IT Manager

About the company

Our client is an established, family-owned Sydney construction company delivering projects across Sydney, the Southern Highlands and the Central Coast. Around 65 people work across the business: a small office team and a larger group on project sites.
The owners are hands-on and accessible, and the culture is practical, supportive and loyal. Average staff tenure sits above four years, and many people have been with the business for much longer. Like the rest of the industry, the company relies more on technology every year, from project management and document control to estimating, procurement, safety and finance platforms.

About the role

This is the business's first in-house IT role. Until now, IT has been handled by a managed service provider, with day-to-day coordination falling to people whose real jobs sit elsewhere. The business wants someone on the ground who knows its people, its systems and its sites, and who can resolve issues quickly.
You will be the IT function. There is no team to manage: you will look after users in the office and on site, keep devices, systems and security in good order, and work directly with the directors. In the first few months you will also lead the handover from the current provider, which will involve some overlap and untangling as responsibilities move in-house.
Alongside the day-to-day, there is room to improve how things work. The business uses a range of cloud platforms, and some information is still moved between them by hand. You will have scope to spot those inefficiencies and remove them using automation and the AI tools the business already licenses.

Key responsibilities

User support

• Provide first-line and escalation support to around 65 users, from tech-savvy office staff to site managers and foremen, by phone, in person and on site.
• Resolve access, connectivity and hardware issues quickly, including SharePoint and mapped drive connections, email and printing.
• Deliver practical training so people get more out of the tools they use every day.

Systems and access

• Manage the Microsoft 365 environment, including SharePoint, Entra ID and Intune.
• Run onboarding and offboarding: accounts, devices, permissions and licences.
• Support users across the business's cloud platforms, including project management, document control, estimating, procurement, safety, finance and design tools, working with each vendor where needed.

Devices and assets

• Own the device lifecycle for laptops, mobiles and iPads: purchasing, setup, rebuilds, warranty claims and retirement.
• Maintain the asset register and manage software licences.
• Manage printers and photocopiers across leased and owned equipment.
• Look after the mobile fleet through the business telco account, including mobile security settings such as geofencing and overseas roaming.

Project sites

• Set up and decommission site offices, including routers, Starlink, hubs, printers and connectivity.
  Visit sites as needed, typically every month or two, to set up, support or bring equipment back.

Security and risk

• Keep security settings and practices current across devices, accounts and systems.
  Respond to cyber insurance questionnaires and checks, and close off any gaps they identify.

Vendors and improvement

• Manage relationships with hardware suppliers, software vendors, the telco provider and the outgoing managed service provider.
• Identify manual processes, such as re-keying data between systems, and automate them where it makes sense, including with the business's AI tools.

Skills and experience

Essential

• Solid hands-on experience as a senior IT generalist, systems administrator or IT support lead, ideally as the sole or lead IT person in an SMB or mid-market business.
• A tertiary qualification in IT or a related field.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Entra ID and Intune or similar MDM tools.
• Proven ability to run IT autonomously and manage competing priorities without day-to-day technical guidance.
• A stable career history.
• Clear, patient communication with non-technical users, and the confidence to support busy, direct site teams.
• Australian citizenship and eligibility to obtain a security clearance.
• Happy to work from the office five days a week and travel to project sites.

Highly regarded

• Exposure to security best practice and governance, including cyber insurance requirements.
• Experience with process automation or practical use of AI tools.
• Experience with construction platforms such as Procore, or a background in construction or another project-based industry.
• Experience with site networks, Starlink and mobile fleet management.

Who will thrive here

• The people who succeed in this business are practical and earn trust by helping. The best fit is someone who enjoys the technical work but would rather be out solving problems with people than sitting behind a screen all day.
• Service-minded. You pick up the phone, follow through, and understand that a site manager with a broken laptop needs an answer now.
• Thick-skinned and patient. Construction sites move fast and people are direct. You stay calm and keep things moving.
• Curious. You keep up with where technology is heading, including security and AI, and you look for better ways of doing things.
• Self-directed. You are comfortable owning a function end to end, setting your own priorities and explaining technical decisions in plain English to non-technical owners.

Why join

• A role you can shape. It is brand new, so you build the IT function your way rather than inheriting someone else's setup.
• Stability. A steady, non-tech business with long staff tenure, away from the restructures and redundancies across much of the tech sector.
• Visible impact. You will work directly with hands-on owners, replacing a service the business has outgrown, so good work is noticed quickly.
• Real variety. User support, site work, security and automation, all in one role.

How to apply

If you are a hands-on IT all-rounder ready to own the function and make a visible difference, we would love to hear from you. For a confidential conversation, contact Craig Nel at Cox Purtell [ ]