We are working with a leading defence organisation who are seeking an experienced Principal Configuration Engineer/IT Asset Manager to join their team in Reading. This is a highly onsite, contract position within a complex, regulated environment, reporting directly into the Head of Service Management.

Location: Reading (hybrid)
Contract Role
Sector: Defence/Aerospace

*Valid SC Clearance is required.

The Role

The IT Asset Manager is responsible for managing and overseeing the full life cycle of IT assets across the organisation, including hardware, software, and configuration management. You will define and deliver a comprehensive IT Asset Management (ITAM) strategy and roadmap, designing and embedding processes, practices, and tooling to optimise the IT asset life cycle within a Joint Venture environment.

This role plays a critical part in governance, cost optimisation, compliance, and operational effectiveness.

Key Responsibilities

• Define, implement, and maintain a comprehensive IT Asset Management (ITAM) strategy and roadmap

• Design and roll out ITAM processes, policies, practices, and tooling across the organisation

• Manage the end-to-end life cycle of IT assets, including procurement, deployment, maintenance, and disposal

• Automate IT asset management processes and workflows where possible

• Ensure compliance with organisational, regulatory, and security standards (defence environment)

• Manage and negotiate with IT asset vendors to achieve favourable pricing, contracts, and SLAs

• Provide accurate asset reporting, financial forecasting, and cost optimisation insights

• Lead and develop a small ITAM team, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture

• Work closely with technical and non-technical stakeholders across the business

• Align ITAM activities with IT Service Management frameworks (ITIL v3/v4)

Skills & Experience Required

• 5+ years' experience in an IT Asset Management leadership or managerial role

• Proven experience defining and embedding ITAM policies, processes, and governance frameworks

• Strong experience automating ITAM workflows and processes

• Experience managing IT assets in complex, regulated, and international environments (eg Defence, Aerospace)

• Solid understanding of IT architecture and core technologies (Servers, networks, infrastructure)

• Hands-on experience with IT asset inventory and management tools, ideally ServiceNow

• Strong project delivery experience across IT asset procurement, upgrades, and deployments

• Good financial acumen, including budgeting, forecasting, and cost optimisation

• Experience managing vendors, contracts, and service level agreements

• Practical knowledge of ITIL v3/v4 and IT Service Management processes (Incident, Change, Problem, etc.)

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical audiences

• Excellent written English skills, including documentation, reporting, and instruction setting

• Proven experience leading and developing a small team