Operations Service Manager

Zayo Group

5d•$66,500 - $95,000•Remote

About The Position

Zayo is seeking an Operations Service Manager to be the primary operational interface and customer advocate for assigned large, strategic accounts. The Operations Service Manager partners closely with Customer Success, Sales and cross-functional operational teams to drive a superior, differentiated and sustained customer experience. Provides proactive and reactive operational leadership throughout the customer lifecycle by maintaining awareness of service health, identifying trends and chronic issues, assessing operational risk, and driving appropriate corrective actions. Coordinates, develops and delivers operational reviews, Root Cause Analysis/Reason for Outage (RFO) activity, Service Improvement Plans (SIP), and other customer-specific operational initiatives. Leads cross-functional coordination across NCC/NOC, Service Assurance, Engineering, Field Operations, Service Delivery, Product and other organizations to increase visibility, establish accountability, remove barriers and drive issues impacting the assigned customer base toward resolution. Maintains a strong understanding of assigned customers' services, network environment, SLAs, operational expectations, escalation requirements, known risks and chronic conditions in order to effectively advocate for the customer internally and set appropriate expectations externally. May train and mentor peers and partner with management on strategic initiatives and process improvements.

Requirements

Demonstrated ability to independently manage complex responsibilities and strategic customer situations with a high level of proficiency and judgment.
5 or more years of telecommunications or relevant industry experience, with working knowledge of technologies such as Transport, IP, Data, Fiber, Voice and Managed Services.
Strong technical and operational acumen with the ability to understand troubleshooting processes, network concepts and technical root cause without being the direct technical resolver.
Strong understanding of Service Assurance processes, operational systems, escalation management and telecommunications industry best practices.
Exceptional customer-facing skills with the ability to understand customer impact while balancing technical realities and defined service expectations.
Strong analytical skills with the ability to identify patterns, assess risk and communicate complex information succinctly.
Strong interpersonal, teamwork, conflict resolution, negotiation and influencing skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with technical teams, operational leaders and customer executives.
Strong presentation skills with the ability to develop and contribute to clear, professional internal and customer-facing materials.
Strong organizational, prioritization and time-management capabilities with the ability to manage multiple complex issues simultaneously.
Ability to positively influence and collaborate across organizations without direct authority.
Demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement and willingness to challenge existing processes when opportunities for improvement are identified.
Highly motivated self-starter who can operate effectively both independently and within a cross-functional team environment.
Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Telecommunications, Technology or a related field, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
Ability to support occasional after-hours, weekend or holiday customer needs and travel as required.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary customer-facing operational point of contact for significant service assurance issues, chronic service conditions, operational escalations and service improvement initiatives.
Provide proactive and reactive operational leadership by identifying emerging risks, escalating concerns appropriately, engaging necessary resources, establishing clear ownership and driving actions through resolution.
Serve as the operational subject matter expert and customer advocate for assigned accounts, with strong technical fluency across relevant Zayo products, services, operational processes and Service Level Agreements.
Maintain working knowledge of assigned customers' network and service footprint, operational requirements, escalation expectations, business-critical services, known vulnerabilities and recurring service concerns.
Develop and deliver regular operational reviews that provide meaningful insight into network and service performance, including performance trends, chronic issue analysis, recurring failure patterns, service risks, areas of improvement and recommended corrective actions.
Translate complex technical and operational information into clear, concise communication appropriate for technical, operational and executive audiences.
Assist with the development, preparation and maintenance of presentation materials and decks for internal and external meetings, including operational reviews, executive discussions, Service Excellence reporting, customer meetings, SIP reviews and other strategic account engagements. Ensure content is accurate, concise, audience-appropriate and clearly communicates service performance, risks, actions and key operational updates.
Partner with the Network Control Center, Engineering, Service Assurance and other technical organizations to drive timely and accurate Root Cause Analysis/Reason for Outage documentation, including validation of root cause, contributing factors, corrective actions and preventive measures.
Ensure customer-facing RFO and postmortem documentation meets appropriate quality, accuracy and timeliness expectations and lead customer discussions related to findings and corrective actions.
Identify and communicate Service Assurance process gaps and recurring operational concerns requiring structured improvement.
Develop and drive Service Improvement Plans, including defining objectives, actions, owners, milestones, customer commitments, success criteria and closure requirements. Lead internal and customer-facing SIP governance through sustained resolution.
Track cross-functional actions and commitments associated with customer operational issues, proactively addressing delays, risks or dependencies that may prevent successful resolution.
Partner closely with the assigned Customer Success Manager to provide a coordinated customer experience, clearly aligning ownership between operational service management and broader customer, commercial and lifecycle responsibilities.
Provide operational health, risk and escalation visibility to Customer Success leadership and other internal stakeholders, including recurring business, executive and Service Excellence reporting as required.
Identify opportunities to improve internal operational processes and advocate for systemic corrective actions when issues extend beyond an individual incident or customer.
Build effective working relationships across Zayo organizations and positively influence teams where direct authority does not exist in order to achieve customer and business outcomes.
Support significant operational escalations outside normal business hours when necessary, including evenings, weekends and holidays. Ensure customers are connected with the appropriate operational resources and that critical issues receive appropriate visibility, communication and follow-through.
Maintain reasonable availability outside standard business hours for high-priority customer situations, escalations or business-critical operational issues associated with assigned strategic accounts.
Travel may be required based on customer and business needs, generally not exceeding approximately 10%.