Cloud Operations Manager

About you and the role:

Reporting to the Head of IT Operations,  the Cloud Operations Manager is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations including health, availability, compliance and cost-effectiveness of the cloud infrastructure. Management of outsourced service provider activities including IT service levels, audit, compliance, IT controls and backup activities.

What you will be doing:

Operations Management

• Function as initial point of contact and escalation for Cloud infrastructure operations.
• Ensure all requests and escalations from users for service support and system changes are handled promptly and effectively monitor the key performance indicators and SLAs.
• Review and develop procedures and working practices for the efficient and effective running of all tasks associated with operating and controlling the Cloud infrastructure.
• Ensure that robust availability monitoring and capacity planning procedures are in place to ensure the resilience of operational services.
• Work with the wider IT team and managed service provider on the delivery of IT projects and cyber security remediation activities.
• Attend service reviews and carry out performance report reviews.
• Assist with maturing IT service management principles including governance, policies, processes, procedures, and standards.
• Identify opportunities for optimisation, automation, and process improvements.
• Assist with implementation of cloud automation and optimisation initiatives.
• Serve on CAB and review or approve CRs as needed.
• Serve as the escalation point for IT operational concerns and significant incidents.
• Ensure incidents and service requests are managed to resolution.
• Assist in the planning and implementation of the infrastructure architecture including design, migration,
• integration and installation.
• Provide & support budgetary requirements for cloud related services.
• Maintain operational RAID logs.

Audit and Compliance

• Ensure monthly / quarterly / annual IT control activities are carried out and validate associated evidence in a timely manner and perform attestations.
• Conduct yearly reviews of SOC reports for key suppliers, update or implement IT controls to address any exceptions that are found.
• Preparation of reports on IT operational risks and controls, making sure that remediation or mitigation plans are monitored and tracked.
• Maintain compliance for vendors by recording & validating performance, monthly, quarterly & annually.
• Maintain Lifecycle Asset Management compliance for Azure components.

Security and Data Protection

• Responsible for developing and maintaining key provider business contingency plans.
• Ensure access control is implemented and maintained to ensure infrastructure is secure.
• Collaborate with the security team and service providers to oversee and address security vulnerabilities effectively.

Supplier Management

• Work with MSP to ensure SOWs and SLAs are carried out to agreed performance targets and outcomes.
• Conduct monthly supplier service reviews as required to maintain service quality.
• Function as SME during any IT service onboarding activities for business acquisitions or new suppliers.
• Work with MSP to prepare service delivery reviews to senior management.
• Assist with developing RFIs and RFPs and evaluating selection criteria.
• Ensure that service levels for services/functions are maintained and continually improved, and that any problems with the day-to-day delivery of services provided by the suppliers are minimised.

Financial Management

• Assist with cloud license and software management.
• Raise purchase orders, reconcile and approve IT operations invoices and track against budget.
• Analyse cloud consumption and work with wider IT team to ensure cloud cost optimisation.

Disaster Recovery

• Act as secondary point of contact and escalation for DR activities including out of hours DR testing.
• Provide inputs to the global IT Service Continuity and Disaster Recovery (ITSC/DR) framework, including governance, plans, policies, processes, procedures, standards and strategies.
• Work with MSP to ensure Cloud resources are available to support demand for testing of IT DR & BCP services.
• Validate DR demand & cloud engineering requirements to support testing activities.
• Identify gaps in existing DR capabilities including plans, processes and other related documentation and develop remediation plans.
• Represent Cloud Operations to support IT DR tabletop exercises.
• Work with risk and other business functions to review business impact analysis (BIA) to assess and document IT recovery capabilities and identify any gaps including ability to meet required RPOs and RTOs.
• Work with MSP to develop DR/backup strategy and identify opportunities to automate DR test scenarios.
• Work with MSP to ensure daily backups and regular restore tests are carried out, reported and remediated.
• Capture and document associated third party vendor contracts and SLA’s that underpin Cloud Services.
• Ensure a central repository IT DR documentation is maintained and shared with key stakeholders.

General

• In addition to the above key responsibilities, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as the Company may reasonably require.
• Due to the geographically dispersed nature of the company and IT teams it may require a degree of out of hours working including attending team meetings and interactive with other IT Operations team members.

What you will bring:

• Experience working in a regulated environment.
• Experience working with infrastructure technologies within a centrally managed cloud environment.
• Experience of IT Disaster Recovery planning and testing.
• Experience in IT service management principles.
• Experience in managing 3rd party suppliers and adherence to SLAs.
• Experience in developing and maintaining monthly service reports.
• Experience in developing and maintaining IT service metrics.
• Experience in managing relationship with internal / external customers.
• Experience working with Managed Service Providers.
• Experience in writing / reviewing SoWs.
• Experience working with ITSM tools such as ServiceNOW.
• Experience managing public cloud infrastructure such as AWS and MS Azure.
• Experience implementing cloud automation solutions.
• ITIL qualified or relevant experience.
• Strong and broad understanding of IT methodologies, frameworks and best practices.
• A strong understanding of operational risk and risk-related control frameworks and practices such (COCO, COSO, ISO, ITIL, CMM, COBIT, etc.)
• Good technical background in a range of infrastructure technologies, specifically within a virtualized and standardised environment.
• Understanding of project management methodologies.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Ability to lead and work in a geographically dispersed virtual team environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work on multiple activities simultaneously, and work to deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills and management of expectations.
• Strong and broad understanding of IT methodologies, frameworks and best practices.
• Proven experience in dealing/working with 3rd party suppliers.

Your Benefits:

• Pension (Enrolment is automatic on joining with a 10% employer contribution)
• Dental Insurance (This is an optional taxable benefit available to employee, spouse, and dependents)
• Medical Insurance (This is an optional taxable benefit available to employee, spouse, and dependents through a private health network)
• Travel Insurance (As an employee you are automatically enrolled with business and leisure travel insurance with single, couple, family, or single parent family coverage options.)
• Eligible company funded annual 360 Health Assessment.
• Voucher for free annual eye examination.
• Option to loan a bicycle and safety equipment tax free.
• Wellness Reimbursement program (up to 700 pounds annual reimbursement for wellness related expenses, i.e, gym memberships, massage, etc.).
• Tusker – Electric Vehicle (A fixed monthly amount is taken directly from your gross salary and, in return, you get the use of a brand new electric car.).
• Optional Critical Illness coverage
• Automatic coverage provided by income protection programme
• Access to Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) for health and wellbeing
• One paid annual volunteer day