NOC and IT Operations Manager

Providing exceptional vision and leadership, the Network Operating Center (NOC) Manager manages a group of NOC Specialists who monitor business and IT processes 24/7. The mission is to continually improve IT services and ensure the NOC can prevent/respond to events that disrupt business and/or technical operations. This role is responsible for ensuring an exceptional customer experience, following all documented standards and processes, establishing and meeting service levels that align with business and IT strategies, in addition to developing staff, streamlining processes, apprising management of incidents real time, maintaining efficient and high-quality operations, managing budgets, vendors, and contracts as needed. Responsible for the delivery of ITIL processes throughout the IT organization.

This position is also responsible for coordinating the development of advance arrangements and procedures to ensure the organization can respond to isolated incidents or disasters so the critical functions are resumed within a defined time frame, the amount of loss can be minimized, and any facilities can be repaired or replaced as quickly as possible. Oversees Change Management and all IT Operations processes and procedures.

Major Responsibilities

• Directs the IT Operations NOC chartered with the delivery and support of multiple platforms running various operating systems and databases in a 24/7/365 environment. Holds all IT service departments and employees accountable for carrying out the required processes, tasks, change and service requests.
• Identifies preventative measures to minimize the likelihood of a disruption to operations and coordinates implementation of these measures with the appropriate departments. This includes, but is not limited to, the information, metrics, and dashboards available for early detection.
• Coordinates the development, review, and updates for the disaster recovery (DR) plan, which includes documentation for DR governance, procedures to maintain continuous DR technical readiness, run books for fail-over and return-to-normal in the event of a disruption to the computer systems.
• Directly responsible for the information technology incident, change management and DR technology maintenance processes to help ensure that operational and DR capabilities are in a continuous state of readiness.
• Plans and coordinates tabletop exercises and live testing of fail-over/return-to-normal capabilities. Provides overall coordination during an actual event to ensure compliance with process and timely resolution.
• Coordinates the development, review, and update of the IT business continuity (BC) plan, which includes business impact analysis, documentation for BC governance, and procedures to enable business processes to continue in the event of a disruption to the business facilities.
• Conducts annual reviews of the business units’ IT needs for their business continuity plans. Provides guidance on the continuity-of-operations methodology to help ensure the business impact analysis, disaster recovery plans, and business continuity plans support the business continuity objectives.
• Performs duties as the primary point-of-contact to the DR, BC, and Incident Response (IR) partners, including third-party vendors and other IT groups. Coordinates approval and management of accounts for access to DR facilities. Monitors and coordinates responses to notifications generated by DR, BC, and IR vendors and partners.
• Acts as the overall program manager working with leaders within IT for the implementation of DR, BC, and IR.
• Ensures seamless transition between help desk and support organizations for timely closure of problem tickets. Identifies and analyzes the issues to eliminate bottlenecks.
• Ensures proactive monitoring and corrective actions are in place through dashboards, metrics, continuous improvement initiatives, and processes required for stable operations.
• Ensures delivery processes are efficient and cost effective. Identifies ways to reduce costs and streamline the process without adversely impacting the client experience.
• Oversee the deployment, monitoring, maintenance, development, documentation, and support of high quality, reliable IT services and end-user support.
• Oversees and ensures ITIL processes are followed across the IT organization including capacity, incident, problem, availability, change, release, and configuration management. Ensures regular review of infrastructure ITIL practices.
• Creates and drives an ongoing environment and culture of exceptional customer experience.
• Leads the design and sustainable implementation of a defined IT Service Management framework.
• Defines and communicates project milestones and service level agreements.
• Develops key performance indicators and performs continuous process improvement.
• Develops and reviews budgets to ensure compliance with stated objectives.
• Maintains exceptional communications with the organization’s leadership, customers, and staff.
• Manages day-to day relationships with all IT teams to ensure service integration delivery meets or exceeds the client’s expectations.
• Leads service integration performance through SLAs and other key performance metric.
• Works in conjunction with IT Enterprise Architecture, IT leaders, and the business departments to transition new services to steady state support.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

• Demonstrated experience transforming teams through process improvement, performance management, realignment, and hiring to achieve higher performance levels.
• Advanced interpersonal skills to engage with peers, customers, and senior management to achieve excellent partnership and results.
• Exceptional organizational and project management skills, including the ability to plan, schedule, and successfully carry out multiple projects at the same time to successful conclusion.
• Highly self-motivated, self-directed, and attentive to detail while ensuring the leadership team is informed. Effectively prioritizes and executes tasks in a high-pressure environment.
• Excellent written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Highly seasoned professional with sound management judgment and strong verbal and written communication skills, and diplomacy in handling sensitive information.
• Strong facilitation and client-service skills. Proven ability to interact and influence outcomes at all levels of the Company, including local business units and senior management.
• Demonstrated ability to operate in a fast-paced environment, with a sense of urgency and attention to detail.
• Proven ability to influence and collaborate with internal and external resources. Management of multiple location and departmental issues through partnering and solid business relationships.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in an ever-changing environment.
• Strong analytical and independent thought process to assess abstract circumstances and manage ambiguity with limited guidance.
• Effective team player that can resolve conflict and offer win-win solutions to complex business challenges.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the major responsibilities.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand or walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop or bend; and talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 lbs. Must have appropriate vision to see up close, and at a distance with ability to adjust vision and focus.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This position might require long hours and weekend work., Preferred

• Minimum 5-years’ experience at a manager or director level role in a 24 x 7 production environment.
• Proven experience with a broad spectrum of technologies including iSeries, Microsoft, backup maintenance, custom application support, analytics, system integration, disaster recovery and data security systems.
• Experience with the structuring and implementation of a ticket and service delivery platform Service Now, Managed Engine or other systems.
• Demonstrated track record of leading a team where customer experience was a priority.
• Exceptional knowledge and success with service definition and delivery.
• Advanced knowledge of ITIL concepts and current technology protocols and standards.
• Ability to research and troubleshoot IT issues and products and present ideas in business-friendly and user-friendly language.
• Availability to respond during a DR or incident event, as 24x7 support may be required.
• Experience in network planning, enterprise network architecture, capacity planning, Network evolution, strategic planning, or deployment.
• Experience in backup technologies and processes.
• Excellent project management skills. Demonstrated ability to plan, organize and direct the efforts of emergency response, disaster recovery, and business continuity programs.
• Experience with system testing processes, to identify and close gaps in technical design for hardware and software, including Disaster Recovery testing.
• Previous experience assessing and enhancing operational processes in support of reliable systems, including development, and tracking of performance metrics.
• Previous background as an DR Coordinator or Incident Coordinator.

Populus is an amazing company where our employees stay because they love their teams and the growth opportunities. Additionally, we offer a competitive 401K match, a generous paid time off package, and Health Benefits.