Head of IT

Role Description

The Head of IT leads a team of four professionals towards a high-quality IT environment in an ambitious international organisation. The IT team is a part of the Administrative Division, providing the EFTA Secretariat and the Financial Mechanism Office (FMO) with internal services. The IT team is responsible for providing services to about 170 end-users in Brussels, Geneva and Luxembourg.

As the successful candidate, you will lead the IT services, ensuring that the organisation’s IT needs are always met. The Head of IT is expected to take the initiative to further develop and integrate IT solutions to improve business processes. You need to have the leadership capacity and experience to provide forward-thinking and concrete strategic advice on the optimal use of IT, as well as for daily operations. That way, you will be a key counterpart to directors, line managers and all staff, who share the ambition to provide the Members States with excellent service.

As the Head of IT, you will have the following responsibilities:

• Lead and motivate the IT Unit, ensuring daily operations and user support;
• Plan and develop the IT infrastructure and strategy;
• Information security
• Manage the IT budget process;
• Give strategic advice on the optimal use of IT;
• Manage business relationships with external service providers;
• Manage IT projects;
• Application management of the records management system;
• Ensure system and network security.

Essential Skills

• University degree relevant for the position, masters level or equivalent;
• Excellent knowledge of IT infrastructure, vendor management, developing IT strategies and business plans;
• Very good knowledge of IT Service Management and ITIL or COBIT best practices;
• Knowledge of Microsoft Cloud technologies, including Azure and O365;
• Proven leadership skills;
• Structured, pragmatic and analytical organisational skills;
• Budgeting, planning and managing relevant resources;
• Comfortable in leading complex change projects with conflict potential;
• Pro-active attitude and the ability to work both independently and in a multi-disciplinary team in an international environment;
• Sense of responsibility, discretion, trust and respect;
• Ability to work under pressure, multitask and step into frontline work when needed;
• Flexibility and service-minded attitude;
• Excellent oral and written command of English, the working language of EFTA.

Ideal Skills

• Successful experience in a similar role;
• Application management of document management and case handling system;
• Experience with and understanding of Microsoft Windows Servers and network architecture;
• Interpersonal and storytelling skills are very important.

Employment Terms

Grade: A5 – Senior Officer 
Annual starting salary: EUR 115.843

Appointments are normally made at the first step of the grade. The Secretary-General reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a level different from that advertised. Through its recruitment policy, the EFTA Secretariat wants to ensure diversity in terms of gender, age and culture.

EFTA is an international organisation and the salaries and related payments are normally exempt from income taxation by the EFTA Member States and in the host states of the EFTA duty stations. Depending on the candidate’s family status, benefits and allowances may apply.

Applicants must be nationals of one of the EFTA Member States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland).

Applicants must apply via the EFTA e-recruitment tool. Please note that only applications received via our web tool will be considered.

For further information on this post, please contact:

Mr Sverrir Jonsson, Director of Administration, [email protected], tel. +32 2 286 17 39
Ms Inga Hanna Gudmundsdottir, Head of HR, [email protected], tel. +32 2 286 17 06
Technical issues: HR Support, [email protected]

Deadline for application: 4 September 2022