Interim Head of Infrastructure

London (Hybrid) | 3–4 Month Contract | up to £520 per day Inside IR35

Ashdown Group is seeking a technically strong Interim Head of Infrastructure to take ownership of global infrastructure operations and support a period of technology modernisation, consolidation and transformation within an international organisation.

You will lead infrastructure operations across UK and US environments, ensuring the stability, security and performance of the existing technology estate while delivering practical technical improvements.

This is a hands-on interim assignment, not a purely strategic leadership role. The successful contractor must be comfortable working at a technical level, assessing the existing environment, investigating complex infrastructure issues, shaping solutions and getting involved in implementation and troubleshooting where required.

Key responsibilities:

• Take hands-on technical ownership of infrastructure across cloud, networking, servers, storage, identity and end-user technology. Cisco Meraki

• Assess the existing infrastructure estate, identify risks and resolve technical and operational issues.

• Provide technical direction and contribute to the configuration, optimisation and improvement of Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Active Directory/Entra ID, Intune, Nutanix and networking environments.

• Support infrastructure consolidation, cloud modernisation, migration and post-acquisition integration.

• Review and improve infrastructure resilience, monitoring, patching, capacity management and disaster recovery.

• Lead and work alongside infrastructure engineers, managed service providers and offshore technical teams.

• Strengthen incident, problem, change and asset management processes, improving service performance and operational discipline.

• Provide clear technical recommendations, progress updates and risk reporting to senior IT stakeholders.

About you:

You will be an experienced infrastructure leader or senior technical infrastructure specialist who can combine strategic oversight with practical engineering expertise.

You will have a strong technical background across enterprise infrastructure, Microsoft cloud technologies, identity management, networking and virtualisation, alongside experience leading teams and third-party suppliers.

You must be comfortable getting into the technical detail, diagnosing complex issues, challenging existing configurations and driving improvements directly rather than relying solely on others to deliver the technical work.

Experience of infrastructure transformation, migration, consolidation or post-merger integration within a complex, fast-moving environment would be highly advantageous.

Qualifications & Certifications

Relevant professional qualifications are desirable, including:

• Microsoft certifications covering Azure administration, Microsoft 365 and enterprise administration.

• ITIL Foundation or Practitioner certification, demonstrating knowledge of IT service management best practices.

• Cisco networking certifications, such as CCNA or CCNP, or equivalent experience with enterprise networking technologies, including Cisco Meraki.

• Infrastructure and virtualisation qualifications covering server, storage and hypervisor technologies, including Nutanix or Hyper-V.

• CompTIA Network+ or equivalent networking and infrastructure qualifications.

Contract details

• Duration: 3–4 months.

• Day rate: £520 per day, Inside IR35.

• Location: London, hybrid working.