Director of IT

At Preply were all about creating life-changing learning experiences. We help people discover the magic of the perfect tutor craft a personalised learning journey and stay motivated to keep growing. Our approach is human-led tech-enabled - and its creating real impact.

Weve just reached unicorn status with a $150M Series D accelerating our vision to transform education through human-led AI-enhanced learning. Today 100000 tutors teach 90 languages to learners in 180 countries - and were only getting started. As a category-defining company were shaping what the future of learning looks like at global scale.

Every Preply lesson sparks change fuels ambition and drives progress that matters. Joining Preply means helping define the future of education at global scale and building something that truly matters for millions of people every day.

Youll lead Preplys IT team: a lean high-performing group that keeps a fast-moving globally distributed company running every day. With strong foundations already in place the next chapter is about introducing more AI-native workflows automation strengthening operational excellence and evolving IT into a more strategic function. This is the role that will lead that transformation.

Youll be both the architect and the hands-on operator: setting the vision and tooling strategy for the whole organization while staying close enough to the systems to script automate and build alongside your team. Youll report into senior technology leadership and work directly with C-level stakeholders to make IT a measurable driver of efficiency cost control and employee experience.

• Identity and access: Okta as the identity platform covering SSO SCIM provisioning and conditional access across SaaS.

• Endpoint: a fleet of roughly 700 Macs managed with Jamf with zero-touch enrollment and compliance baselines.

• Workplace: Google Workspace Slack Zoom (meetings rooms and AV) Atlassian (Jira Confluence)

• AI: Claude Enterprise OpenAI Cursor and Gemini deployed across the company with intake approval and allow-listing run jointly with Security

• Automation and infrastructure: Okta Workflows scripting and API-driven automation.

1. Strategy vision and business enablement

• Own and evolve a multi-quarter IT roadmap tied directly to Preplys business goals treating IT as an enabler of growth rather than a cost center.

• Set the tooling strategy and standards across the organization: decide what we adopt consolidate and retire and articulate why.

• Operate fluidly across altitudes: set direction with leadership one moment and make sharp technical calls the next.

• Plan ahead anticipating what a fast-scaling company will need from IT 12 to 18 months out and building toward it. Implement control adequate for a pre-IPO level company.

2. AI-native operations and automation

• Bring an AI-first automate-first mindset to how IT runs: provisioning access support deflection and asset reconciliation.

• Lead by example. Build and ship automations yourself and show both your team and the wider company what good looks like.

• Continuously surface AI tooling that makes employees lives easier with a clear opinionated view on where it adds value and where its just noise.

• Bring those AI-native ways of working to the rest of the organization not just to IT.

3. Team leadership and capability maturity

• Lead grow and mature a lean IT team into a senior process-driven function.

• Raise the technical bar across the team coaching toward more technical AI-fluent ways of working.

• Stay hands-on where it counts: scripting automation and MDM and identity configuration.

• Build the operating rhythm (SLAs runbooks prioritization) that lets the team scale its impact without scaling headcount one-for-one.

4. Global infrastructure fleet and workplace technology

• Own international fleet and device lifecycle end to end from procurement and enrollment to retirement across multiple countries.

• Run identity access and endpoint management to a high standard of reliability for a distributed workforce.

• Manage the Barcelona hubs on-site technology: the office network meeting-room AV and video conferencing tools and devices.

• Own the IT services behind company off-sites and events from connectivity and AV to on-the-ground support wherever the company gathers.

• Treat ITs own security and compliance hygiene (endpoint compliance identity hygiene least privilege on IT-managed systems) as a core operating principle.

5. Procurement software spend and FinOps

• Own visibility into what Preply spends on IT SaaS and software tools and help Finance understand forecast and plan that spend.

• Partner with Finance and Procurement on contracts renewals and vendor rationalization.

• Drive cost and compliance efficiency: eliminate shadow IT consolidate overlapping tools and negotiate from a position of data.

6. Data dashboards and stakeholder management

• Build dashboards and reporting that give leadership a clear current view of IT health spend and the status of every initiative.

• Provide crisp proactive follow-ups on where things stand so leadership never has to chase.

• Manage and influence C-level stakeholders directly translating technical reality into business decisions.

• Make decisions from data not anecdotes.

7. Partnership with Security

• Co-own the identity lifecycle in Okta: joiner mover and leaver flows periodic access reviews least privilege and separation of duties.

• Enforce endpoint compliance baselines in Jamf and keep control evidence audit-ready.

• Implement and operate the ITGC controls behind SOX readiness and SOC 2 at the standard expected of a company at Preplys stage.

• Share ownership of AI tool governance: evaluation approval and allow lists for anything new entering the environment.

• 5 years leading and growing IT teams or functions in a fast-scaling technology company.

• A true architect and operator: you set strategy and stay hands-on. Youre still comfortable scripting automating and configuring MDM and identity systems yourself.

• Deep experience running international fleet and device management identity and endpoint management (e.g. Jamf Okta or equivalents).

• A strong command of SaaS and software spend management and FinOps practices and comfort partnering with Finance on cost visibility and forecasting.

• An AI-first automate-first operator: youve used AI to remove toil and you bring a clear opinionated point of view on tooling.

• A proven ability to manage and influence senior C-level stakeholders.

• A data-driven approach: you rely on dashboards and reporting that drive real decisions and you plan ahead.

• You treat ITs own security and compliance hygiene as non-negotiable.

• Professional fluency in English.
  

Nice to have:

• Experience in a remote-first or globally distributed company.

• Familiarity with a modern cloud identity and endpoint stack (e.g. GCP AWS Okta Jamf Jira Confluence Slack).

• A track record of maturing an early-stage IT function into a structured senior team.

• Hands-on experience with office IT: on-site networking meeting-room AV and video conferencing and the technology behind off-sites and company events.

• An open collaborative dynamic and diverse culture;

• A generous monthly allowance for lessons on Learning & Development budget and time off for your self-development;

• A competitive financial package with equity leave allowance and health insurance;

• Not in Barcelona We offer an attractive relocation package to join us in our Preply Barcelona Hub;

• Access to free mental health support platforms;

• Access to Gympass-partnered wellness and gym centers throughout Spain to promote and support well-being and physical health;

• The opportunity to shape the lives of learners and tutors through language learning and teaching in 175 countries (and counting!).

• Care to change the world - We are passionate about our work and care deeply about its impact to be life changing.

• We do it for learners - For both Preply and tutors learners are why we do what we do. Every day we focus on empowering tutors to deliver an exceptional learning experience.

• Keep perfecting - To create an outstanding customer experience we focus on simplicity smoothness and enjoyment continually perfecting it as every detail matters.

• Now is the time - In a fast-paced world it matters how quickly we act. Now is the time to make great things happen.

• Disciplined execution - What makes us disciplined is the excellence in our execution. We set clear goals focus on what matters and utilize our resources efficiently.

• Dive deep - We leverage business acumen and curiosity to investigate disparities between numbers and stories unlocking meaningful insights to guide our decisions.

• Growth mindset - We proactively seek growth opportunities and believe todays best performance becomes tomorrows starting point. We humbly embrace feedback and learn from setbacks.

• Raise the bar - We raise our performance standards continuously alongside each new hire and promotion. We build diverse and high-performing teams that can make a real difference.

• Challenge disagree and commit - We value open and candid communication even when we dont fully agree. We speak our minds challenge when necessary and fully commit to decisions once made.

• One Preply - We prioritize collaboration inclusion and the success of our team over personal ambitions. Together we support and celebrate each others progress.

is committed to creating an inclusive environment where people of diverse backgrounds can thrive. We believe that the presence of different opinions and viewpoints is a key ingredient for our success as a multicultural Ed-Tech company. That means that Preply will consider all applications for employment without regard to race color religion gender identity or expression sexual orientation national origin disability age or veteran status.

Required Experience:

Director