Head of ITSM / IT Operations – Freelance – Amsterdam
4 days per week on site, 1 day remote
€850-900 per day
Contract end the end of March 2027
Role summary
Lead the IT Service Management and IT Operations function, owning the end-to-end service lifecycle and operational resilience. This is a hands-on leadership role: not just maintaining process documentation, but making written processes match operational reality and driving their adoption across teams. The role carries direct accountability for regulatory compliance (notably DORA), audit readiness, and stakeholder alignment across technical and business functions.
Key responsibilities
- Own the ITSM/ITOps function — incident, problem, change, configuration, service request, and service-level management across the estate.
- Operational resilience & regulatory compliance — ensure the operation meets DORA obligations (ICT risk management, incident classification & reporting, resilience testing, third-party/ICT vendor risk, business continuity) and other applicable regulations.
- Process-to-reality alignment — critically review documented processes, close the gap between "what's written" and "what teams actually do," and drive the corrected processes into daily practice (not just publish them).
- Audit ownership — prepare for and lead internal/external audits and regulatory examinations; maintain evidence, remediate findings, and track corrective actions to closure.
- Strict regulatory control — establish and enforce controls, approvals, and governance gates; ensure traceability and demonstrable compliance.
- Stakeholder communication — act as the primary interface between IT operations and C-level business, risk, compliance, vendors, and senior leadership; translate technical status into business/regulatory language and vice versa.
- Continuous improvement & metrics — define and report on SLAs/KPIs, drive service quality, reduce incidents/MTTR, and mature the operating model.
- Team leadership — build, mentor, and manage the ITSM/ITOps team; set standards and accountability.
Must-have requirements
- Proven experience leading an ITSM and/or IT Operations function (team leadership / head-of-function level).
- ITIL expertise — strong practical command of the ITIL framework (v4 preferred); certification expected.
- DORA working knowledge — demonstrable understanding of Digital Operational Resilience Act requirements and how to operationalize them.
- Track record of regulatory compliance and strict control environments — designing, enforcing, and evidencing controls.
- Experience owning and passing audits (internal, external, and/or regulatory).
- Demonstrated ability to adapt written processes to operational reality and drive adoption — evidence of closing the doc-vs-practice gap, not just authoring policy.
- Excellent stakeholder management and communication — able to engage technical teams, business, risk/compliance, vendors, and executives.
- Comfortable operating in a highly regulated environment.
Technical / domain competencies
- ITSM tooling (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, or equivalent).
- Incident/change/problem management, CMDB, and service-level governance.
- Operational resilience concepts: BCP/DR, resilience testing, ICT third-party risk management.
- Risk & controls frameworks; audit evidence and remediation workflows.
Soft skills
- Decisive leadership with the influence to drive change across teams.
- Clear, credible communicator across technical and non-technical audiences.
- Pragmatic — balances rigorous control with operational practicality.
- Detail-oriented on compliance, with a bias for follow-through to closure.
Nice to have
- Financial services background (capital markets the best).
- Familiarity with adjacent regulations/frameworks (e.g., GDPR, ISO 20000, ISO 27001, NIS2, EBA guidelines).
- Additional certifications: ITIL Managing/Strategic Leader, ISO 20000/27001 auditor, COBIT, PRINCE2/PMP.
