Head of Operations at Human Capital Synergies Africa Ltd

Our Client, a market leader in the provision of integrated financial services seeks to recruit a Head of Operations. The Head of Operations will have overall responsibility for the management and delivery of all contracted services for individual customers or a portfolio of customer accounts. S/he will be responsible for ensuring that services delivered meet the contracted specifications and expectations established with customers, whilst improving quality and customer satisfaction.

Reports to:  Managing Director

Main duties and responsibilities. 

• Operational Excellence
  • Drive operational excellence in everything we do. This includes creating processes, procedures, and automation to improve efficiency in our day-to-day tasks and projects.  
  • Work closely on supporting our internal and external customers and ensuring that their needs and issues are being addressed
  • Incident/Change Management
  • Developing and improving incident and change management within the organization.  
  • Driving initiatives regarding improvements to existing tools & processes.
  • Providing feedback on new practices & procedures in order to scale with the rapid expansion of the organizations platform and customer base.
• Relationship Management
  • Providing effective leadership for the organizations services to the customer
  • Developing and enhancing the strategic relationship with the customer on a medium to long term basis.
  • Delivering against Service Level Agreements, customer commitments and Service Improvement Programs.
  • Working effectively with the customer and internal delivery teams – principally Account Management, Service Desk, Infrastructure & Operations, Retail business,
• Digital Marketing, User experience.
  • Monitoring and improving levels of customer satisfaction (Net Promoter Score).
  • Developing and delivering service account roadmaps, working alongside Service Account Managers and Solution/Technical Architects and Engineering teams.
• People Management
  • Providing effective tactical and strategic advice, coaching and guidance to Field / On site staff, Service Desk agents, Service Management staff with a focus on operational delivery
  • For all direct reports, provide personal/career development
  • Ensuring effective resource management, influencing and identifying required resources within Operations and wherever possible forecasting ahead in a timely manner
  • Setting and managing SMART objectives for direct reports
• Commercial Management
  • Managing and controlling contractual scope and the organizations compliance against the scope
  • Managing and delivering the Profit and Loss account to agreed targets (when applicable)
  • Working with Service Account Managers on account planning and subsequent delivery of the plan including relationship mapping/management, identifying upsell opportunities, securing and maintaining reference-ability, winning renewals and re-procurements.
  • Working across Operations to support the delivery of cost reduction plans, working closely with Operations management and the customer
  • Supporting the budgeting process (as requested)
  • Identifying and if necessary, securing upsell opportunities
• Quality Assurance
  • Supporting the effective transition of the new services into BAU adhering to Service Transition Process (where applicable)
  • Attending quality and service reviews and ensuring that these happen in accordance the organizations guidelines
  • Reviewing and approving key Service Management documentation for customer engagements
  • Developing and publicizing Service Management best practice processes, procedures, guidelines and templates for the organization.
  • Populating and maintaining the Customer Engagement Register including open actions, risks, issues, dependencies etc.
  • Creating and managing any contracted Quality documentation e.g. Service Operations Manual, Asset Risk Assessment Register, Communications Plan etc.
  • Creating a vision for the customer
  • Driving the delivery, efficiency and effectiveness of the contracted services
  • Challenging the status quo to bring about improvements in Service Management tools, processes and the organization

 Essential Skills, Knowledge & Experience

• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science/ Engineering/ Mathematics/Business
• Experience within a management position with a focus on IT management/development.
• At least 5-7 years of management experience with a focus on IT and Service Management.
• Business experience gained in Service Management and/or Business Management roles, across a range of customers
• Relationship building with senior members of an organization – gaining trust and confidence from customers
• Understanding of selling and marketing processes and practices;
• Ability to handle difficulties, performance problems and conflict between team members;
• Ability to understand and manage financial issues relating to budgets and forecasts and to maximize profit through negotiation;
• Knowledge of outsourcing models – through different generations e.g. Service Management vs. Service Integration;
• Ability to work as part of a team with a high degree of drive, determination and motivation to succeed;
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks.
• Proven strong customer relationship and negotiation skills
• Proven ability to innovate and drive service roadmaps
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including written and presentation skills
• Be able to demonstrate IT related problem-solving skills
• Undertaking or have undertaken specific service management training e.g. ITIL
• Experience driving and presenting root cause analysis and error correction from operational events to senior management.
• Leading development life cycle processes and best practices, esp. in the areas of automation and monitoring
• Ability to work well under pressure with minimal supervision and keep up with a fast-moving environment via effective prioritization and time management.