Manager, Service Operations

Thrive•New York, NY

2d•$80,000 - $125,000

About The Position

Thrive is a technology solutions provider focused on cybersecurity, hybrid cloud, global network management, disaster recovery, and managed services. The Service Operations Manager leads, develops, and scales engineering support teams to deliver a consistently strong customer experience. In partnership with the Director, Managed Services, the manager owns day-to-day service performance across assigned accounts, advances operational excellence and engineers’ professional growth, and builds client relationships that support long-term customer success. The role strengthens technical execution and ensures services are delivered predictably, with quality and a proactive mindset. The manager leads and coaches engineering teams, develops scalable team structures and workflows, supports learning and collaboration, and uses performance metrics to guide improvement. They oversee service delivery against SLAs, KPIs, and customer expectations; standardize processes, documentation, communication, and escalation practices; identify and address risks; and assist with capacity planning and resource allocation. As the primary operational contact for assigned clients, the manager aligns engineering support with customer goals, collaborates with Account Management and Project Delivery, and participates in customer reviews and roadmap planning. The role monitors customer experience, turns feedback into service improvements, supports renewal readiness, and identifies customer-aligned opportunities for expansion. It also manages operational reporting and metrics, coordinates across internal teams and customer onboarding, and maintains staffing plans and budget alignment. The position is bonus eligible, with a base salary range of $80,000–$105,000; actual compensation depends on skills, experience, qualifications, location, and applicable employment laws.

Requirements

Proven experience leading engineering or technical support teams in a managed services or enterprise IT environment, focused on operational execution and customer outcomes.
Solid understanding of IT operations concepts, including incident, request, change, and problem management, and their integration within a global service delivery model.
Demonstrated ability to develop, mentor, and grow engineering teams while fostering accountability, learning, and high performance.
Experience supporting complex customer environments with strict SLAs, regulatory controls, and high-availability service expectations.
Ability to analyze operational data, identify trends, and drive improvements using metrics-based decision making.
Strong communication skills, including the ability to translate technical and operational details into clear, actionable information for engineers and client stakeholders.
Proven success building and maintaining trusted client relationships, managing expectations, communicating service performance, and advocating for customer needs internally.
Effectiveness collaborating cross-functionally with Project Delivery, Account Management, Engineering, and other operational teams.
Ability to balance hands-on operational oversight with process improvement and scalability initiatives.
Experience managing remote and distributed teams across multiple geographies or time zones.
Strong organizational, problem-solving, and prioritization skills in a fast-paced, rapidly evolving environment.
Comfort working outside standard business hours when required for major incidents, escalations, or an on-call rotation.

Nice To Haves

ITIL Foundation certification or practical ITIL experience.

Responsibilities

Lead and coach engineering teams, promoting technical excellence, accountability, learning, and collaboration.
Build scalable team structures and workflows to address growth and changing customer needs.
Review performance metrics and guide engineers’ technical and professional development.
Ensure services meet or exceed SLAs, KPIs, and customer expectations.
Enforce standardized processes, quality documentation, effective communication, and escalation protocols.
Monitor operations, identify risks early, and proactively resolve issues.
Assist with capacity planning, workload distribution, and resource allocation.
Serve as the main operational contact for assigned clients and build transparent, responsive relationships.
Align engineering support with clients’ business needs and goals.
Collaborate with Account Management and Project Delivery, and participate in customer reviews, service discussions, and roadmap planning.
Assess customer experience and drive improvements in satisfaction, reliability, and value.
Use customer feedback to improve engineering and service delivery.
Support renewal readiness and identify customer-aligned upsell or expansion opportunities.
Track and respond to service KPIs, including SLA attainment, response and resolution times, backlog status, and customer sentiment.
Use operational data to inform decisions, improve team performance, and report trends to leadership and clients.
Manage metrics, service health, and operational reporting.
Coordinate with Engineering, Project Delivery, Account Management, and Central Services to support seamless delivery and knowledge sharing.
Support onboarding for new customers and technologies through cross-team coordination and communication.
Work with leadership on initiatives to improve efficiency, quality, and scalability.
Maintain staffing plans and budget alignment to support growth, SLA commitments, and service quality.
Participate in hiring, onboarding, and workforce planning.
Comfortably work outside standard business hours when required for major incidents, escalations, or an on-call rotation.