Interim Head of IT Infrastructure

SRI Executive Search has been contracted by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to assist with the search for an exceptional candidate to fill the position of Head of Digital Backbone/Interim Head of IT Infrastructure.

About the Forest Stewardship Council International (FSC)

FSC® is trusted by NGOs, businesses, and consumers worldwide to protect healthy, resilient forests for all, forever.

The Forest Stewardship Council runs the world’s leading forest certification system and works to mitigate the climate and biodiversity crises by advancing sustainable forest management worldwide.

Currently, over 160 million hectares and 70,000+ organizations are certified to our standards.

Our mission is to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests.

For more information, please visit: https://fsc.org/en/about-us.

Role Purpose

We are looking for an engaged Head of Digital Backbone/Interim Head of IT Infrastructure who brings solid expertise and a passion for FSC’s mission, to work with us in a multinational environment.

Are you inspired by the challenge of building resilient, high‐performing digital foundations that keep an organization running securely and efficiently? As the Head of Digital Backbone/Interim Head of IT Infrastructure at the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), you will lead the teams responsible for shaping and operating core IT infrastructure, incidents, cloud services, and enterprise platforms. You will drive reliability, standardization, and technical excellence across complex environments, ensuring seamless operations and future‐ready capabilities. Your leadership will strengthen critical IT services, elevate operational resilience, and empower functions with stable, scalable digital systems. Join us in shaping the backbone of our digital enterprise and play a pivotal role in enabling sustainable innovation and organizational growth!

Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Independent and cross-team planning, management, and monitoring of all activities related to IT infrastructure development, technical administration and maintenance, technical operations and IT service management.
• Holistic design, implementation, and continuous improvement of IT operational processes for the collaboration of multiple functional teams, including the leadership of programme managers and regular reporting to the Technology leadership.
• Process integration with adjacent IT domains and other IT‐relevant departments across the organization, in collaboration with the respective leadership teams.
• Cross-functional coordination and subject matter support in the design, implementation, analysis, and optimization of administration and maintenance procedures to ensure efficient system operations.
• Support for enforcing security policies and procedures for operating systems.
• Cross-functional coordination, professional support, and final approval in the development of design and implementation standards, as well as the initiation and overall leadership of measures to improve architecture and standardization in infrastructure environments.
• Representation of the department in all relevant working groups, committees, and steering committees, including active participation in the Change Advisory Board (CABs) in support of the IT change management process.

Profile

• A successfully completed university or university of applied sciences degree with a focus on computer science, business informatics, administrative informatics, (industrial) engineering, IT management, business administration with a minor in computer science, or equivalent knowledge and experience.
• Solid knowledge in (multi-)provider management, sourcing, and SIAM, preferably supported by certifications, as well as expert knowledge in lifecycle management of strategic partnerships, business relationship management, and stakeholder management.
• Strong analytical skills and an understanding of process-oriented interdependencies.
• Strong knowledge of IT infrastructure architecture standards, modeling standards for IT architectures, and enterprise architecture frameworks.
• Good knowledge of IT applications, IT infrastructure, and service delivery, especially monitoring, backup/restore, and automation procedures, as well as virtualization environments.
• Several years of professional experience in the design, implementation, and operation of IT infrastructures.
• Knowledge in networking, Active Directory, virtualization, operating system and database administration, and information security.
• Extensive knowledge in IT infrastructure.
• Experience in infrastructure design and management.
• Proven leadership and management capabilities.
• 10+ years of experience in managing an IT operations unit.

What FSC Offers

• Benefit from cross-cultural collaboration and networking opportunities by being part of FSC global community of 400+ forest stewards.
• Benefit from work-life balance with our hybrid working structure.
• 30 vacation days yearly.
• Regional transportation ticket.
• Celebrate together festivals from different cultures.
• Once a year in-person get together with the global FSC staff.

Terms of Appointment

• Working Hours: Full time – 40 hours per week.
• Duration of Employment: Depends on the contractual situation.
• Starting date: As soon as possible.
• Travel: Sporadic travel is required.

Role Location

Bonn, Germany

How to Apply

To apply for this position, please ensure you click Apply and complete the Application Form by 31 July 2026 (23:59 hrs, GMT +2). It is essential that you submit your CV in English, specifically in Microsoft Word format (.doc/.docx), not exceeding 10MB.

Applications in other languages or formats will not be considered.

Rest assured, all information will be handled with the utmost confidentiality.