Farrow & Ball - IT Operations Support Lead, Wimborne, Dorset
We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced individual to join our IT team in Wimborne, as an IT Operations Support Lead. We are offering this position on a full time, permanent basis - working 5 days a week at our head office in Wimborne.
Farrow & Ball is a luxury British lifestyle brand that prides itself in creating richly pigmented paint and handcrafted wallpaper, using print methods dating back 300 years and the finest quality ingredients.
The unique Farrow & Ball look transforms modern and traditional homes, large and small, inside and out. Established in Dorset in 1946, we have grown over the last 80 years and now proudly have 60 showrooms worldwide with a global network of stockists.
The key to our success is the people behind the paint: from the team handcrafting each tin to showroom staff to support functions, our shared passion ensures customers have a positive, engaging experience at every stage of their journey with us.
The IT Operations Support Lead is responsible for overseeing the daily operation, stability, and performance of Farrow & Ball’s local IT infrastructure and services. This role is responsible for supporting, maintaining, and optimising the local IT infrastructure and end user environment and serves as the technical backbone for onsite operations - ensuring systems are reliable, secure, and performing at their best, and working closely with the central group IT teams. The role ensures that systems run efficiently, issues are resolved quickly, and IT services continually evolve to meet business needs. The ideal candidate has strong hands‑on technical skills, excellent communication abilities, and a proactive approach to problem‑solving.
What we expect from you as an IT Operations Support Lead
Key Responsibilities
Operational Support
* Oversee local day‑to‑day IT operations, ensuring high availability and performance of all IT services.
* Troubleshoot hardware, software, and network issues to restore services quickly
* Provide business continuity by ensuring that showroom technologies are maintained to a defined and robust standard to allow them to trade with customers effectively.
* Ensure operational tasks (patching, backups, system checks) are completed on schedule.
* Maintain system documentation, runbooks, asset inventories, and operational procedures.
Incident & Problem Management
* Lead the resolution of high priority incidents, acting as the escalation point for the local team.
* Perform root cause analysis and drive permanent fixes for recurring issues.
* Review and approve changes ensuring minimal business disruption.
Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement
* Work closely with central IT teams including Infrastructure, Service Desk, and Cybersecurity.
* Support local business teams during technical projects, deployments, and changes.
* Communicate clearly with users at all levels and provide training where appropriate.
* Drive collaboration across IT teams and act as the central point for operational communication.
Service Delivery & Continuous Improvement
* Ensure SLAs and KPIs are met, monitored, and regularly reported.
* Identify opportunities to improve system reliability, efficiency, and automation.
* Introduce best practices, promote standardisation, and champion process improvement initiatives.
* Collaborate with vendors to ensure successful delivery of support and maintenance services.
Security & Compliance
* Work with the security team to enforce policies, maintain compliance, and respond to security incidents.
* Ensure systems are patched, monitored, and maintained to security standards.
Project Involvement
* Work closely with the wider Digital team to deliver IT projects and upgrades.
* Provide operational readiness assessments and signoff for new services.
* Ensure seamless transition of new or updated systems into BAU support.
Key Attributes
Technical Skills
* Strong understanding of core IT infrastructure (servers, networks, cloud platforms, AD, M365, etc.).
* Experience with monitoring tools, automation, and ITSM platforms (e.g. ServiceNow).
* Good grasp of cyber security principles and operational best practices.
* Familiarity with virtualization, backup technologies, and patch management.
* Hands‑on experience dealing with a range of hardware from laptops/printers/IOS devices.
Leadership & Behavioural Skills
* Excellent communication, customer service, and problem‑solving skills
* Comfortable working in a matrix organisation
* Ability to remain calm and effective under pressure.
What you can expect from us
* 25 days’ annual leave (increasing with length of service) plus bank holidays
* Annual salary reviews, based on individual performance
* Enhanced Maternity and Paternity pay
* Generous staff discount on F&B products
* Access to our retail discounts platform
* Employee Assistance Programme with 24/7 support
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