Job Description

Job Title: Operations Manager (Service Management & Site Reliability)

Location:

Office-Based with Hybrid Optional

Department:

Engineering / Platform & Service Operations

Reports to:

Head of Engineering / Platform Services

Salary:

Competitive (Market-aligned for Manchester)

Must have full right to work in UK

Located within 45 minutes of Knutsford

Company Overview

We build next-generation solutions for capturing and archiving regulated data from voice, messaging (e.g., WhatsApp, Teams), and operational technology systems. Our platform supports

mission-critical compliance workloads

for customers in financial services and other regulated industries, where

availability, integrity, and auditability are essential

.

Role Summary

We are seeking an experienced

Operations Manager

to act as the

operational owner and Service Manager

for a

business-critical platform

, while also managing the

Customer Service (Level 1) function

.

This role combines

ITIL-based service management discipline

,

Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles

, and

people leadership

to ensure high service availability, effective incident response, and continuous improvement across both customer-facing support and backend service operations.

You will have

end-to-end accountability for live service operations

, leading both the

Service Engineering team

and the

Customer Service (L1) team

, and owning service performance, platform reliability, operational risk, and financial stewardship.

Hands-on experience managing cloud platforms in critical, always-on environments is a mandatory requirement for this role.

Key Responsibilities

Service & Operational Ownership

Act as the

named Service Manager

for the platform, with full accountability for service performance, stability, and customer impact. Own the

service lifecycle

, from operational readiness and go-live through live service management and continual improvement. Define, own, and report against

SLAs, SLOs, and operational KPIs

across both customer service and service engineering functions. Serve as the primary operational escalation point for internal stakeholders and key customers.

Customer Service (L1) Management

Lead and manage the

Customer Service (Level 1) team

, ensuring consistent, high-quality first-line support for customers. Ensure effective triage, prioritisation, and escalation of incidents from L1 to Service Engineering. Drive customer-focused service metrics, including response times, resolution quality, and customer satisfaction. Establish training, coaching, and quality assurance processes to continually improve L1 service delivery.

Reliability, Availability & Incident Management

Own the

end-to-end reliability and availability

of a mission-critical, compliance-focused platform. Apply

SRE principles

to reduce incidents, manage operational risk, and balance reliability with delivery velocity. Lead major incident management, ensuring effective coordination, clear communication, and rapid service restoration.

ITIL-Aligned Service Operations

Lead

Incident, Problem, Change, and Release Management

in line with ITIL best practices. Plan and execute

on-premises software upgrades and platform changes

, ensuring controlled delivery and minimal disruption. Drive thorough

root cause analysis (RCA)

and ensure corrective actions are implemented and tracked to completion. Maintain audit-ready service documentation, runbooks, and operational procedures.

Cloud Platform & Engineering Collaboration

Own operational oversight of

cloud and hybrid platforms

supporting critical customer services. Work closely with Engineering, Product, and Security teams to ensure platforms are

operationally ready, resilient, observable, and secure

. Ensure appropriate monitoring, alerting, capacity planning, and resilience controls are in place across Azure and hybrid environments. Champion automation and Infrastructure-as-Code to reduce operational toil and improve reliability.

Budget & Cost Management

Own and manage the

operations and service engineering budget

, ensuring spend is forecast, controlled, and aligned to service outcomes. Manage costs related to cloud infrastructure, on-premises upgrades, tooling, licensing, and third-party services. Partner with Finance and Procurement to justify investment and identify

cost-optimisation opportunities

without compromising service reliability or compliance.

Leadership & Team Development

Lead, coach, and develop both the

Customer Service (L1)

and

Service Engineering

teams. Establish structured onboarding, training, and progression paths to build resilient, high-performing teams. Foster a culture of

accountability, service excellence, and continuous improvement

across operations.

What You Bring

Essential (Must-Have):

Proven experience

managing cloud platforms in critical, always-on production environments

. Demonstrable experience owning or operating services where

uptime, data integrity, and regulatory compliance are critical

.

Required Experience & Skills:

Azure Certification. Proven experience as an

Operations Manager, Service Manager, or equivalent

, with ownership of live services. Strong hands-on experience with

ITIL service management practices

, particularly Incident, Problem, Change, and Continual Improvement. Experience managing

Customer Service / L1 support teams

in a production environment. Working knowledge of

Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)

principles and operational risk management. Strong technical foundation across Azure, Windows Server, Linux (RedHat), Active Directory, networking, and scripting (PowerShell, Bash, or Python). Experience delivering platform upgrades and managing production change in cloud and hybrid environments. Experience owning operational budgets and cost centres. Calm, structured leadership style with a strong focus on

uptime, customer impact, deadlines, and service quality

. A genuine commitment to

training, mentoring, and building high-performing operational teams

.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: 55,000.00-60,000.00 per year

Benefits:

Company pension Free parking Gym membership Health & wellbeing programme On-site gym On-site parking Private dental insurance Private medical insurance Sick pay
Ability to commute/relocate:

Knutsford WA16 8WZ: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Work authorisation:

United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person