IT Systems Engineering Manager

Posting date:	26 January 2026
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	Competitive
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	25 February 2026
Location:	Equity House, Irthlingborough Road, Wellingborough,, NN8 1LT
Company:	Booker Group
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	29022

Summary

As a Systems Engineering Manager within the Booker Technology Infrastructure team, you’ll play a key role in shaping and running the platforms that keep our business moving. You’ll be responsible for a range of core IT systems — including servers, storage, security, data, and network connectivity — ensuring they are reliable, secure, and evolving in line with business needs.

This is a people-focused leadership role with a strong technical foundation. You’ll lead and support engineering teams, manage budgets and suppliers, and turn long‑term strategy into practical, deliverable technology plans. From day‑to‑day operations to future‑ready roadmaps, you’ll help create a stable, resilient infrastructure that supports growth across the organisation.

Working closely with fellow Systems Engineering Managers, application teams, and a blend of internal and third‑party engineers, you’ll coordinate delivery of a secure, well‑governed platform. You’ll also own service‑level reporting — including Disaster Recovery and Total Loss Recovery testing — and maintain open, regular engagement with stakeholders to continuously improve reliability and performance.

• Strategic Planning & Leadership
  Contribute to long‑term infrastructure strategy, set technical direction, manage budgets, and ensure technology priorities support business outcomes.

• Infrastructure & System Oversight
  Oversee servers, network connectivity, data storage, and database platforms to ensure they are robust, scalable, and well supported.

• People Leadership
  Lead, coach, and develop internal and external systems engineers, fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and high‑performing team culture.

• Operations & Service Management
  Ensure high levels of performance, availability, security, and resilience, with timely patching and lifecycle management of hardware and software.

• Project Delivery
  Plan and deliver infrastructure projects, including major upgrades, migrations, and new technology implementations.

• Incident, Problem & Change Management
  Lead effective incident response, minimise service disruption, and embed consistent, well‑controlled change processes.

• Security & Compliance
  Champion strong security practices, protect data and systems, and help ensure compliance with relevant standards and policies.

• Solid understanding of enterprise infrastructure technologies (for example: Red Hat Linux, Solaris, network connectivity, SAN, Total Loss Recovery).
• Proven leadership experience, with strong project management and budget ownership skills.
• Clear, confident communicator with the ability to engage stakeholders and manage vendors effectively.
• A strong commitment to stability, security, and high‑quality service.
• Calm, thoughtful, and effective when solving complex problems.
• Comfortable balancing strategic thinking with hands‑on involvement when needed.
• Familiar with prioritisation techniques, dependency management, and outcome‑based measurement.
• Motivated to deliver what matters most, with a pragmatic bias for action and results.