IT Infrastructure & Operations - Head of APAC

The Economist Group is a global media and information-services company that exists to champion progress. We provide individuals and organisations with the expertise, insights and perspective to press forward.

Our Global IT team’s vision is to create an amazing employee experience, built on a modern, secure infrastructure, effective workspace tools and highly engaged, customer-focused support. As a technology and data driven business we recognise the key role outstanding IT professionals play in helping us achieve our goals.

We work with modern platforms AWS, Google Workspace, Atlassian Cloud. SaaS applications (Miro, Slack, ManageEngine) and security tools (Okta, Crowdstrike) to deliver a comprehensive technology service to our colleagues around the world.

The Opportunity

We are looking for a forward-thinking Manager of IT Operations & Infrastructure (APAC) to lead our high-performing team in India, Hong Kong and Singapore. You will oversee a modern, cloud-native ecosystem that powers our global collaboration. Supporting our APAC region, you will be the bridge between cutting-edge technology, AI-driven automation, and a seamless employee experience.

Your Core Mission

• Mentor: Act as a coach to a distributed team, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, technical excellence, and automation-first thinking.
• Modernise & automate: Lead the shift toward a modern workplace by leveraging AI-assisted tools and SaaS integrations to create a frictionless, self-service IT environment.
• Secure: Maintain a security first posture, ensuring our global standards are met across diverse regional requirements.
• Control: Technical debt, costs and the spread of shadow IT
• Optimise: Use Agile and Kanban methodologies to turn IT support into a high-velocity, data-driven service.

Key Accountabilities

• Regional Leadership: Supervise and mentor IT staff across India, Hong Kong, and Singapore, aligning local execution with global strategy.
• Cloud & SaaS Management: Full lifecycle ownership of our AWS environments and SaaS stack (ManageEngine, Atlassian, Google Workspace).
• AI & Process Innovation: Identify and implement AI-driven solutions (e.g., AIOps, LLM-powered service desk bots) and workflow automation (Zapier, Workato, or APIs) to eliminate manual toil.
• Operational Excellence: Run a world-class Service Desk, utilising predictive analytics and automation to improve incident resolution times and shift left support.
• Project Delivery: Plan and execute infrastructure projects on time and within budget, from discovery to implementation.
• Compliance & Policy: Develop IT procedures that meet regulatory best practice for system security and data privacy.
• Strategic Advisory: Partner with the Director of IT to identify tech trends and AI opportunities that will give the firm a competitive edge.

What You Bring (The Essentials)

• Proven Leadership: Extensive experience in managing technical teams and complex projects in an international setting.
• Hybrid Technology Stack: On premise infrastructure technology experience, plus a strong understanding of cloud services such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Security Mindset: Practical experience with Okta (Identity) and Crowdstrike (Endpoint).
• Efficiency Architect: A proven track record of using technology to "do more with less" by automating repetitive administrative tasks.
• Communication: The ability to influence stakeholders and present complex technical/AI roadmaps to technical & non-technical audiences.

What You Bring (The Nice to Haves)

• Exposure of China regulations: Direct experience navigating the technical and relationship complexities of operating within Mainland China.
• Delivery/Agile: Comfort working with Kanban or Scrum to manage workflows, infrastructure sprints, and process bottlenecks.

#LI-Hybrid