Head of IT Operations

 

🏢 Company Overview ▪ Name: Dansk Skoleforening for Sydslesvig e.V. (Danish School Association of South Schleswig) ▪ Industry: Education / Non-profit Association ▪ HQ & Locations: HQ in Flensburg (DE); ~100 school & daycare sites across North-Western Schleswig-Holstein ▪ Founded / Size: ~1,850 employees ▪ Funding Stage: Non-profit, member- & state-funded (no commercial funding rounds) ▪ Core Business: Operation of Danish-language schools, kindergartens, and childcare facilities for the Danish minority in Schleswig-Holstein ▪ Mission & Vision: Prepare children & young people (ages 1–20) for life while promoting Danish language and culture in Germany ▪ Key Values: Educational purpose, Danish cultural heritage, inclusiveness, development & learning, work-life balance ▪ Culture & Work Environment: Flat hierarchies, first-name/“du” culture, open communication, supportive of training & language courses ▪ Unique Selling Points: Highly meaningful mission, bilingual work setting, non-profit stability, family-friendly hours, scenic coastal region 💼 Role Overview ▪ Job Title: Leiter IT-Betrieb (Head of IT Operations) ▪ Department / Team: Central IT – Operations & Service ▪ Reason for Hiring: Backfill / successor to previous IT Operations Lead ▪ Reports to: Leiter IT (Head of IT) ▪ Team Size: 8 System Administrators + 16 Service staff (Helpdesk, Hardware, Field) via Service Manager (~24 total) ▪ No. of Vacancies: 1 🌍 Location & Working Model ▪ Primary Location: Flensburg, Germany ▪ Remote / Hybrid / On-Site Policy: On-site with up to 1 day / week home office (no full remote) ▪ Travel Requirements: Minimal; occasional day trips to external sites (<5 %) using pool car 🎯 Key Responsibilities ▪ Ensure stable, secure 24 × 7 operation of all IT infrastructure, services & data centres ▪ Lead, coach and develop Operations & Service teams (≈24 staff) including incident & change management ▪ Prioritise and coordinate tasks, incidents and projects across network, server, client & cloud environments ▪ Oversee Microsoft-based on-prem estate (AD, Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, Hyper-V) and plan migration toward open-source / cloud stack for digital sovereignty ▪ Implement and monitor IT security policies, hardening, backup/DR and compliance requirements ▪ Manage vendors, licensing and support contracts; drive cost-efficient, compliant usage ▪ Act as deputy for Head of IT and key contact for management, schools & kindergartens on operational IT matters ✅ Ideal Candidate Profile Must-Haves: ▪ 10+ yrs experience in IT infrastructure / system administration with 3–5 yrs leadership responsibility ▪ Deep know-how in virtualisation (Hyper-V) and Microsoft server stack (AD, Exchange, SQL, SharePoint) ▪ Proven track record running data-centre operations & IT service processes (ITIL / ITSM) ▪ Fluency in Danish C1 and German C1 (or strong commitment to reach C1 Danish) ▪ Strong incident prioritisation & crisis management skills; security-minded ▪ Willing to work primarily on-site in Flensburg Nice-to-Haves: ▪ Experience with open-source / Linux-based infrastructure and cloud migrations for digital sovereignty ▪ Knowledge of education sector IT or public / non-profit environments ▪ Tools: Citrix, Navision / Business Central, SAGE HRNEXT, SysAid, MDM, firewall & monitoring suites Dealbreakers / Red Flags:

 

 

▪ Unwillingness to learn Danish or work on-site ▪ No leadership background in IT operations ▪ Inability to present clean criminal record (required for child-related organisation) Personality Traits: ▪ Structured & organised ▪ Compromise-oriented, open communicator ▪ Hands-on, service-minded leader ▪ High sense of responsibility & integrity 🎓 Experience & Education ▪ Experience: Minimum 10 years professional IT experience, senior/lead level ▪ Education: University degree not required ▪ Specific Tools/Technologies: Windows Server, AD, Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, Hyper-V, DNS/DHCP/VPN, Firewall, Backup, Monitoring, MDM, Microsoft 365, SysAid ITSM, IP Telephony, Navision/BC, SAGE HRNEXT 💶 Compensation ▪ Base Salary Range: €80,000 – €90,000 gross p.a. ▪ Variable/Bonus: None (0 %) 📄 Contract Details ▪ Contract Type: Permanent (unbefristet) ▪ Working Hours: 38.25 h / week (full time) ▪ Vacation Days: 30 days (31 from next calendar year) ▪ Probation Period: 6 months 🎁 Perks ▪ Purpose-driven non-profit mission impacting children’s education ▪ Work-life balance culture; limited overtime expectation ▪ Flat hierarchy, first-name culture, close-knit bilingual team ▪ Company-funded Danish language courses & professional development ▪ Pool cars for site visits; coastal living in attractive Flensburg region 🧭 Sourcing Guidance (Recruiter Enablement) ▪ Relevant Job Titles: IT Operations Manager, Head of IT Infrastructure, IT Service Manager, System Operations Lead, Leiter IT-Betrieb, IT Betriebsleiter ▪ Boolean Search Suggestion: ("IT Operations" OR "IT Infrastructure" OR "Betriebsleiter" OR "Leiter IT") AND (Virtualization OR Hyper-V) AND (Danish OR Dansk) AND (Flensburg OR Schleswig) ▪ Pitch Ideas for Candidate Outreach: ▪ Emphasise meaningful mission supporting 100+ Danish schools & kindergartens ▪ Highlight leadership autonomy & chance to shape full on-prem → open-source/cloud transformation ▪ Stress stable non-profit employer with strong work-life balance and 30+ vacation days ▪ Offer bilingual, flat Scandinavian-style culture and employer-paid Danish courses 📈 KPIs & Success Metrics ▪ System uptime / availability targets ▪ Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) for incidents ▪ User satisfaction / ticket SLA compliance ▪ Successful delivery of Microsoft-to-open-source migration milestones ▪ Compliance & security audit pass rate 🔎 Hiring Process ▪ Step 1 – 1st interview (culture & chemistry) with Head of IT + HR ▪ Step 2 – 2nd interview (technical deep dive & leadership fit) with wider IT management panel ▪ Step 3 – Offer contingent on clean background check & Betriebsrat approval (2-4 weeks turnaround)