Application Support Service Manager

Job Title: Application Support Service Manager

Overview:
The Service Manager for 24x5 Application Support is responsible for ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of mission-critical applications across a 24/5 support environment. This role involves overseeing the support teams, managing incidents, ensuring service levels are met, and coordinating with various stakeholders to maintain system uptime and reliability. The Service Manager will work proactively to identify potential issues, improve service delivery, and ensure application performance aligns with business objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

Service Delivery Management:

• Oversee the 24x5 support services for all critical business applications, ensuring high availability and timely resolution of incidents and requests.
• Manage and ensure adherence to service level agreements (SLAs) for response times, resolution times, and overall service quality.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams (IT operations, infrastructure, development) to ensure seamless application support.

Incident & Problem Management:

• Ensure timely identification and resolution of high-priority incidents to minimize business disruption.
• Lead root cause analysis (RCA) for major incidents and implement corrective actions to prevent future occurrences.
• Oversee the incident management process, ensuring incidents are logged, tracked, and escalated appropriately.
• Ensure a robust problem management process is in place to address recurring application issues and work with teams to implement long-term solutions.

Team Leadership & Support:

• Lead and manage the 24x5 support team, ensuring adequate staffing and training to handle continuous application support demands.
• Provide leadership and mentoring to team members, setting performance goals and ensuring alignment with organizational expectations.
• Foster a collaborative environment for the team to effectively manage incidents and communicate with stakeholders.

Continuous Service Improvement:

• Proactively identify areas for improvement in application support, implementing enhancements to processes, tools, and technologies.
• Monitor application performance and trends to identify potential issues and ensure service continuity.
• Collaborate with other teams to implement proactive measures that reduce incidents and improve service availability.

Stakeholder Communication & Reporting:

• Serve as the primary point of contact for key stakeholders, providing regular updates on application performance, incident resolutions, and service metrics.
• Inform stakeholders of any major incidents or service disruptions and provide updates on resolution progress.
• Produce regular reports on application support performance, including incident management, downtime, and key performance indicators (KPIs).

Change Management:

• Oversee and coordinate the change management process for application-related changes, ensuring documentation, testing, and controlled deployment.
• Ensure proper risk assessments are conducted for each change, with adequate rollback plans in place.
• Collaborate with IT operations and development teams to ensure changes do not negatively impact the support environment.

Risk & Compliance Management:

• Ensure the application support service complies with relevant regulatory and security standards.
• Monitor and address any security vulnerabilities related to supported applications, working with security teams for timely solutions.
• Ensure proper backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity plans are in place for all supported applications.

Qualifications:

Experience:

• 6+ years of experience in application support or IT service management, with at least 2-3 years in a leadership or service management role.
• Proven experience managing 24x7 support environments, particularly for mission-critical or enterprise-level applications.
• Strong understanding of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) processes, including incident, problem, and change management.
• Experience with monitoring tools, ticketing systems (e.g., ServiceNow, JIRA), and IT service management platforms.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms, infrastructure, and applications (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) is a plus.

Skills:

• Excellent leadership and team management abilities.
• Strong communication skills, able to effectively interact with both technical teams and business stakeholders.
• Ability to manage high-pressure situations and ensure swift resolution of incidents.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to identify trends, root causes, and improvement opportunities.
• Strong customer service orientation, with a focus on delivering high-quality support.

Certifications:

• ITIL Foundation certification (preferred).
• PMP or Scrum Master certification is a plus.