IT Business Partner

The IT Business Partners serve as a strategic interface between the IT department and the University's business units, fostering collaborative relationships with the Colleges, Schools, Professional Service Departments, Institutes, and other entities. The role is responsible for establishing effective working relationships with the senior leadership and management teams across the business units and within University IT. As a member of the IT Senior Leadership Team, the role acts as a strategic partner to the Chief Digital Information Officer, IT Director, Assistant Directors, and Enterprise/IT architecture functions, and as an advisor to operation/delivery managers within University IT.

Each IT Business Partner will be allocated a portfolio of University business units, and will hold direct responsibility for their own strategic activity with their business units. You will build an understanding of the needs of these business units and proactively facilitate University IT's response to their specific requirements - looking at emerging digital/IT needs, support for digital transformation, technology strategies, and digital/IT enabled change. You will also advocate for the business units during the planning and development of IT service improvements, ensuring alignment with the University's strategic aims and helping to maximise value from IT services for the University.

The Business Partner team will collaborate on initiatives, share knowledge and their expertise to aid consistency in delivery as appropriate. The role holder will demonstrate strong initiative and superior communication skills, along with a proven record of delivering outstanding customer service, building relationships with senior stakeholders, supporting change initiatives, and developing robust business cases within complex matrix management environments., Strategic Alignment

• Lead collaborative engagement with business units to understand their strategic goals and operational priorities, ensuring that IT strategies and plans are fully aligned with the University's broader objectives and consistently support high-quality, customer-focused service delivery
• Act as a key communication channel - sharing information on what IT is delivering for the University and how these efforts address the needs of the business units in the wider University context.
• Serve as the IT representative for specific thematic strands - such as Education, Research and Digital Transformation, to help shape and influence organisational design and culture.

Define and maintain standards for the IT Business Partner function, ensuring appropriate of engagement, reporting, and service expectations across the institution.

• Provide regular reports to Colleges, Schools, and Professional Services on University IT performance, risks, issues, and opportunities for improvement.
• Proactively identify emerging needs within business units and advise IT service owners on future service requirements and prioritisation

Build Partnerships

• Lead the development of strong, influential relationships across the University and with external partners, commissioning and coordinating IT engagement to ensure high-quality, customer-focused support. Build confidence in University IT by driving collaborative value creation and ensuring that business needs are consistently and effectively met.
• Maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders including senior roles within Colleges and Professional Services, serving as a strategic partner and advocate for the business unit's interests within University IT.
• Support the planning and prioritisation of IT enabled works in collaboration with the respective business units.
• Lead and actively participate in external sector networks relating to Business Relationship Management, digital transformation, and IT strategy. Represent the University in discussions with peer institutions, suppliers, and sector bodies.
• Actively support and champion the University's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) initiatives, ensuring that digital planning, IT-enabled change, and stakeholder engagement reflect and promote inclusive practices across all business units.

Drive Value

• Identify opportunities to maximise organisational value from digital services and IT investments, including service optimisation, efficiency improvements, and innovation. Provide a structured channel for feedback about IT service delivery, ensuring it aligns with business needs, functioning as an escalation contact when required to facilitate appropriate resolutions.
• Provide senior-level, complex advice to influence decisions relating to IT-enabled change, including advising on service design, service level agreements, solution options, IT investment prioritisation, business case development, and risk assessment.
• Advise senior academic and professional services leaders on emerging digital capabilities, shaping strategic and operational decision-making., * Act as an IT representative on various strategic or business-led programmes and projects.
• Support prioritisation of IT-enabled initiatives by contributing to project briefs, business cases, impact assessments, and resource planning
• Provide matrix leadership to technical and service delivery teams to ensure IT initiatives meet the needs of aligned business units. Influence resource allocation, prioritisation, and delivery approaches to support successful outcomes.

Sector Awareness

• Gain insight on the challenges confronting the sector and the university. Build capacity to review emerging trends and strategies that are being adopted across the sector, using these insights to inform organisational discussions and initiatives.
• Contribute to data-driven prioritisation and decision-making processes.

Supplier Awareness

• Maintain awareness of supplier offerings and wider market capabilities relevant to assigned business areas.
• Engage with suppliers as required to understand opportunities, constraints, and innovation paths.

Policy & Risk

• Provide input into the development of IT service policies in the context of the business units.
• Identify, assess, and provide feedback on the risks inherent in the operation of business processes and any risks arising from planned IT-enabled change.

General Duties

• Ensure that an understanding of the importance of confidentiality is applied when undertaking all duties
• Abide by University policies on Health and Safety and Equality and Diversity
• To deputise for senior colleagues when required and perform other duties occasionally which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

1. Extensive experience in successfully managing senior business relationships within complex settings, with responsibility for facilitating engagement around IT-enabled or digital change initiatives.
2. A proven record of shaping, planning, and supporting the implementation of complex change at a senior level, with consistent success in project delivery and balancing conflicting demands.
3. Ability to evidence successful outcomes by identifying opportunities for new ways of working to affect business change.

Customer Service, Communication and Team Working

4. Proven ability to communicate complex issues and concepts in an appropriate way to both technical and non-technical audiences at all levels, verbally, through presentations and in clear written documents.
5. Able to broker relationships with stakeholders at all levels, demonstrating the sensitivities required to balance and resolve tensions when working with a wide range of contacts (internally and externally) to influence positive outcomes.
6. Highly capable of influencing others, making effective decisions and critical thinking, remaining resilient to setbacks, and working in a customer focused manner both as an individual and as part of a broader team.

Planning, Analysis and Problem solving

7. Ability to quickly master a brief on a broad range of complex issues, whilst working to tight or competing deadlines and capable of applying existing frameworks and operating where none exist.
8. Able to analyse and interpret data and trends, develop strategic proposals, business cases, problem statements, project briefs, and business plans.
9. Able to operate on own initiative and recognising boundaries for escalation. Capable of leading an outcome focused group of technical specialists to deliver shared objectives., 10. A relevant degree or professional qualification or appropriate experience in a comparable role collaborating with senior stakeholders on complex initiatives.
10. Direct University IT experience and/or other public sector experience, ideally with some non-public sector exposure.
11. Evidence of continual professional development and deployment of relevant professional skills.
12. Fluency in Welsh, written and oral.

Salary: £61,759 - £67,468 per annum (Grade 8). Appointment to roles within Cardiff University as at bottom of scale except in exceptional circumstances

The post is full-time and open ended.

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We therefore welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements., Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.