OPERATIONS LEAD, NETWORK OPERATION CENTER (NOC)

Job Summary

This role is responsible for the end-to-end management of network operations, infrastructure monitoring, and IT service delivery across a complex, multi-client environment. Reporting to senior manager, Head of NOC, the role owns the full incident lifecycle — from alert triage and escalation through to resolution — acting as Incident Commander for major and critical events, while ensuring all activities meet defined SLA thresholds and quality standards within the ITSM platform. Beyond day-to-day operations, the position drives process maturity by identifying automation opportunities, maintaining SOPs and runbooks, and enforcing adherence to security and compliance frameworks including ISO 27001 and ITIL.
A key stakeholder interface, the role serves as the primary point of escalation for NOC matters, producing regular performance and SLA reports for both internal management and external clients. The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise across network infrastructure, monitoring toolsets, and cloud environments, combined with proven leadership in a managed services or enterprise NOC setting.

Job Description

Team Leadership & Development
• Lead, mentor, and develop a multi-tiered NOC team fostering a high-performance and accountable culture.
• Set clear performance objectives, conduct regular 1-on-1s, and support individual growth through training and certification pathways.
• Build and maintain shift schedules, on-call rotations, and escalation matrices to ensure 24/7 operational coverage.

Network Operations & Infrastructure Management
• Own daily NOC operations to ensure consistent monitoring, timely alert triage, disciplined escalation, and structured resolution. Ensure all NOC tickets meet quality standards for acknowledgment, updates, resolution notes, and closure
• Oversee the monitoring, management, and health of network infrastructure including routers, switches, firewalls, servers, and cloud-connected environments.

• Ensure all network events are promptly detected, triaged, escalated, and resolved within defined SLA thresholds.
• Maintain and continuously improve monitoring and alerting strategies using industry-standard toolsets (e.g., Zabbix, PRTG, Cloud Monitoring)

Incident & Change Management
• Act as Incident Manager / Incident Commander for Major and Critical incidents within NOC scope. Lead the response to critical and major incidents — coordinating cross-functional resources, driving rapid resolution, and managing stakeholder communications throughout the incident lifecycle.
• Oversee change activity coordination, ensuring changes are reviewed, approved, and executed with minimal operational risk.
• Enforce accurate and timely documentation of all incidents, changes, and operational activities within the ITSM/ticketing platform (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira).

Process Improvement & Governance
• Identify and drive opportunities to improve NOC workflows, automation, and tooling to enhance efficiency and reduce mean time to resolve (MTTR).
• Develop, maintain, and review standard operating procedures (SOPs), runbooks, and escalation playbooks.
• Ensure network operations adhere to organizational security policies, compliance requirements, and relevant industry standards (ISO 27001, ITIL, etc.).
Reporting & Stakeholder Engagement
• Produce regular and ad-hoc reports on network performance, incident trends, SLA compliance, and team productivity for management and client stakeholders.
• Serve as the primary point of escalation for NOC-related matters, maintaining clear and professional communication with internal teams and external clients.

Note:
• Scope of work will be revised depending on the management needs or request. Others related duties as and when assigned by the superior from time to time

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Network Engineering, or a related discipline — or equivalent professional experience.

Skills

Essential
• Minimum 8 years of experience in network operations, with at least 3 years in a team lead or supervisory role.
• Strong working knowledge of network protocols, infrastructure components, and monitoring platforms.
• Demonstrated experience in incident management, root cause analysis (RCA), and post-incident review processes.
• Familiarity with ITIL frameworks; ITIL Foundation certification preferred.
• Experience with ITSM platforms such as ServiceNow or equivalent.
• Availability for on-call responsibilities in response to critical incidents when required.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Fluency in English (written and spoken) is required.

Preferred
• Professional certifications such as CCNP, Palo Alto PCNSA/PCNSE, Fortinet NSE, or equivalent.
• Experience in a Managed Services Provider (MSP) or multi-client NOC environment.
• Exposure to cloud infrastructure (Azure, AWS, GCP) and hybrid network environments.