IT Director
JOB_53831784781240Job type
PermanentLocation
PooleWorking Pattern
Full-timeSpecialism
Projects & Change ManagementIndustry
Manufacturing & ProductionPay
£150,000 - £165,000
IT Director (Executive Board Position) | Poole | £150,000 - £165,000
IT Director
Executive Board Position
About Sunseeker
Sunseeker is one of the world’s most recognisable luxury yacht brands, a global leader in the design, engineering and manufacture of award‑winning motor yachts that set new standards for innovation, performance and craftsmanship. With a heritage rooted in world‑class British manufacturing, Sunseeker yachts are exported to over 100 countries and remain synonymous with excellence, prestige and cutting‑edge technology.
As the business continues its significant growth trajectory and delivers the next generation of luxury vessels, advanced digital capability and modern technology leadership are fundamental to the company’s future strategy. Sunseeker is investing heavily in digital transformation, smart manufacturing, data‑driven operations and cyber resilience, making this a pivotal moment to join the organisation in a senior leadership capacity.
Role Purpose
The IT Director will be responsible for defining and leading Sunseeker’s digital, data, and technology strategy, ensuring the organisation has the capability, systems, and resilience required to support world‑class yacht production and global commercial operations. This is a strategically critical role tasked with modernising legacy environments, embedding new ways of working, strengthening cyber security, and ensuring digital capability is aligned with Sunseeker’s long‑term vision for innovation, engineering excellence, and operational performance.
Key priorities include:
Driving Strategic Alignment Developing a forward‑thinking technology strategy that supports Sunseeker’s global growth ambitions, engineering innovation, supply chain modernisation and digital manufacturing capability.
Championing Digital Innovation Unlocking new opportunities through emerging technologies, automation, smart factory concepts, data analytics and systems integration to enhance production efficiency, quality and customer experience.
Ensuring Robust Cyber Security Building a resilient cyber environment across manufacturing sites, operational systems, remote access, intellectual property protection and commercial platforms.
Modernising the Technology Landscape Overseeing the evaluation, redesign and replacement of legacy systems to create a stable, modern, scalable and secure technology architecture that supports a manufacturing environment.
Your New Role
Sitting on the Executive Board, the IT Director will provide visible strategic leadership across Sunseeker and shape the organisation’s digital direction. You will work in partnership with senior leaders across Engineering, Operations, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance, HR and Commercial to ensure technology is a core enabler of business performance.
You will lead the IT organisation with a strong focus on operational excellence, cyber maturity, service reliability, performance management, talent development and innovative thinking. Through effective stakeholder engagement, you will shape a high‑performing, customer‑centric technology function that supports both day‑to‑day operations and long‑term strategic ambitions.
This role carries full accountability for IT budgets, technology investment, supplier relationships, procurement strategy and risk management across all digital, data, infrastructure and cyber domains.
Core duties include:
- Leading Sunseeker’s technology strategy, ensuring alignment with business goals, operational priorities and global manufacturing standards.
- Providing expert guidance to the Executive Board on technology risks, opportunities, trends and long‑term investment decisions.
- Overseeing the full IT landscape, including infrastructure, networks, digital manufacturing systems, ERPs, PLM systems, proprietary engineering tools, applications and cloud platforms.
- Driving digital transformation programmes, from Industry initiatives and automation through to data integration, analytics and business systems optimisation.
- Ensuring the delivery of reliable, secure, high‑availability systems across all Sunseeker sites and operations.
- Owning Sunseeker’s cyber security strategy, ensuring robust protection of intellectual property, manufacturing environments and commercial systems.
- Developing IT talent and capability, building a mature, high‑performing IT function with strong leadership, governance, processes and service management.
- Leading vendor strategy, commercial negotiations and high‑value technology procurement.
- Ensuring compliance with relevant regulatory, engineering and security standards.
What You’ll Need to Succeed
- A credible and visionary IT leader with experience operating at Executive or Board level.
- A proven track record of leading large‑scale digital and technology transformation within complex, fast‑paced or engineering‑focused environments.
- Deep knowledge across IT infrastructure, applications, manufacturing systems, cloud, automation and cyber security.
- Experience modernising legacy environments and introducing robust technology governance.
- Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, strategic business insights.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and build trusted relationships across Executive and Board level.
- Experience operating in manufacturing, engineering, automotive, aerospace or similarly complex technical industries (desirable).
- A confident leader with a focus on performance, people development, culture and continuous improvement.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multimillion‑pound budgets, major suppliers and mission‑critical systems.
Benefits Package
- 6% employer pension contribution
- Life assurance / death‑in‑service from day one
- 22 days holiday plus bank holidays, increasing with service
- Paid sick leave
- 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
- Private medical insurance (after length‑of‑service)
- Dental insurance (after length‑of‑service)
What you need to do now
If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now on 07800554825
If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.
For more detailed information, or to view other vacancies with this organisation, please visit our dedicated recruitment website https://webmicrosites.hays.co.uk/web/sunseeker
IT DirectorJOB_538317847812402026-03-202026-06-19
Talk to Daniel Sharp, the specialist consultant managing this position
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