Manager of IT Operations

Position SummaryThe Manager of IT Operations owns day-to-day operations management, SLA performance, and people leadership for the IT Operations team. Today, a small group of generalists (service desk, endpoint, identity, and platform work all bundled into the same people) reports up to a Senior Director who is also responsible for security, AI governance, and executive stakeholder management. This role closes that gap so the team gets focused coaching, prioritization, and operating rhythm, and so the Senior Director can stay focused on governance and cross-functional strategy instead of tactical operations escalations.This role inherits full people-management responsibility for the existing IT Operations engineers (the current IT Operations engineers, including offshore contractors).Role PurposeProvide dedicated, full-time people management and operational leadership to team.Own service desk SLA performance and the health of the operational backlog.Give the IT Operations Lead a manager to escalate to.Reduce interrupt-driven context-switching by owning prioritization and triage decisions at the team level.Key Responsibilities1. People Management & Team LeadershipConduct regular one-on-ones, set individual performance expectations, and deliver formal feedback, including performance improvement plans and disciplinary action when <warranted.Build> a team operating rhythm: stand-ups, backlog reviews, incident reviews, and coverage <planning.Support> the IT Operations Lead's technical and operational coordination work while retaining final accountability for personnel outcomes.2. Service Desk & SLA OwnershipOwn service-level performance for the ITDESK queue: time to first response, time to resolution, backlog age, and satisfaction.Identify patterns behind missed targets and drive process, tooling, staffing, or documentation changes to correct them.Ensure clean handoffs between frontline support, IT engineers, Security, People Experience, and other cross-functional partners.3. Operational Backlog & Delivery ManagementOwn the IT Operations backlog: prioritization, sequencing, and tradeoffs when demand exceeds capacity.Track delivery of operational projects (SaaS rollouts/retirements, office technology changes, workflow automation) to completion.Communicate delivery risk, resourcing constraints, and priority conflicts to the Senior Director before they become escalations.4. Endpoint, Identity, and SaaS Operations OversightProvide management oversight of endpoint/hardware lifecycle, identity and access provisioning/deprovisioning, and SaaS administration performed by the team.Partner closely with the Sr. IT Engineer (IAM & Platform) on identity governance, entitlement reviews, and platform administration priorities.Ensure onboarding/offboarding SLAs are met and exceptions are tracked and resolved.5. Incident Coordination & EscalationServe as the management escalation point for operational incidents that exceed the IT Operations Lead's authority or require cross-functional or vendor coordination.Ensure recurring incidents receive root-cause analysis and are tracked to remediation.Escalate security-relevant findings to the Director of Information Security promptly.6. Vendor & SaaS ManagementOwn vendor relationship management for IT Operations-administered platforms (Okta, Google Workspace, Slack, Zoom, endpoint management tools, etc.).Support contract renewal preparation with usage, cost, and risk <data.Drive> license rightsizing and cost-control initiatives.7. Team Structure & Growth PlanningPartner with the Senior Director on sequencing and justifying future IT Operations hires (Service Desk Lead, Tools & Automation Engineer, additional platform engineers) as the team's target structure is built out.8. Reporting & Stakeholder CommunicationProvide the Senior Director with regular visibility into service health, backlog risk, team capacity, and delivery commitments.Prepare or contribute to recurring operational reporting (SLA performance, ticket trends, project status).Represent IT Operations in cross-functional working sessions as delegated.Decision RightsWithin approved budget, policy, and priorities, the Manager of IT Operations is authorized to:Hire, manage, coach, and (where necessary) exit IT Operations team members.Set team priorities, backlog sequencing, and coverage plans.Approve routine operational changes and vendor support escalations.Reassign work across the team in response to incidents, attrition, or shifting priorities.Represent IT Operations in meetings and decisions delegated by the Senior Director.Required Qualifications5+ years in IT operations, service delivery, or systems administration, with meaningful experience managing people.Experience owning service desk or IT support operations, including SLA management.Experience managing operational backlogs, incidents, and cross-functional escalations.Strong coaching and performance-management skills; comfortable delivering direct, candid feedback.Familiarity with identity/SaaS platforms (Okta, Google Workspace, Atlassian, Slack) sufficient to manage the people who administer them, without needing to be the deepest technical expert.Excellent written and verbal communication across technical and non-technical audiences.Both Mac / Windows experiencePreferred QualificationsPrior experience building or scaling an IT operations team from an unstructured, generalist model into a specialized one.ITIL-aligned incident/request/change management experience.Experience with endpoint management, office technology, or hardware lifecycle programs.Experience partnering with Security on identity and access governance.Core CompetenciesPeople leadership and coachingOperational ownership and SLA managementPrioritization under competing demandsStructured problem solvingVendor and cost managementCross-functional collaborationClear, candid communicationChange and growth management