season Ticket Loan for cost-effective commuting
• Cycle to Work Scheme to promote a healthier, greener way to travel
• Charity Mentoring Network to support professional development and networking

We’re committed to creating a supportive and rewarding work environment, because when our team thrives, we all succeed!

About Toynbee Hall

Based in the East End of London since 1884, Toynbee Hall is a charity working alongside people facing poverty, injustice, and inequality to build a fairer East London. We provide vital advice and support, working in partnership to tackle unfairness and ensure everyone has an equal chance to thrive.

We have recently launched a new strategic plan which reinforces that our purpose is to build a fairer future with an end to poverty, injustice and inequality.

We work towards this by:

• Addressing poverty and injustice through advice and support and influencing systemic change.
• Shifting power to people and communities affected by injustice and inequality.
• Collaborating to end poverty and build fairer systems and institutions. What we want to see in the world starts with our community and our organisation.

This means:

• Working together to build a thriving local community where people have the resources they need, feel their voices are heard and are optimistic about the future.
• Being a good employer, where people are treated fairly, feel engaged and empowered, and work together to achieve our shared vision.
• Acknowledging the role Toynbee Hall has historically played in civic society while recognising that our role now is to shift power, to be an effective partner, and to amplify voices that are less likely to be heard.

What we learn from our work in east London we use to inform and influence wider policy – working to influence change in structures, systems and policies.