IT director · job description template

IT director job description

The short answer · updated 3 October 2026

An IT director job description sets out the senior role that runs a company’s technology so the business can rely on it. The core responsibilities are the IT strategy and budget, infrastructure and service delivery, cyber security and data protection, suppliers and major projects, and leading the IT team, reported to the CIO, CFO, COO or chief executive.

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Job purpose

Start with why the role exists now. An IT director makes sure the systems, networks, devices and services the business depends on work, stay secure and change when the business does. For the role itself, see what does an IT director do.

Then name the problem the next IT director has to solve: systems that keep failing, a cyber incident or an audit finding, an ERP or cloud move, a merger to integrate, or an outsourcing contract to reset. Acas publishes an outline job description template whose headings (the main duties and who the post reports to) suit the role.

Key responsibilities

Order the duties by importance and start each with a verb. A typical IT director job description covers:

setting the IT strategy and roadmap from the business plan, and agreeing priorities with the leadership team;
owning the IT budget, capital and running costs, and reporting variances;
running infrastructure, networks, cloud services and end-user devices to agreed service levels;
leading the service desk and IT operations, and the processes behind them;
choosing and managing suppliers and outsourcing contracts;
delivering major projects: system replacements, migrations and integrations;
running cyber security, at least to the controls in Cyber Essentials, the minimum standard the Government recommends, and which some customers require of suppliers;
briefing the board on cyber risk, which the Cyber Governance Code of Practice makes a board and director responsibility in medium and large organisations;
working with the data protection lead on breach detection, investigation and reporting, and keeping the record of personal data breaches the ICO expects;
keeping business continuity and disaster recovery plans current and tested;
leading, hiring and developing the IT team.

Reporting line and scope

An IT director usually reports to a chief information officer where there is one, or to the CFO, COO or chief executive where the IT director is the most senior technologist. IT managers, infrastructure, service desk, security and business systems teams report in; product engineering often sits under a CTO instead. List what reports to the role and what stays elsewhere.

Say whether the role sits on the leadership team and attends the board for its items. Where the brief spans technology strategy for the whole business and a seat at the top table, it is a CIO brief: our CIO job description covers the seat above, and the CIO role explains the difference.

Skills, experience and qualifications

No qualification is required by law to be an IT director. Ask for experience of the technology problem the company has now, described specifically, rather than a count of years.

experience running IT at a comparable scale, with a comparable estate (on-premises, cloud or hybrid);
a record against the specific problem: a system replaced, a migration, a security programme, an outsourcing contract reset;
budget ownership and supplier negotiation at the size the role will handle;
cyber security and data protection knowledge enough to brief a board;
service management that users and leaders rate;
professional standing where it helps, such as BCS’s Chartered IT Professional (CITP) registration, which requires Professional (MBCS) or Fellow (FBCS) membership;
sector knowledge where systems or regulation are specialised.

Fractional IT director job description

A fractional IT director works a set number of days a week or month, so the job description narrows. Name the days, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months (an IT strategy agreed, suppliers reset, Cyber Essentials achieved, a system migrated, an IT manager hired), what the role owns and who handles incidents on the days they are not there.

Our page on how to hire a fractional IT director sets out how the engagement works and lists the open roles. Where the brief is board-level technology strategy, see fractional CIO.

A fractional IT director working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

Interim and permanent versions

Interim. An interim IT director works full-time for a fixed period, so the job description leads with the situation (a failing project, a cyber incident, a merger, or cover while the permanent search runs) and the date or event that ends the assignment. See interim CIO for the senior version of that brief.

Permanent. The permanent version looks further ahead: the architecture, the team and the suppliers over several years. When the IT director is hired as an employee, the job title or a description of the work goes into the written statement of employment particulars they must have on the first day, so keep the two consistent. For the permanent search, see our CIO and IT director recruitment page, and IT director jobs for the roles open now.

We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For an IT director brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.

A template you can copy

Copy these headings and write one short block under each. Keep pay out of the job description and state it in the offer.

Job title: IT director, and whether the role is fractional, interim, part-time or permanent.
Reports to: the CIO, CFO, COO or chief executive, with any board attendance; list the teams and suppliers the role manages.
Purpose: two or three sentences on why the role exists now and the technology result it must deliver.
Responsibilities: eight to twelve duties, each starting with a verb, in order of importance.
Requirements: essential and desirable experience, described specifically, and a qualification only where the job needs one.
Terms: full-time or days a week, sites and on-call, start date, fixed term or permanent, and the pay basis (salary or day rate).

Questions people ask

What should an IT director job description include?

The job title and type of engagement, who the role reports to and which teams report in, the purpose, the key responsibilities, the experience and skills required, and the terms. Put the technology problem the role must solve at the top.

How long should an IT director job description be?

Long enough to cover purpose, responsibilities, reporting line, requirements and terms, and short enough to read in a few minutes: one to two pages is usually enough. The systems estate, contracts and project list belong in the candidate pack and the interviews.

What is the difference between an IT director and a CIO job description?

An IT director usually runs IT operations, infrastructure, suppliers and projects; a CIO usually owns technology strategy across the business and sits on the leadership team, often with the IT director reporting in. In many companies one person does both. See the CIO job description.

How is a fractional IT director job description different?

It names the days a week or month, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months and who handles incidents in between. See how to hire a fractional IT director.

What does an IT director earn?

It depends on the size of the estate and the team, the sector, the location and whether the role is permanent, interim or fractional. Our IT director salary page sets out pay, each figure with its source.

How do I hire an IT director?

Define the technology problem, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around that problem, and test every candidate against it. Our CIO and IT director recruitment page sets out the process; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.