Head of IT

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernmental organisation working for the promotion of free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its four Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

The EFTA Secretariat provides services to the EFTA States and has offices in Geneva, Brussels and Luxemburg. The Headquarters in Geneva serves the EFTA Council and supplies services for policy development, negotiations and implementation of free trade and cooperation agreements with countries outside the European Union. The Brussels office supports the management of the EEA Agreement and assists the Member States in elaborating input to EU decision making. EFTA’s Luxembourg office contributes to the development of the European Statistical System.

Applicants must be nationals of one of the EFTA Member States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland).

Role Description
The Head of IT leads a team of four professionals towards a high-quality IT environment in an ambitious international organisation. The IT team is a part of the Administrative Division, providing the EFTA Secretariat and the Financial Mechanism Office (FMO) with internal services. The IT team is responsible for providing services to about 170 end-users in Brussels, Geneva and Luxembourg.

As the successful candidate, you will lead the IT services, ensuring that the organisation’s IT needs are always met. The Head of IT is expected to take the initiative to further develop and integrate IT solutions to improve business processes. You need to have the leadership capacity and experience to provide forward-thinking and concrete strategic advice on the optimal use of IT, as well as for daily operations. That way, you will be a key counterpart to directors, line managers and all staff, who share the ambition to provide the Members States with excellent service.

As the Head of IT, you will have the following responsibilities:

• Lead and motivate the IT Unit, ensuring daily operations and user support;
• Plan and develop the IT infrastructure and strategy;
• Information security
• Manage the IT budget process;
• Give strategic advice on the optimal use of IT;
• Manage business relationships with external service providers;
• Manage IT projects;
• Application management of the records management system;
• Ensure system and network security.

Essential Skills
– University degree relevant for the position, masters level or equivalent;
– Excellent knowledge of IT infrastructure, vendor management, developing IT strategies and business plans;
– Very good knowledge of IT Service Management and ITIL or COBIT best practices;
– Knowledge of Microsoft Cloud technologies, including Azure and O365;
– Proven leadership skills;
– Structured, pragmatic and analytical organisational skills;
– Budgeting, planning and managing relevant resources;
– Comfortable in leading complex change projects with conflict potential;
– Pro-active attitude and the ability to work both independently and in a multi-disciplinary team in an international environment;
– Sense of responsibility, discretion, trust and respect;
– Ability to work under pressure, multitask and step into frontline work when needed;
– Flexibility and service-minded attitude;
– Excellent oral and written command of English, the working language of EFTA.

Ideal Skills
– Successful experience in a similar role;
– Application management of document management and case handling system;
– Experience with and understanding of Microsoft Windows Servers and network architecture;
– Interpersonal and storytelling skills are very important.