M-Pesa Africa: Senior Manager - Service Operations at Safaricom Kenya

Job Description

• The Senior Manager-Service Operations is accountable for end-to-end Technology Operations across M-PESA Africa markets, ensuring reliable, resilient, secure and cost-effective services that support business growth, customer experience and operational excellence. 
• The role provides leadership across Technical Operations, Service Management, Office IT Operations (OIT), Enterprise Application Support, Observability, Automation, Vendor Management, Financial Management and Operational Governance. 
• The role governs 24x7 operations, including monitoring, Service Desk, Level 1 and Level 2 support, major incident response, production support and enterprise operational services. It ensures critical platforms operate through clear support models, defined accountabilities, service levels, escalation paths, runbooks, resilience controls and operational readiness standards. 
• The role is accountable for the effectiveness and continual improvement of all ITIL-aligned service management processes while embedding Agile ways of working, strong stakeholder engagement, regulatory alignment, audit readiness, risk management and measurable performance management across operating markets. 
• The role drives the transformation of Technology Operations through intelligent automation, AIOps and observability, while building a high-performing and highly engaged operations team. 

Responsibilities

Key Accountabilities:

Impact on the business

• Ensure stable, reliable and resilient technology services across M-PESA Africa markets, aligned to agreed service levels, regulatory expectations and customer experience outcomes. 
• Own end-to-end operational service performance across critical platforms, enterprise applications, shared services, revenue-generating services, revenue protection platforms, AML/financial crime platforms and market-facing capabilities.
• Lead the Technology Operations operating model covering Service Management, Technical Operations, OIT, UAM, Enterprise Applications, Observability, Enterprise Tools and supplier operations.
• Accountable for all ITIL-aligned service management processes, ensuring governance, process maturity, operational discipline, compliance, continual improvement and customer satisfaction.
• Ensure 24/7 monitoring and event management coverage for critical services, with effective alerting, triage, escalation, event correlation and service degradation detection.
• Own 24/7 incident response capability for priority incidents, including command-and-control, major incident mobilisation, stakeholder visibility and restoration discipline.
• Ensure support teams have clear scope, shift coverage, triage procedures, escalation paths, knowledge articles, SOPs, runbooks and measurable targets. 
• Govern OIT and UAM operations, including workplace technology support, productivity platforms, access operations, evidence readiness and alignment with security controls. 
• Drive service availability, recoverability, operational readiness, resilience, productivity and cost optimization through data-led improvement and automation-led remediation. 
• Own Technology Operations budget planning inputs, cost control, supplier spend governance, resource utilization and operational investment prioritization. 

Customers, suppliers and third parties

• Build and maintain strong relationships with Executive Leadership, Local Markets, Business Leadership, Group Functions, Technology Teams, Vendors, Suppliers and Strategic Partners to drive operational outcomes.
• Govern vendor and supplier performance, including SLA/OLA compliance, operational contract obligations, service reviews, remediation plans, service improvement commitments and escalation management. 
• Partner with Supply Chain, Finance, Legal and Technology leadership on contract reviews, supplier performance assessments, renewal inputs and operational risk decisions. 
• Ensure vendor accountability is clearly separated from internal BAU support accountability, with documented ownership, escalation routes and corrective action tracking. 

Leadership and teamwork

• Lead a multi-disciplinary Technology Operations function covering Service Management, Technical Operations, 24/7 Monitoring, Service Desk, Level 1, Level 2 application support, Incident Response, OIT/UAM, Enterprise Apps, Observability and Enterprise Tools.
• Build a high-performing Technology Operations team with high employee engagement, clear accountability, strong leadership capability and a culture of ownership and continuous learning. 
• Drive talent development, succession planning, coaching, recognition, wellbeing and leadership development to sustain a motivated, skilled and productive workforce. 
• Embed Agile ways of working and strengthen collaboration with Agile Release Trains, product teams, platform engineering, architecture, security and market stakeholders. 

Innovation, governance, risk and compliance

• Drive transformation from reactive operations to proactive, intelligent and automated operations using observability, AIOps, automation, self-healing and predictive operational insights.
• Ensure Technology Operations controls, processes and support models align with market-specific regulatory, compliance and operational requirements. 
• Support internal and external audits, regulatory reviews and compliance assessments through evidence, documentation, control oversight and remediation tracking. 
• Identify, assess, mitigate and report operational, supplier, technology and service risks, ensuring executive visibility and effective remediation. 
• Track operational cost drivers, managed service consumption, support utilisation, vendor spend, automation benefits and efficiency initiatives. 

Qualifications

Must-Have Experience / Qualifications:

• Degree in Technology, Engineering, Computer Science or a related field. 
• 15+ years of experience leading enterprise technology operations in complex, mission-critical environments. 
• Proven leadership of large-scale support, service management and operational teams in different locations or regions. 
• Strong knowledge of ITIL-aligned service management practices. 
• Experience leading 24x7 operations, monitoring and incident response functions. 
• Experience managing enterprise vendors, suppliers and managed service providers. 
• Experience managing operational budgets, cost optimisation and financial governance. 
• Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills. 
• Experience working across regulated and multi-country operating environments. 
• Experience supporting audit, risk, compliance and regulatory requirements. 
• Agile leadership experience within product-oriented delivery environments. 
• Demonstrated success in operational transformation, automation and continuous improvement. 

 Preferred Experience:

• Mobile financial services, fintech, payments, banking, telecommunications or other regulated digital technology environments. 
• Experience operating services across multiple African markets or multinational technology environments.
• Observability, AIOps, automation, ITSM platforms, self-healing operations and Zero Touch Operations. 
• Experience establishing or scaling operations for new markets or services, including localisation, vendor consolidation, managed service redesign, transition to BAU and operational cost optimisation.

Core Competencies: 

• Strategic leadership, people leadership, talent development, coaching, executive communication and high employee engagement.
• Stakeholder management, vendor management, financial management, budget control, commercial acumen, governance and compliance.
• Technology operations leadership, ITIL service management, operational resilience, service delivery management, major incident leadership and business continuity.
• Agile leadership, operating model design, digital transformation, automation, AIOps, Zero Touch Operations, change leadership and innovation management.
• Risk management, audit readiness, regulatory awareness, data-driven decision making, structured problem solving, root-cause analysis, customer focus, collaboration and results orientation.
• Strategic thinking, decision making, structured problem solving, customer focus, collaboration, accountability and integrity.