It Manager

IT Manager, Manufacturing, Stoke to £55,000 A leading Engineering and manufacturing outfit are looking for an experienced, practical minded IT Manager to take ownership of their day-to-day technology environment. This is a broad, hands-on position covering cloud infrastructure, Microsoft 365, networking, cyber security, telephony, remote-working technology and technical support. You will be responsible for ensuring that systems remain secure, reliable, well documented and capable of supporting a growing workforce. Key Responsibilities IT Operations * Take day-to-day ownership of the company’s IT systems, infrastructure and technology services. * Ensure that systems are reliable, secure, appropriately monitored and available to users during operating hours. * Manage incidents from initial diagnosis through to resolution, including communication with senior stakeholders and third-party suppliers. * Establish appropriate service levels, escalation procedures and incident-management processes. * Provide senior-level technical support for complex or business-critical issues. * Maintain accurate system documentation, asset records, network diagrams, administrator-access records and operating procedures. * Manage user onboarding, role changes and offboarding, ensuring access is granted and removed securely. * Identify recurring support issues and implement permanent technical or process improvements. * Microsoft 365, Cyber Security and Compliance * Networking, Firewalls and Remote Access * Telephony and Contact-Centre Technology * Endpoint and Remote Monitoring * Suppliers, Projects and Continuous Improvement Experience and Skills Essential * Strong practical experience managing a Microsoft-based IT environment. * Strong experience administering Azure Virtual Desktop and FSLogix. * Strong Microsoft 365 administration experience, including SharePoint and OneDrive. * Experience managing networks, firewalls, VPNs and secure remote access. * Experience supporting business telephony platform. * Experience with remote monitoring and management software. * Experience supporting Cyber Essentials, penetration testing or similar compliance programmes. * Strong troubleshooting and root-cause-analysis skills. * Ability to manage suppliers and resolve escalated technical incidents. * Strong documentation, communication and organisational skills. Desirable * Microsoft certifications. * Cyber Essentials assessor, CISSP, CISM, CompTIA Security+ or similar security knowledge. * Experience with Microsoft Intune, Entra ID, Conditional Access and Microsoft Defender. * Experience with PowerShell or other automation tools. * Experience managing IT services for a geographically distributed workforce. * Experience producing disaster-recovery and business-continuity plans. * ITIL knowledge or experience working within a structured service-management environment