Job Ref: 1336427

Some technology leadership roles are about inheriting a function and keeping it moving.

This one is about helping shape what comes next.

Affecto is partnering with a substantial, privately owned food manufacturing business in West Yorkshire on the appointment of a Head of Technology to lead the next stage of its technology and data journey.

We’ve spent time with the leadership team understanding why this hire matters, what they want the business to become and where the opportunity genuinely sits.

It’s a successful, operationally complex business with strong foundations, ambitious leadership and a real willingness to invest where there is a clear case for doing so.

What makes the opportunity particularly interesting is that the business isn’t starting from the same place everywhere.

Some parts of the operation are already highly advanced, with significant investment in automation, specialist equipment and technology. Elsewhere, there is still work to do in the way information is captured, systems connect, reporting works and technology supports the people running the business.

That gap is a big part of the opportunity.

The business now wants someone who can understand the environment properly, work out where technology and data can make the biggest difference, and then help turn that into something practical.

The role

This is broader than a conventional Head of IT position.

There is an existing technology capability to lead and develop, and getting the fundamentals right will matter. The business wants stronger structure, clearer priorities, greater confidence in delivery and a technology function that works well for the people relying on it.

But that is only part of the brief.

Data sits right at the centre of where the business wants to go next.

There is already a significant amount of information being captured across the operation, but not all of it is connected, structured or used as effectively as it could be. One of the early challenges will be building a proper picture of what exists, where it sits, how reliable it is and how it can be turned into better reporting and better decisions.

Beyond that, the remit opens up considerably.

You’ll help the business think about systems, integrations, cyber resilience, automation, process improvement and where AI can genuinely add value.

There isn’t a predetermined technology roadmap waiting to be delivered.

Part of the reason this position exists is because the business wants someone capable of helping create it.

What you'll be walking into

This is a hands-on operational environment.

It isn’t a highly polished corporate technology function where everything has already been standardised, documented and neatly packaged.

And that is precisely why the role has substance.

You’ll be working with people who understand their operation exceptionally well, including stakeholders who have spent many years building the business and know their areas inside out.

The challenge isn’t to arrive and tell them everything needs changing.

It is to understand what works, ask good questions, earn credibility and identify where a different approach could genuinely make things better.

Sometimes that may mean relatively simple improvements to systems, reporting or day-to-day technology.

Sometimes it could mean a much bigger conversation about data, automation, machinery or the way an operational process works.

The business wants someone who is curious enough to look for those opportunities and experienced enough to judge which ones are actually worth pursuing.

What we’re looking for

Your background could come from food manufacturing, wider manufacturing, engineering, industrial, logistics, distribution or another operational environment where technology has to work in the real world.

You do not need to have spent your whole career in food.

In fact, experience from a more technologically mature environment could be particularly useful if you can bring those ideas into a different setting without assuming that what worked elsewhere can simply be copied across.

You’ll need enough technical depth to be credible across areas such as systems, infrastructure, integrations, data and cyber, but this isn’t a role for someone who wants to spend most of their time doing the technical work themselves.

The bigger requirement is judgement.

You need to be able to work out what matters, lead people well, challenge constructively and translate technology into language that makes sense to operational and commercial colleagues.

You’ll probably recognise yourself in several of these:

• You’ve led technology or IT in an operational business where reliability and delivery really matter.
• You’ve improved a function rather than simply inherited one that was already working perfectly.
• You understand the difference between having lots of data and actually being a data-led business.
• You’re comfortable moving between technical detail and senior business conversations.
• You know how to challenge established ways of working without alienating the people who understand them best.
• You can see practical applications for automation and AI without feeling the need to attach them to everything.
• You enjoy a broad brief where some of the answer still needs figuring out.

You may already be operating at Head of Technology, Head of IT or Technology Director level.

Equally, you may be one step below that in a substantial environment and ready for a broader mandate.

We’re more interested in whether you can carry the brief than whether your current job title matches it exactly.

Why consider it?

Because there is something meaningful to build.

The leadership team understands the importance of the appointment and wants technology to play a much bigger role in how the organisation develops.

There is already serious operational capability to work with rather than a blank sheet of paper. There is investment appetite where the case is strong. There are obvious areas for improvement, but also less obvious opportunities that the successful person will have the freedom to uncover.

You’ll have the chance to influence how a substantial business captures information, makes decisions, invests in technology and thinks about future capability.

And, if you do it well, the difference should be visible.

Not just in the technology function, but in the way the wider business operates.

Interested?

Get in touch with me for a confidential conversation - I can talk you through the business, the people behind the appointment, why the role has been created and what they are genuinely looking to achieve.

From there, you can decide whether it is worth exploring properly.

For full details, email Daniel Koseoglu: daniel@affecto.co.uk or call 0114 399 3699.