It Operations Manager

IT Operations Manager (Service Management & Site Reliability) – Permanent, Knutsford Hybrid – 3 days on site 2 days remote Required:- Proven experience managing cloud platforms in critical, always-on production environments. Demonstrable experience owning or operating services where uptime, data integrity, & regulatory compliance are critical. Azure Certification. Operations Manager, Service Manager, or equivalent, with ownership of live services. Strong hands-on experience with ITIL service management practices, particularly Incident, Problem, Change, & Continual Improvement. Experience managing Customer Service / L1 support teams in a production environment.  Working knowledge of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles & operational risk management. Strong technical foundation across Azure, Windows Server, Linux (RedHat), Active Directory, networking, & scripting (PowerShell, Bash, or Python).  Experience delivering platform upgrades & managing production change in cloud & hybrid environments. Experience owning operational budgets & cost centres. Calm, structured leadership style with a strong focus on uptime, customer impact, deadlines, & service quality. A genuine commitment to training, mentoring, & building high-performing operational teams. IT Operations Manager Role Summary Seeking an experienced Operations Manager to act as the operational owner & Service Manager for a business-critical platform, while also managing the Customer Service (Level 1) function. Role combines ITIL-based service management discipline, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles, & people leadership to ensure high service availability, effective incident response, & continuous improvement across both customer-facing support & backend service operations. You will have end-to-end accountability for live service operations, leading both the Service Engineering team & the Customer Service (L1) team, & owning service performance, platform reliability, operational risk, & financial stewardship. Hands-on experience managing cloud platforms in critical, always-on environments is a mandatory requirement for this role. IT Operations Manager Key Responsibilities Service & Operational Ownership Act as the named Service Manager for the platform, with full accountability for service performance, stability, & customer impact. Own the service lifecycle, from operational readiness & go-live through live service management & continual improvement. Define, own, & report against SLAs, SLOs, & operational KPIs across both customer service & service engineering functions. Serve as the primary operational escalation point for internal stakeholders & key customers. Customer Service (L1) Management Lead & manage the Customer Service (Level 1) team, ensuring consistent, high-quality first-line support for customers. Ensure effective triage, prioritisation, & escalation of incidents from L1 to Service Engineering. Drive customer-focused service metrics, including response times, resolution quality, & customer satisfaction. Establish training, coaching, & quality assurance processes to continually improve L1 service delivery. Reliability, Availability & Incident Management Own the end-to-end reliability & availability of a mission-critical, compliance focused platform. Apply SRE principles to reduce incidents, manage operational risk, & balance reliability with delivery velocity. Lead major incident management, ensuring effective coordination, clear communication, & rapid service restoration. ITIL-Aligned Service Operations Lead Incident, Problem, Change, & Release Management in line with ITIL best practices. Plan & execute on-premises software upgrades & platform changes, ensuring controlled delivery & minimal disruption. Drive thorough root cause analysis (RCA) & ensure corrective actions are implemented & tracked to completion. Maintain audit-ready service documentation, runbooks, & operational procedures. Cloud Platform & Engineering Collaboration Own operational oversight of cloud & hybrid platforms supporting critical customer services. Work closely with Engineering, Product, & Security teams to ensure platforms are operationally ready, resilient, observable, & secure. Ensure appropriate monitoring, alerting, capacity planning, & resilience controls are in place across Azure & hybrid environments. Champion automation & Infrastructure-as-Code to reduce operational toil & improve reliability. Budget & Cost Management Own & manage the operations & service engineering budget, ensuring spend is forecast, controlled, & aligned to service outcomes. Manage costs related to cloud infrastructure, on-premises upgrades, tooling, licensing, & third-party services. Partner with Finance & Procurement to justify investment & identify cost optimisation opportunities without compromising service reliability or compliance. Leadership & Team Development Lead, coach, & develop both the Customer Service (L1) & Service Engineering teams. Establish structured