Production & Operations Leadership
- Own and lead the entire production support function across L1, L2, and L3 tiers, ensuring seamless incident management, SLA compliance, and service continuity.
- Define and implement operational frameworks, escalation matrices, and support models that can scale across multiple clients and projects.
- Establish and manage a structured Production Operations team, including hiring, mentoring, and performance management of support engineers and DevOps engineers.
- Serve as the single point of accountability for all production incidents, driving rapid resolution while ensuring thorough root cause analysis and preventive actions.
DevOps & Infrastructure Oversight
- Oversee the DevOps function including CI/CD pipelines, container orchestration (OpenShift/Kubernetes), and deployment automation.
- Ensure environment stability across development, staging, and production, collaborating closely with engineering and platform teams.
- Drive adoption of monitoring, alerting, and observability tools (Splunk, Grafana, Prometheus, or equivalent) to enable proactive issue detection.
Process Design & Scalability
- Design and document standardized ITIL-aligned processes for incident, problem, change, and release management that can be replicated across new client engagements.
- Build playbooks, runbooks, and knowledge bases to ensure operational consistency regardless of team size or client complexity.
- Lead the creation of onboarding frameworks for new clients, including environment setup, SLA definition, team sizing, and tooling selection.
Client & Stakeholder Management
- Act as the senior operations representative in client-facing engagements, presenting SLA performance, incident reports, and continuous improvement plans.
- Partner with Program Managers, Delivery Leads, and C-level executives to align operational strategy with business objectives.
- Participate in pre-sales and proposal activities by defining the production support model and resourcing strategy for potential clients.
Continuous Improvement & Reporting
- Identify and drive automation opportunities to reduce manual effort, improve MTTR, and enhance system reliability
- Prepare and deliver executive-level dashboards and reports on operational health, team performance, and SLA trends
- Conduct regular post-incident reviews and lead initiatives to harden systems and eliminate recurring issues.
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, or a related field.
- 10+ years of experience in IT operations, production support, or technical service delivery, including at least 5 years in a leadership or management role.
- Proven track record within digital banking, fintech, or financial services production environments.
- Demonstrated experience in building, scaling, and managing IT operations teams across multi-client or multi-product environments.
- Strong hands-on expertise in managing L1/L2/L3 support models with well-defined escalation and resolution workflows.
Technical Expertise:
- Deep understanding of DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and containerization platforms such as OpenShift, Kubernetes, and Docker.
- Proficiency in monitoring and log analysis tools including Splunk, Grafana, Prometheus, ELK Stack, or similar technologies.
- Solid knowledge of microservices architecture, Java Spring-based applications, and API-driven ecosystems.
- Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and hybrid infrastructure environments.
Frameworks & Certifications (Preferred)
- ITIL v4 Foundation (or higher) certification is preferred.
- Additional certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2, AWS/Azure, or Kubernetes (CKA/CKAD) are considered an advantage.
- Understanding of regulatory and compliance frameworks relevant to financial services (e.g., PCI DSS, SOC 2, ISO 27001, SAMA).
Leadership & Soft Skills
- Exceptional leadership skills with the ability to build, mentor, and retain high-performing technical teams.
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with confidence in engaging C-level executives and client leadership.
- Strategic mindset with the ability to translate business requirements into operational plans and scalable team structures.
- Excellent problem-solving and decision-making abilities, especially during high-pressure or critical incidents.
- Proactive, ownership-driven approach with a strong focus on operational excellence and continuous improvement.
