IT Manager (Durban)

Job description

Key roles and responsibilities:

The IT Manager will be responsible for managing IT service delivery, support operations, and the end-user technology experience on campus. This is a senior, hands-on role centred on ensuring that staff and students receive responsive, high-quality IT services. The role spans two tiers of service delivery: internal SLA delivery and monitoring (network, wifi, telephony, and endpoint reliability for staff and students) and external venue hire support (proactive, client-facing IT readiness for external bookings of campus venues).

The IT manager will lead a small team of IT support staff, oversee the full lifecycle of IT service requests and incidents, and act as the primary point of contact between the campus and the central IT team at head office.

For matters relating to infrastructure, security, and procurement, the role works in close collaboration with the IT operations manager, IT infrastructure and security manager, and head: IT at head office.

The ideal candidate is service-driven, technically competent, and able to lead a team in a fast-paced academic environment.

Responsibilities:

Internal SLA delivery and monitoring

• Lead and mentor a small on-campus IT support team, managing workload allocation, scheduling, and day-to-day performance to ensure consistent service delivery. Oversee the campus IT service desk function, ensuring all incidents and service requests are logged, prioritised, and resolved within agreed timeframes.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for complex or unresolved support issues on campus, and coordinate escalation to the IT operations manager where required.
• Manage the configuration and upkeep of end-user devices (desktops, laptops, printers, AV equipment) to ensure staff and students have reliable, functional technology; engage the IT infrastructure and security manager for infrastructure-level interventions.
• Ensure the reliable operation of campus telephony and unified communications (Microsoft Teams), escalating systemic issues to the IT operations manager.
• Monitor campus network and wifi performance against the service levels contracted with third-party providers (e.g. Echo), log and escalate faults to the vendor, and hold the vendor accountable to contracted response times. The vendor owns the infrastructure and contracted uptime; ownership of the vendor relationship and contract terms remains with head office.
• Manage user accounts, access rights, and software licences in line with institutional IT policies; liaise with head: IT for policy changes or access exceptions.
• Identify campus IT service gaps and improvement opportunities; prepare motivated proposals for review by the IT operations manager or head: IT where applicable.
• Hold and manage the campus IT budget line, planning and monitoring expenditure on campus IT operations; final budget approval sits with the head of campus (HOC). Coordinate IT procurement requests in line with campus needs, submitting motivations to the IT operations manager for approval and managing asset records in accordance with head office processes.
• Implement endpoint security and data protection measures as directed by the IT infrastructure and security manager; report on compliance and escalate incidents to head office promptly.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with campus management and academic staff, acting as a trusted IT advisor and translating user needs into actionable service improvements.
• Liaise regularly with the IT operations manager, to ensure campus IT services align with institutional standards, priorities, and roadmaps.
• Provide IT onboarding, training, and guidance to staff and students on systems, tools, and best practices.
• Coordinate on-site vendor and service provider visits in line with head office-approved agreements; monitor vendor performance against contracted SLAs and response times, and escalate SLA or contractual concerns to the IT operations manager. Head office retains ownership of vendor relationships and contract terms.
• Maintain accurate documentation of service procedures, incident resolutions, asset registers, and system configurations accessible to the broader IT team.
• Produce regular service delivery reports covering incident volumes, resolution times, and open items for the IT operations manager.

External venue hire support

• Act as the client-facing IT contact for external venue hire bookings, proactively coordinating technical readiness (network, wifi, AV, and telephony) for each booking in consultation with campus management.
• Confirm and document technical readiness ahead of each external booking, and provide responsive on-the-day support to external clients for the duration of the booking.

Key performance indicators:

• Wifi and network uptime maintained at or above 99.5% during operational hours, as reported by the vendor.
• Faults escalated to the vendor within 30 minutes of detection.
• Venue hire technical readiness confirmed 24 hours before each booking, with a 10-minute turnaround time on technical issues on the day of the booking.

Minimum requirements | qualifications and experience:

• Proven experience in IT support or a similar role.
• Bachelor's degree or diploma in Information Technology preferred.

Key attributes:

• Strong knowledge of Windows operating systems.
• Proficiency in troubleshooting hardware, software, and network issues.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment.
• Customer-focused attitude with a dedication to providing high-quality support.
• Attention to detail
• Ability to use knowledge base resources to resolve problems.
• Relevant Microsoft certifications are a plus.

Assumption date:        01 October 2026                           Closing date for applications: 31 August 2026

Applications: Candidates wishing to apply for the position are required to: