Integrated Operations Center (IOC) Lead

Systems Limited is seeking an experienced Integrated Operations Center (IOC) Lead to manage and oversee 24/7 IT operations. The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring continuous service availability and optimal performance while driving operational excellence. This role requires strong expertise in IT Service Management (ITSM), incident management, monitoring tools, team leadership, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

- Lead and manage daily IOC operations, ensuring seamless 24/7 service coverage through effective shift planning and team coordination.
- Oversee ITIL-aligned processes including Incident, Problem, Change, Event, and Request Management.
- Handle major incidents, manage escalations, communicate with stakeholders, and conduct root cause analysis (RCA).
- Ensure compliance with SLA/OLA agreements, monitor service performance, and drive timely resolution of incidents.
- Manage and optimize monitoring and observability tools such as Nagios, SolarWinds, Zabbix, Dynatrace, Splunk, Datadog, and Grafana.
- Oversee ITSM ticket workflows, automation, reporting, and dashboards using JIRA Service Management or equivalent platforms.
- Maintain and update knowledge bases, standard operating procedures (SOPs), runbooks, and troubleshooting documentation.
- Identify and implement opportunities for process optimization, automation, and continuous service improvement.
- Track and analyze operational KPIs, incident trends, Mean Time to Acknowledge (MTTA), Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR), and overall service availability.
- Collaborate closely with infrastructure, application, network, security, and vendor teams to ensure operational efficiency.
- Prepare detailed operational reports and present service performance insights to senior management.

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline.
- 8 to 10+ years of experience in IT Operations, Network Operations Center (NOC)/IOC, Service Desk, or IT Service Delivery, including a minimum of 3 years in a leadership or supervisory role.
- Strong hands-on expertise in ITSM processes, ITIL frameworks, and Major Incident Management.
- Proven experience managing 24/7 operations, shift-based teams, and escalation procedures.
- Practical experience with monitoring, alerting, and observability tools.
- Proficiency with JIRA Service Management or equivalent ITSM platforms; JIRA experience preferred.
- Solid knowledge of Knowledge Base Management, SOP documentation, and operational governance.
- Demonstrated ability in driving continuous improvement, automation, and operational efficiency.
- Excellent leadership, stakeholder management, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications and Additional Skills

- ITIL v3 or v4 Foundation certification is preferred.
- Exposure to cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP), including hybrid infrastructure environments.
- Familiarity with scripting languages and automation tools such as Python, PowerShell, Ansible, or AIOps solutions is an advantage.

This role offers the opportunity to lead a critical function within a dynamic IT environment, contributing significantly to service reliability and operational excellence. Candidates with a proactive mindset and a passion for continuous improvement will thrive in this position.