IT Operation Service Delivery-Associate Manager

Associate Manager – IT Operations Service Delivery

ICRISAT invites applications from motivated professionals for the position of ‘Associate Manager – IT Operations Service Delivery.’ The role involves leading and managing IT support for staff, including IT equipment, applications, software, networks, and endpoint devices while ensuring the efficient and reliable delivery of IT services aligned with business objectives. The incumbent will focus on key responsibilities such as ensuring service excellence, optimizing IT operations, managing incidents and problems, overseeing change and release management, enhancing customer and stakeholder satisfaction, ensuring compliance and security, and driving continuous improvement. This role also includes administering multiple platforms directly connected to end users and their devices. The incumbent is based at ICRISAT, Patancheru, Hyderabad, India as a lead of the IT Operational Service Delivery portfolio of the Digital Solutions Unit.

ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi- arid or dryland tropics has over 2 billion people and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT and its partners help empower these disadvantaged populations to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agricultural production systems.

ICRISAT is headquartered at Patancheru near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and eight country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT envisions a prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics. Its mission is to reduce poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental degradation in the dryland tropics. ICRISAT conducts research on its mandate crops of chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet in the arid and semi-arid tropics. The Institute focuses its work on the drylands and in protecting the environment. Tropical dryland areas are usually seen as resource-poor and perennially beset by shocks such as drought, thereby trapping dryland communities in poverty and hunger and making them dependent on external aid. Please visit – www.icrisat.org

Roles:

• Delivering IT services that meet or exceed agreed service levels (SLAs) to ensure service excellence.
• Streamlining processes to reduce downtime and improve operational efficiency and proactively detect and resolve issues before they affect end users to optimize the IT operations.
• Handle incidents effectively to minimize business impact and ensure that IT services directly support the organization’s business needs and goals.
• Engage with internal and external stakeholders to gather feedback for the improvement and ensure services meet expectations. This includes maintaining transparent communication regarding service performance, issues, and improvements
• Identify opportunities to improve service delivery through automation, updated processes, or innovative tools. Conducting regular reviews and implementing lessons learned to enhance future performance focusing on providing proactive, efficient, effective and prompt IT services.

  Key Responsibilities:

Office 365 Management and Support

• Administer and support Office 365 services, including Exchange, SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, and Power Platform, ensuring optimal performance, security, and compliance.
• Manage user accounts, shared mailboxes, groups, permissions, and licenses within Office 365 and Active Directory in a hybrid environment.
• Implement and enforce security policies, compliance measures, and multi-factor authentication (MFA), while managing self-service portals and other security controls.

Endpoint Device Management

• Configure and manage endpoint devices (laptops, desktops, mobile devices) per security standards, ensuring enrollment in MDM/UEM for centralized control.
• Deploy, update, and secure operating systems, software, and firmware while scheduling regular patches to mitigate vulnerabilities.
• Maintain an accurate inventory of endpoint devices, tracking assignments, software licenses, warranties, and lifecycle management.
• Diagnose and resolve hardware and software issues using remote and in-person support tools to ensure optimal device performance.
• Securely wipe data from retired devices and ensure proper disposal or recycling in compliance with organizational and environmental policies.
• Continuously monitor endpoint performance, troubleshoot issues, and implement updates or integrations to enhance efficiency.

Helpdesk Support Management

• Manage the IT ticketing system, perform root cause analysis, and ensure timely resolution of support requests.
• Log, prioritize, and track support tickets using a ticketing system (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira, Zendesk, etc) and respond to user inquiries and troubleshoot issues related to hardware, software, network, and applications.
• Proper assignment of tickets based on issues and escalate complex issues to higher-level support teams or vendors when necessary.
• Monitor IT systems for alerts and proactively address potential issues before they impact users and notify users of planned maintenance or outages.

Virtual call and video conference support management

• Install, configure, and test video conferencing software and hardware (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Google Meet) while setting up meeting rooms with necessary peripherals.
• Provide technical support before, during, and after meetings, assisting users with scheduling, screen sharing, recording, and participant management.
• Diagnose and resolve issues related to audio, video, connectivity, and software functionality, ensuring seamless virtual meeting experiences.
• Assist hosts in managing virtual meetings, including participant permissions, breakout rooms, and interactive features.

Project Management:

• Lead and manage operational delivery projects from initiation to completion, ensuring timely delivery within budget.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to ensure successful project execution and stakeholder alignment and monitor project progress, identify risks, and implement mitigation strategies.

People Management

• Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinions of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
• Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence and develop and improve individual skills.
• Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.

Qualifications and Skills:

Education/ Experience:

Master’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field with at least 6 years of experience in service excellence, IT operations optimization, and incident/problem management. Proficiency in administering multiple platforms directly connected to end users and their devices is essential.

3+ years of experience in supervising people.

Good to have

• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certification.
• Virtual Event & Meeting Management (VEMM) certification
• CompTIA A+ certification

 Key Relationships/collaboration:

• Internal: Collaborate with department heads, IT teams, Subject Matter Experts, and other stakeholders to drive service excellence initiatives.
• External: Engage with technology vendors, consultants, and industry experts to explore and implement efficient IT operations.

 General:

This is a contractual position for a period of 36 months.

How to apply:

The selection process will commence by 21 April 2025 until a suitable candidate is identified.  Applicants should apply  with their latest Resume, and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable about their professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged; however, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Source: https://careers.icrisat.org/careers?id=297