IT Infrastructure Service Operations Manager

Role Purpose

The IT Infrastructure Service Operations Manager is responsible for ensuring end-to-end operational excellence across all infrastructure services, driving service delivery to clients, managing operations teams, and enforcing ITIL-aligned processes. This role provides technical governance, leads major incident response, ensures compliance, and continuously improves operational efficiency through automation, analytics, and process maturity.

Key Responsibilities

A. Service Delivery Oversight

. Ensure end-to-end delivery of IT infrastructure services across network, cloud, server, storage, workplace/EUC, and service desk towers.

. Maintain service levels, KPIs, and contractual commitments with strong adherence to ITIL standards.

. Monitor and drive proactive service delivery for clients across all channels (human, digital, automated).

. Govern incident, problem, and change processes ensure compliance and best practices.

. Conduct daily/weekly service reviews, operational performance checks, and escalation management.

. Oversee shift operations ensuring 24x7 coverage and smooth handovers between teams.

B. Technical Governance & Operations

. Act as a technical authority for all infrastructure domains, guiding SMEs and engineering teams.

. Review monitoring/alerting frameworks and drive proactive issue detection.

. Oversee patching, upgrades, capacity planning, and infrastructure health checks.

. Lead RCA for major incidents and establish preventive action plans.

. Govern risk assessments, change implementation quality, and rollback strategies.

. Ensure architecture documentation, runbooks, and SOPs are maintained and current.

. Support operational readiness and steady-state transitions after onboarding new services.

C. Client Engagement & Stakeholder Management

. Engage directly with clients for technical operations and routine service reviews.

. Present performance reports, incident summaries, SLA compliance, risks, and improvement actions.

. Maintain accurate client information repositories, operational manuals, and requirement documentation.

. Coordinate with client delivery teams to drive proactive incident management and service improvements.

D. People & Vendor Management

. Lead, mentor, and coach L1-L3 engineers, shift leads, and service desk managers.

. Define roles, responsibilities, and performance KPIs for operations staff.

. Manage third-party vendors, OEM partners, and ensure SLA & contract adherence.

. Review training needs and drive upskilling programs across technical domains.

. Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

E. Continuous Service Improvement (CSI)

. Identify and execute automation, orchestration, and optimization opportunities.

. Feed CSI priorities into automation and engineering teams for implementation.

. Evaluate service trends to reduce recurring incidents and improve MTTR/MTTI.

. Promote knowledge management practices and lessons-learned programs.

. Lead operational improvement initiatives post-transition or technology rollout.

F. Compliance, Security & Risk Management

. Ensure adherence to security baselines, audit requirements, and data protection standards.

. Collaborate with security teams on vulnerability remediation, compliance reporting, and risk mitigation.

. Maintain risk registers and ensure corrective/preventive actions are documented and executed.

. Validate license compliance, change approvals, and technology governance policies.

G. Reporting & Operational Analytics

. Prepare daily/weekly/monthly service dashboards and operational performance reports.

. Analyze service metrics, operational data, and trends to identify issues and improvement opportunities.

. Support governance forums, internal/external audits, and client satisfaction programs.

H. Financial & Resource Management

. Manage operational budgets, cost optimization initiatives, and resource utilization.

. Support manpower forecasting, shift planning, and technology capacity planning.

. Oversee license management, vendor spend, and contract governance.

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Skills

. Strong domain experience across:

o Network, Cloud, Data Center, Security, Collaboration/UC, and Workplace technologies.

. Experience in virtualization platforms (Nutanix, VMware, Hyper-V).

. Experience with observability and monitoring tools (ElasticSearch, Kibana, Grafana).

. Strong understanding of ITIL processes and enterprise infrastructure operations.

Leadership & Management Skills

. Advanced experience coaching and mentoring engineering teams.

. Demonstrated success driving continual service improvement and automation-led transformation.

. Proven track record in organizational change management and multi-tower operational leadership.

. Strong communication, stakeholder management, and conflict-resolution ability.

Key Attributes

. Strong problem-solving and analytical mindset.

. Ability to work under pressure and lead teams during critical incidents.

. Customer-focused orientation with a continuous improvement mindset.

. High level of accountability, ownership, and decision-making capability.