Senior Manager: IT Operations at PPS

Job Advert Summary

• The Senior Manager IT Operations and Support will be responsible for building and leading IT professionals to manage all PPS’s IT operational services including Infrastructure (Cloud and on Premise), Application Deployment, Database Management as well as Service Delivery through the Service Desk. This individual is responsible for ensuring all solutions function at best practice levels through disciplined daily operational procedures, capacity planning, performance analysis, contingency planning, and monitoring strategies.

Minimum Requirements
Education: 

• Grade 12 (Matric).
• BCom / BTech / BSC.
• Microsoft MCSE certification .
• VMWare Certification.
• ITIL V3 Foundation.
• Cisco CCNA or greater.
• Cloud Certifications Beneficial.
• Security Certifications Beneficial. 

Experience:

• Minimum 7-10 years’ Working experience in IT area.
• More than 4- years management experience.
• At least 3 – 5 years of managing large IT vendors.
• Has good experience with large scale distributed systems and Cloud architecture.
• At least 3 -5 years of leading an IT service Desk. 

Knowledge and Skills:

• ITIL Service Management Experience
• Experience in IT Infrastructure Platforms
• Proven knowledge of general business principles and practices, including financial and people management.
• Service Delivery and Support
• Incident and Change management
• Process Management
• Project Management
• Operations Management
• Customer and Stakeholder Management
• Provide detailed budget requirements and the management thereof.
• Understanding how the entire IT budget is constructed and provide input into the management and use of this budget.
• Ensuring that incident and problem resolution budgetary allocations are met and where overspend takes places executes a root cause analysis process.

Competencies:

• Proficient in all aspects of using a computer, ie MS Office package etc. 
• Customer Focus.
• Results Focus and Initiative.
• Strong attention to Detail.
• Planning and Organising.
• Problem Solving and Solutions focused. 
• Ability to steer team through change and challenges. 
• Ability to collaborate. 
• Conflict resolution.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Work load management.
• Able to operate with minimal supervision.
• Able to manage time effectively, set priorities appropriately, schedule calls
• Able to maintain professional demeanour under stress.
• Able to operate within customer standard operating procedures.
• Complex problem solving and analytics. 
• Adapting and responding to change.
• Innovation and Forward Thinking.
• Business Acumen.
• Persuading and Influencing .
• Deciding and Initiating Action.
• Leading cross functional and multi-disciplinary teams.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Must adhere to PPS Priority Matrix response times and resolution times.
• Implement the authorized IT governance practices, techniques, tools, methods, and principles for the daily execution of IT operational processes.
• Develop trends by monitoring and analysing incoming calls, problems and support requests 
• Deal with Escalations and manage team workload.
• Manage system and hardware rollouts following the PPS change control process.
• Performs work in compliance within specified warranty requirements .
• Responsible for monitoring, operating, managing, troubleshooting and restoring services.
• Take ownership and responsibility of queries, issues and problems assigned to the IT Operations team.
• Escalate issues and involve experts wherever required in order to resolve issues as quickly as possible.
• Operates within, enforces, and suggests modifications and additions to desktop/server and network standards and guidelines. 
• Develop sound understanding of IT operations and related applications and IT systems as well as business related processes and procedures. 
• Maintain adequate knowledge of operating systems and application software used to provide a high level of support. 
• Maintains and consistently demonstrates a general knowledge of company guidelines, processes, practices and procedures. 
• To take ownership of issues by carrying out problem analysis to implement temporary or permanent fixes with the aim of restoring service to the customer as soon as possible; escalating incidents to other support teams where necessary. 
• To maintain a first-class level of customer service ensuring that all customers are treated efficiently and in an appropriate manner. 
• Maintain excellent verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical colleagues at all levels in the organization. 
• To be a highly motivated team player with the skills and ability to manage changing priorities. 
• To work within the relevant legislation, policies and procedures. 
• Participate in important technological department projects 
• Interact with vendor support contacts to resolve technical problems 
• Recommend and implement upgrades on systems to ensure longevity.
• Assess functional needs to determine system purchase specifications.
• Identify and manage the resolution of hardware and network connectivity issues.
• Assist and manage in technical upgrading and maintaining of Head Office and surrounding regions.
• Support as well as managing resources in testing and deployment of new applications and systems.
• Assist in developing long-term strategies and capacity planning for meeting future infrastructure and network needs. 
• Provide lifecycle management information to PPS management.
• Monthly reporting for PPS IT Operations: Head Office.
• Manage the IT Operations: Head Office budget.
• Alignment to the PPS Customer service requirements is at the heart of IT Operations and Support’s culture and delivery outcomes.