Cloud Operations Manager / O&M Service Delivery Manager

Applied Information Sciences•Reston, CT

About The Position

At AIS, we are seeking a talented individual to join AIS as a Senior Cloud Operations Manager. As your initial project assignment, you will support the unique needs of our client as a Cloud Operations Manager / O&M Service Delivery Manager. The Cloud Operations Manager / O&M Service Delivery Manager leads Operations & Maintenance service delivery for a large Defense Industrial Base customer operating Microsoft Azure Government and Microsoft 365 GCC-High cloud services. This role is expected to evolve O&M from its current state into a scalable, repeatable, and high-performing operating model, while maintaining stability and service continuity. The ideal candidate combines strong managed services leadership with enough technical fluency to understand Azure and M365 operations, challenge technical teams appropriately, interpret service health data, and communicate operational risk and business impact to customer leadership. The Manager must understand service desk operations, ITSM processes, cloud operations, compliance-driven environments, and how to lead technical teams toward measurable service outcomes and a strong positive customer experience.

Requirements

8+ years in IT service delivery, cloud operations, or managed services
3+ years leading managed services or support teams through growth, change, or operational maturation
ITIL 4 Foundation or equivalent IT service management certification
Experience in customer-facing managed services with ownership of service performance, service outcomes, customer experience, and operating model effectiveness
Experience improving operations through automation, self-service, monitoring improvements, ticket deflection, or process redesign.
Experience driving SLA/KPI performance, backlog health, escalations, and/or service reviews, using data to improve the system, not just report on it
Experience leading service desk / support operations (tiered support, incidents, requests, escalation, knowledge management)
Ability to design and implement scalable operating models across service functions
Working knowledge of Azure and M365; able to engage technical teams and translate operational risk
Experience with ServiceNow or similar to drive process discipline and service improvement
Strong executive communication; able to align stakeholders and build trust

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting GCC High, Azure Government, or other restricted cloud environments.
Experience supporting DIB, DoD, federal, aerospace, shipbuilding, manufacturing, or critical infrastructure customers.
Experience leading major incident management, root cause analysis, post-incident reviews, and corrective action tracking.
Experience building or improving runbook libraries, SOPs, knowledge articles, and operational readiness processes.
Experience preparing monthly service reviews, executive dashboards, QBR inputs, SLA reports, and continuous improvement plans.
HDI Support Center Manager, HDI Support Center Director, or HDI Desktop Support Manager, or comparable help desk/support center leadership certification.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification.
Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert certification.
Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate certification.
Microsoft Certified: Endpoint Administrator Associate certification.
CompTIA Security+, CISSP, CISM, CCSP, or comparable security/compliance certification.

Responsibilities

Own overall O&M service performance across Azure, Microsoft 365, endpoint management, identity, collaboration, messaging, security, and related operational workstreams.
Drive teams to meet defined SLAs, KPIs, service levels, and customer commitments.
Establish and enforce a consistent operating model for incident, request, problem, change, release, knowledge, and service level management.
Hold technical and support teams accountable for responsiveness, quality, documentation, escalation discipline, and customer communication.
Lead and mature help desk/service desk operations, including intake, triage, queue management, ticket routing, escalation, and backlog hygiene.
Define and manage tiered support models across Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, engineering escalation, and vendor escalation.
Monitor and improve key service desk metrics such as first-contact resolution, mean time to acknowledge, mean time to resolve, reopen rate, aged backlog, SLA compliance, customer satisfaction, and ticket deflection.
Drive consistent use of ServiceNow or comparable ITSM tooling for tickets, workflows, dashboards, reporting, approvals, and audit trails.
Provide operational leadership across Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 services, including monitoring, identity, endpoint management, collaboration, messaging, security, compliance, and platform reliability.
Understand the operational implications of Microsoft Entra ID, Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Intune, Defender, Purview, Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Azure networking, backup/recovery, and landing zone operations.
Serve as a primary service delivery interface for customer stakeholders and program leadership.
Build trust with customer leaders, technical teams, service desk stakeholders, and executive sponsors.
Translate technical and operational data into clear business-relevant communication, including risk, impact, trends, mitigation plans, and decisions needed.
Ensure O&M execution aligns with customer security, compliance, audit, and operational control requirements.
Support operations in regulated DIB, federal, GCC High, Azure Government, CUI, or ITAR-sensitive environments as applicable.
Coaching: Helping employees navigate challenges, strengthen relationships, and grow the skills that support success at AIS.
Career Development: Supporting employees in exploring growth opportunities at AIS and aligning development plans to reach their goals.
Performance Management: Creating clarity through clear expectations, regular feedback, and proactive support when performance concerns arise.
Accountability and Results: Holding employees accountable for meeting expectations, delivering results, and adhering to company policies and values.
Promotions and Compensation: Partnering with HR to evaluate and recommend promotions, salary adjustments, and rewards that reflect performance and potential.
Timecard Approval: Ensuring accurate and timely approval of timecards.