Lead / Manager IT Infrastructure & Security

About Amber

Amber is a global student accommodation platform helping students find and book long-term housing near leading universities across the world. As we continue to scale across geographies, we're strengthening the technology and security foundations that support our teams and operations globally.

About the Role

We are looking for a hands-on Lead / Manager – IT Infrastructure & Security to own and scale Amber's internal IT and security environment.

This is a broad, hands-on role that goes beyond a specialised IAM, SOC or IT support function. We're looking for someone with ownership across IT infrastructure, network security, data security and access management - someone who has personally built, implemented and improved these systems in a growing organisation.

You'll be responsible for keeping our infrastructure secure and reliable, protecting sensitive company and customer data, managing employee access, and building IT processes that can scale with the business.

What You'll Own

Network & IT Infrastructure

• Own and manage LAN/WAN, Wi-Fi, VPNs, firewalls and network access controls.
• Manage and improve enterprise IT infrastructure across offices, employees and business systems.
• Ensure infrastructure availability, performance, backup, disaster recovery and business continuity.
• Manage core environments including Microsoft 365, Active Directory/Entra ID and endpoint infrastructure.
• Lead infrastructure and network security improvements as the organisation scales.

Data & Endpoint Security

• Own security measures protecting sensitive, confidential and PII data.
• Implement and manage DLP, encryption, endpoint security, device security and data access controls.
• Drive vulnerability management, security reviews, remediation and incident-response readiness.
• Develop and improve security policies and controls aligned with frameworks such as ISO 27001, SOC 2 and GDPR.
• Partner with teams to ensure new applications and technologies are adopted securely.

Identity & Access Management

• Own employee access across business-critical applications and SaaS platforms.
• Manage the complete Joiner-Mover-Leaver (JML) lifecycle, including provisioning, role changes and de-provisioning.
• Implement and strengthen RBAC, MFA, SSO, Conditional Access and privileged access controls.
• Conduct regular access reviews to identify excessive permissions, inactive accounts and security risks.
• Improve and automate access-management workflows wherever possible.

IT Operations, Processes & Automation

• Lead IT operations, including employee onboarding/offboarding, asset management and procurement.
• Build and continuously improve IT/security SOPs, policies and governance processes.
• Identify opportunities to automate repetitive IT and security workflows.
• Explore and implement AI and automation to improve security, operational efficiency and employee experience.
• Lead and mentor the IT team while working closely with HR, Finance, Security and other business functions.

What We're Looking For

• 6–10 years of relevant experience across IT Infrastructure and Security.
• Hands-on experience with both Network Security and Data Security/Data Protection.
• Strong experience managing enterprise IT infrastructure and access management.
• Experience working in a startup, scale-up or mid-sized organisation with broad, hands-on ownership is strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting a mid-sized or growing employee environment, ideally 500+ employees.
• Experience implementing or managing firewalls, VPNs, network controls, DLP, endpoint security and identity/access controls.
• Hands-on knowledge of Active Directory/Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft 365, IAM, MFA, SSO and RBAC.
• Experience creating and improving SOPs, security policies and IT processes.
• Ability to independently take projects from problem identification → solution → implementation → closure.
• Experience leading an IT team and working with cross-functional stakeholders.

The Experience We Value

We value candidates who have taken hands-on ownership of IT and security initiatives, from identifying a problem through implementation and continuous improvement. This could include:

• Strengthening network security across firewalls, VPNs, access controls and network infrastructure.
• Implementing data protection measures such as DLP, encryption and controls for sensitive or PII data.
• Improving identity and access management, including employee access, onboarding/offboarding and access governance.
• Building or improving IT/security SOPs, policies and processes to support a growing organisation.
• Using automation or AI to improve IT operations, security or employee experience.

Why Amber

At Amber, this isn't a role where you'll own one small piece of a large IT function. You'll have the opportunity to work across infrastructure and security, solve problems end-to-end, introduce new technologies and automation, and help build the IT foundations of a fast-growing global organisation.