Associate Program Manager

Role Overview

We are seeking a seasoned Operations Lead / Shift Lead to manage end-to-end service delivery for IT Infrastructure / Network / Managed Services operations. The role will be responsible for leading large operational teams, ensuring SLA adherence, driving incident and escalation management, and continuously improving operational efficiency in a 24x7 environment.

This position requires strong experience in BPO-style service delivery combined with IT/NOC operations, client-facing leadership, and shift-based operational ownership.

Key Responsibilities

Shift Leadership & Operations

• Lead and coordinate all NOC activities during the assigned shift (24x7 environment).

• Assign and prioritize work across NOC analysts (alerts, incidents, requests, change monitoring).

• Ensure adherence to operational processes, runbooks, and escalation procedures.

• Provide mentorship, coaching, and real-time guidance to NOC team members.

Monitoring &Incident Management

• Oversee proactive monitoring of network, servers, applications, cloud platforms, and customer-facing services using monitoring/observability tools.

• Triage alarms, validate impact, open/track incidents, and ensure timely escalation to engineering/on-call teams.

• Act as Incident Commander (or support the IC) for high-severity incidents and major outages.

• Drive service restoration by coordinating cross-functional teams (Network, Systems, App, Security, Vendor/Carrier).

Communications & Stakeholder Management

• Provide clear, timely internal and external communications during incidents (status updates, ETAs, business impact).

• Participate in customer/escalation calls as required and manage expectations professionally.

• Maintain accurate shift logs, incident timelines, and handoff notes between shifts.

• Maintain strong client relationships with a focus on delivery excellence
• Coordinate with internal teams, vendors, and third-party partners

• Support service reviews, operational reporting, and governance meetings

Change & Maintenance Oversight

• Monitor scheduled changes/maintenance windows to confirm successful execution and detect regressions.

• Enforce change control policies and ensure post-change validation is performed.

• Identify and flag high-risk changes and ensure proper readiness and rollback plans.

Problem Management & Continuous Improvement

• Identify recurring issues and trends propose improvements to monitoring, automation, and runbooks.

• Contribute to incident postmortems (RCA support), including timeline accuracy and action items.

• Recommend process improvements to reduce noise, improve MTTR, and enhance service reliability.

Reporting & Compliance

• Track and report shift performance metrics (tickets handled, SLA compliance, alert response times).

  • Ensure tickets are updated with accurate notes, categorization, and resolution details.

  • Support compliance requirements (audit trails, access control, documentation discipline).

Required Skills & Competencies

• Strong experience in IT Operations / Service Delivery / BPO Operations
• Hands-on exposure to NOC, SOC, Data Center Operations, Infrastructure Support
• Deep understanding of ITIL processes (Incident, Problem, Change, Service Management)
• Excellent people leadership, escalation handling, and decision-making skills
• Strong communication and stakeholder management abilities

Qualifications & Experience

• 1215 years of experience in Operations / Service Delivery roles
• Proven experience managing shift-based, 24x7 operations
• ITIL certification preferred Project Management certifications are a plus