Head of Architecture & Infrastructure (m/f/d)

IFCO Germany / IT

Head of Architecture & Infrastructure (m/f/d)

for our head office in 82049 Pullach near Munich (Germany)

To define and drive a coherent technical and solution architecture in line with IFCO’s business ambition as we progress through a multi-year transformation.

About us:

Acquired from Brambles in 2019 by a partnership of Triton and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), IFCO is the world’s leading supplier of Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs). Sustainability and the concept of the circular economy is at the core of our business model. Our Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) are meant to be shared and reused for a more sustainable supply chain. We have been doing this since 1992.

IFCO is commencing a major multi-year IT transformation programme involving several IT related initiatives ranging from Cloud transformation to significant uplift in Data/BI/Analytics, Sales & Operations Planning, Customer Relationship Management and core Corporate systems. To drive the future solution and technical architecture of IFCO we are looking to appoint a Head of Architecture & Infrastructure (m/f/d).

Key responsibilities:

• You own the overall IFCO business and solution architecture, including key architecture related decisions and integration between the systems through a middleware solution and interfaces to third party systems
• You lead the work of IFCO domain architects and architects from implementation partners. Set the direction and parameters according to which the solutions need to be designed, implemented and managed
• You ensure that the objective of maintaining a ‘core’ global template is achieved through the initial design of solutions and maintained throughout the implementation and rollout to the geographies
• You are responsible for maintaining design coherence, solution governance and robust change control throughout the transformation journey.
• You own the transition states and lead the work required to ensure they have minimal impact on business operations.
• You are responsible for keeping the core design knowledge within IFCO to remove dependency on any third party and maintain flexibility in switching providers if required
• You lead architectural impact assessments of proposed change requests, proactively propose alternative options to achieve the required business outcome
• You are responsible for ensuring that all necessary information, design documentation and other material is ready for solution governance gates and follows best practice; call out deviations early
• You analyse and resolve issues related to architecture, data, processes and integrations between systems
• You assist in preparing testing strategy approach for various new solutions
• You provide support to functional leads in understanding the solution design and potential decisions for their functional area, including advising on possible design options and trade-offs
• You provide key input to the Design Authority regarding all aspects of the business and solution design
• You proactively explore future trends and technology solutions; present back to the IFCO stakeholders the ones that IFCO should actively seek to exploit
• You lead the IT support team and provide necessary oversight and direction on an interim basis. The current IT infrastructure manager is expected to handle all day-to-day work.

We expect:

• You hold a university degree in business informatics, IT architecture, computer science, business administration with a focus on IT or comparable education
• You are a seasoned senior IT leader, with proven track record of managing technical and solution architecture through a major transformation
• You gained experience in setting direction and governance in IT and solution architecture as well as managing a solution governance and change request process
• You are skilled in solution delivery life-cycle: conception, design, development, testing and deployment; and experienced in influencing these phases from the architecture point of view
• You show experience in leading and managing architecture teams in order to achieve aligned views e.g. through an architecture working group
• You proof a track record of developing architecture roadmaps in line with the transformation journey
• You are experience in current development practices (like Agile) and show a breadth of experience on a varied technology landscape, managed and delivered in cloud-based solutions
• You know about various solution categories (e.g. customer facing portals, core ERP solutions, data warehouse / BI, integration platform) including cloud, ideally experienced in Microsoft based Cloud platform
• You are experienced in leading and working with teams in multiple locations and remotely
• You feel excited by latest technology developments and proactively look outside to propose new ideas
• You are fluent in English and German additional European languages i.e. Spanish are desirable

We offer:

• A workplace in a sustainable and crisis-proof industry
• Bright and modern offices
• Appreciation and respectful interaction in an international team
• Flat hierarchies and short decision-making paths
• Individual training opportunities
• Flexible working hours and the possibility to work mobile
• Free beverages
• Company gym
• Available parking space nearby
• Easy accessibility by public transport

Interested?

Please send your application, including your CV in English (mandatory) as well as your desired salary and your earliest possible date of joining to recruiting@ifco.com. We are looking forward to receiving your application.

IFCO MANAGEMENT GmbH |Zugspitzstr. 7 | D-82049 Pullach | Germany www.ifco.com