Deputy General Manager/General Manager- IT

Role & responsibilities

IT Strategy, Governance and Budget

• Develop and own the multi-year IT strategy, technology roadmap and enterprise architecture in line with business plans.
• Establish and run the IT governance framework, including policies, standards, steering committees and decision rights across the group.
• Prepare, present and control annual IT CAPEX and OPEX budgets; track variances and drive cost optimisation, rationalisation and TCO management.
• Build business cases with clear ROI for technology investments and report IT performance through defined KPIs and dashboards to senior management and the Board.
• Evaluate emerging technologies (AI/ML, automation, analytics, IoT) and recommend adoption where there is demonstrable business value.

IT Infrastructure, Data Centre, Cloud and Disaster Recovery

• Oversee design, deployment and operations of enterprise infrastructure: servers, storage, network, WAN/LAN, end-user computing, collaboration and telephony.
• Manage on-premise data centres and hybrid/multi-cloud environments, including cloud strategy, migration, security, FinOps and cost governance.
• Define and test Disaster Recovery architecture, with documented RTO/RPO, regular DR drills and remediation of gaps.
• Ensure capacity planning, lifecycle management, patching and refresh of infrastructure assets.
• Drive high availability, performance monitoring and proactive problem management across all sites and locations.

ERP and Business Applications

• Own the ERP landscape (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics or equivalent) including implementation, upgrades, enhancements, rollouts and stabilisation across entities.
• Govern business applications such as CRM, HRMS, SCM, WMS, DMS, BI/analytics and industry-specific systems, ensuring integration, data integrity and scalability.
• Work with functional heads to translate business requirements into process-aligned, well-governed system solutions.
• Establish application change management, release management, access control and master data governance.
• Rationalise the application portfolio and reduce duplication, shadow IT and technical debt.

Cybersecurity, Data Privacy and Compliance

• Define and lead the cybersecurity strategy, including network, endpoint, identity and access, email, cloud and application security, SOC/SIEM monitoring and incident response.
• Implement and maintain an Information Security Management System aligned to ISO 27001; lead certification, surveillance and re-certification audits.
• Ensure compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act and other applicable laws and regulations, including data classification, consent, retention, breach management and coordination with Legal and the DPO.
• Establish and monitor IT General Controls (ITGC) for access, change, operations and backup; support statutory, internal and IS audits and ensure timely closure of findings.
• Plan and oversee periodic VAPT, red-team and configuration reviews of applications, infrastructure and cloud; track remediation to closure.
• Run security awareness, phishing simulation and training programmes for employees.
• Report cyber risk posture and key incidents to senior management and the Board or Audit/Risk Committee.

IT Operations, Business Continuity and Risk Management

• Ensure stable, efficient IT operations through a robust service desk, ITIL-aligned incident, problem, change and asset management and defined SLAs.
• Develop and maintain the IT risk register, risk assessments and mitigation plans; integrate IT risk with enterprise risk management.
• Lead IT components of Business Continuity Planning: BIA, BCP/DR plans, crisis communication and periodic testing.
• Manage IT asset inventory, licence compliance and software asset management to avoid audit exposure.
• Drive root cause analysis for major incidents and implement preventive actions.

IT Projects and Digital Transformation

• Lead the digital transformation agenda, including process automation, workflow digitisation, analytics, mobility, customer and employee digital experiences and data platforms.
• Establish a project/programme governance framework (PMO) covering scope, timelines, cost, quality, risk and benefit tracking.
• Oversee end-to-end delivery of large, cross-functional programmes, from requirement definition and vendor selection to go-live and post-implementation review.
• Lead change management and user adoption, ensuring business ownership of outcomes.
• Enable data-driven decision-making through MIS, dashboards and analytics.

Vendor, Contract and Commercial Management

• Lead sourcing: RFI/RFP, technical and commercial evaluation, negotiation and selection of hardware, software, cloud, telecom and managed service vendors.
• Negotiate and manage contracts, SLAs, AMCs, licences and renewals; ensure favourable commercial terms, penalty clauses and exit provisions.
• Run periodic vendor performance reviews, escalation management and vendor risk and compliance assessments (including security and data-protection clauses).
• Optimise vendor portfolio, consolidate where appropriate and manage dependency and concentration risk.
• Work with Legal, Finance and Procurement to ensure contractual and commercial compliance.

IT Team Leadership and Group-wide IT Governance

• Lead, mentor and develop the IT organisation, including infrastructure, applications, security, PMO and service desk teams; define structure, roles, KRAs and succession plans.
• Build a culture of accountability, service orientation, continuous learning and innovation.
• Ensure uniform IT policies, standards, architecture, security controls and service levels across group companies, subsidiaries and locations.
• Coordinate with unit and plant IT heads, and manage shared services and centralised procurement where applicable.
• Act as the key interface with the business heads, auditors, regulators and external partners.

Preferred candidate profile

• 15+ years of overall IT experience, including 5+ years in a senior IT leadership role (Head IT or equivalent).
• Proven exposure to enterprise IT infrastructure, ERP and business applications, cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, digital transformation, vendor management and IT budgeting.
• Experience managing multi-location or multi-entity (group) IT environments is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to work with senior management and business stakeholders and to present to the Board or committees.