Chief Information Officer - IT Services

About the role:
PHC Partners is conducting a confidential search for a Chief Information Officer on behalf of a global IT services firm with delivery sites and people across India, Europe and the United States. The client name will be disclosed at the shortlist stage.
The CIO will own internal IT end to end: the global service desk, infrastructure, information security (including the CISO remit), internal applications and the full IT budget. The role reports to the Chief Financial Officer and is based in India, with regular travel to Europe and the US.
Key responsibilities:
- Global IT service desk: own support for all employees across India, Europe and the US, including follow the sun coverage, SLAs, resolution KPIs, and joiner, mover and leaver processes.
- Infrastructure and sites: own network, connectivity, workplace technology, cloud, identity and collaboration platforms, along with business continuity and DR planning.
- Information security: lead security strategy, policy, risk and governance; endpoint and network security; SOC operations; vulnerability management; incident response; and certifications including ISO 27001, SOC 2 and GDPR.
- Internal applications: own the ERP, HRIS, CRM, PSA and collaboration portfolio, working with Finance, HR, Sales and Delivery leaders.
- IT budget and licences: own the full IT budget, drive licence optimisation, and report IT cost as a percentage of revenue and per employee.
- Vendor management: select, contract and manage IT services vendors against SLA based contracts.
- Team leadership: lead a distributed IT and security team across three regions.
Requirements:
- 18+ years in IT, including at least 5 years leading internal IT (CIO, Head of IT or IT Director) within an IT services or consulting firm.
- Has run IT for sites in India, Europe and the US simultaneously, including a service desk supporting all three regions.
- Ownership of both infrastructure and information security.
- Ownership of internal business applications.

- Accountability for a multimillion IT budget covering people and licences, with measurable cost reductions.
- Proven record of managing IT services vendors to contracted SLAs.
- Stable career history with meaningful tenure in each role.
Preferred:
- Experience integrating IT after acquisitions.
- Certifications such as ITIL, CISSP, CISM or ISO 27001 Lead Implementer or Auditor.
- Experience with a professional services stack (PSA, resource management, timesheet to billing integration).
All applications will be handled in strict confidence.