IT Asset and Contracts Manager

We have reimagined the way we deliver our University IT Services, building a world-class IT department responsive to the needs of our global community. We’re growing significantly and we’ve created new opportunities and made changes to how we work. Our people have been at the centre of this change, with a particular focus on development and opportunities to learn new skills.

Salary: Salary in the region of £40,000 per annum.

Closing Date: 20 October 2023

The Role

An exciting opportunity within the dynamic and ever-evolving IT Service awaits the right candidate. This is a busy, high-volume but friendly environment that will suit an organised person with a great eye for detail and plenty of team spirit.

As we begin our maturity journey within asset and inventory control, the successful candidate will manage the ‘as is’ process, whilst also leading the development, design, and implementation of a modern fit for purpose operating model that is compliant with recognised industry best practice and University policies. This is a unique opportunity to embed and develop a new and innovative approach within asset / inventory control within a specialist set of IT related product lines.

Reporting to the Supplier and Contracts Manager, you will be skilled in cross functional working within a range of different key stakeholder groups as well as having a wealth of experience in the management of multiple asset / inventory product lines in various disciplines to drive our maturity within this key operational area.

The successful candidate will be responsible for planning, implementing, and managing the IT hardware asset life cycle strategy, developing and delivering a high-quality asset / inventory management approach.

A passion for driving change, quality improvement, and efficiency identification will be critical to this role and will form a key component of how we measure success. Appreciation of the role and value of configuration management in an IT context would be an advantage, but, not essential.

The University is an exciting and dynamic place to work, dedicated to world-leading education and research. Benefits include excellent pension; flexible working options; a minimum of 37 days holiday (including public holidays); discounted travel for the Metro and local bus services; and discounts for national retailers. You can find out more on our benefits web page.

We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment and we would be happy to discuss arrangements for flexible and/or blended working.

Informal enquiries may be made to Dave Hartis, Supplier and Contracts Manager – dave.hartis@newcastle.ac.uk
 

Key Accountabilities

• Reporting to the Supplier and Contracts Manager the IT Asset and Contracts Manager is responsible for planning, implementing, and managing the IT hardware asset life cycle strategy
• Develop the service, delivering high quality asset / inventory management services to meet the requirements of the university. Maintain and develop an operating model that is compliant with recognised industry best practice and university policy
• Act as the IT Hardware Asset Management subject matter expert
• Liaison with key NUIT budget holders and users to agree requirements in accordance with policy
• Regular review / audit of the hardware inventory to ensure accurate and quality data is maintained in the system of record
• Identify opportunities for process improvement
• Managing hardware assets from cradle to grave. This includes, onboarding new hardware, maintaining asset management database, providing MI to management, offboarding hardware no longer in use
• Manage acquisition, deployment, utilisation, tracking, security, and final disposal of IT assets
• Define and provide monthly Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and IT asset management KPIs to demonstrate the increasing maturity and effectiveness of the process
• Responsible for the strategy of central configuration management including process and service mapping to ensure a strong CMDB powers our service management process and review
• Enhances existing approaches to hardware asset management and / or develops new approaches including the development of a fully converged CMDB including contributing toward the analysis, specification, design and implementation of best practice governance processes and procedures across NUIT to ensure that performance is consistent, effective and transparent
• As required, managing support contracts and renewals associated with hardware, ensuring details of finalised support (and associated contact information) is logged and available for IT teams to use

Knowledge, Skills and Experience (Essential)

• Experience in planning, acquisition, supporting distribution, collection and administration for multiple lines of inventory
• Utilises insights from colleagues and other ITSM process owners to ensure improvement is made to tools that support the overall process
• Processes in an IT context, e.g., ITIL
• Knowledge of IT related and software license market trends, including various common device specifications, components, license terms and key vendors
• Interest in identifying and implementing new and innovative technologies to support customer needs, drive up quality and improve value
• Excellent attention to detail
• Good communication, interpersonal and organisational skills
• Good level of literacy and numeracy
• Ability to manage conflicting priorities
• Ability to work using own initiatives within boundaries
• Ability to work flexibly and co-operatively with others and as part of a team
• A broad understanding of the IT landscape in a large and complex organisation
   

Newcastle University is committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains staff from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University also holds the HR Excellence in Research award for our work to support the career development of our researchers, and is a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.