Service Manager - Cloud & Infrastructure

About the role

The IT Service Manager – Cloud & Infrastructure Operations leads the delivery of reliable, secure, and scalable cloud and infrastructure platforms at Church Mutual Group. This role is accountable for the day-to-day operations of shared technology platforms that support enterprise applications and business services. The position provides technical leadership and direction for platform engineering capabilities across cloud and on-premises environments, networking, and security domains. Operating as a principal-level contributor, the role partners closely with architecture and engineering teams to define technical strategy, guide solution design, and ensure operational excellence.

Responsibilities

Organizational Leadership

• Participate in the development and implementation of policies and procedures to deliver Cloud & Infrastructure Operations services.
• Operate with near-complete autonomy and collaborate seamlessly across the IT organization.
• Make architecture-level decisions, identify future-state needs, and engage directly with senior IT leadership to shape priorities and roadmaps.
• Drive transformational improvements in detection, response, resilience, and control architecture.
• Establish standards, govern technical patterns, and evaluate advanced tooling.
• Act as the top technical mentor and thought leader within the engineering and operations track.
• Influence Engineering, Architecture, and other stakeholders.
• Supervise direct reports with strong technical leadership.

Team Management

• Supervise and mentor IT staff in Cloud & Infrastructure Operations, fostering a collaborative and high-performance environment.
• Oversee daily operations, including task assignments, workload distribution, and performance management.
• Oversee staffing, training, performance management goals and evaluations, and contribute to department workforce planning initiatives.
• Allocate resources effectively to meet business and operational goals.
• Monitor and control operational expenses, optimizing cost-efficiency.
• Enforce security policies and ensure compliance with regulatory and industry standards.
• Collaborate with security teams to manage risk and protect organizational assets.
• Contribute to budgeting and resource planning.

Service Reliability & Performance

• Ensure reliability and performance of IT services, platforms, and supporting infrastructure.
• Monitor and manage system operations, proactively addressing issues and minimizing downtime.
• Utilize ITIL framework, industry best practices, and key-performance indicators for monthly reporting of performance.

Process Improvement

• Identify and implement opportunities to enhance operational efficiency and service quality.
• Standardize and document operational procedures, ensuring consistent execution.
• Provide regular updates to leadership on operational health and initiatives.
• Implement automation and other technologies to streamline operations.

Service Delivery

• Lead response efforts for major incidents and root cause analysis.
• Implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence and improve resilience.
• Support strategic projects and initiatives by providing expertise and oversight of IT resources.
• Ensure successful implementation and integration of new technologies and systems.
• Track and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs).

Relationship Management

• Manage relationships with vendors, contractors, and internal stakeholders.
• Ensure third-party services meet performance and compliance expectations.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for IT platform-related escalations, inquiries, and issues.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure their satisfaction with IT services.
• Collaborate with other IT and business units to align IT initiatives with organizational goals.
• Perform vendor negotiations, contract management, escalation, purchase requests, and invoice verification.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in IT operations or a related field, with at least 2 years in a supervisory or management position.
• Strong experience with on-premises and cloud platforms and the operations necessary to support these environments.
• Familiarity with IT service management (ITSM) frameworks such as ITIL.

Skills

• Strong leadership and team management skills.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical abilities.
• Outstanding communication, interpersonal, and customer service skills.
• Proficiency in using IT tools and technologies.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong understanding of regulatory requirements and compliance standards related to IT operations.