Principal Director, Service Operations

Job Summary

The Principal Director, Service Operations, is a strategic and operational leader responsible for driving productivity, enhancing user experiences, and delivering exceptional quality of IT & customer services across the organization. Acting as the primary representative of the Enterprise Information Services (EIS) division, this role oversees a diverse portfolio of enterprise IT operations, including end‑user platforms (mobile, AV, and telephony), productivity tools (M365 and CRM), service desks (classified and unclassified), and the vendor management office.

The incumbent will work full‑time, on‑site at our facility in Chantilly, VA or El Segundo, CA.

• Develop and execute IT operations and user experience strategies to ensure service availability, reliability, and scalability across classified and unclassified environments.
• Define and monitor operational KPIs, SLAs, and Experience Level Agreements (XLAs) to track and enhance service performance and user satisfaction.
• Establish and maintain runbooks, operational playbooks, and standardized operating procedures.
• Drive a customer‑centric IT culture focused on service excellence and operational efficiency.

• Oversee enterprise‑wide incident management, including escalation, communication, root cause analysis, and recovery efforts.
• Oversee problem management processes to identify systemic issues and eliminate recurring failures.
• Manage the change management process in partnership with Application Development, Infrastructure, and Security teams.
• Ensure consistent adherence to ITIL‑based service management practices and drive continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with infrastructure and cloud teams to maintain high availability, reliability, and scalability of IT systems.
• Leverage operational data, automation, and analytics to eliminate root causes and improve service resilience.

• Manage the enterprise service desk function, ensuring fast resolution times, high‑quality support, and positive user experiences.
• Drive initiatives to enhance quality of service, self‑service capabilities, automation, and ticket reduction.
• Align service desk operations with end‑user platforms (endpoint engineering, identity, and collaboration tools).
• Improve service turnaround times, quality, and customer satisfaction metrics across all support channels.

• Partner with Stakeholder Partners to align IT operations with mission and business priorities.
• Collaborate with Application Development, Infrastructure, and Security teams to support deployments, upgrades, and platform changes.
• Coordinate with data management teams to ensure operational readiness for analytics platforms and mission‑critical services.
• Ensure operational compliance with NIST, CMMC, and corporate governance frameworks.

• Participate in OCIO governance forums, contributing to strategy, alignment, and operational planning.
• Identify and mitigate operational risks, ensuring regulatory and corporate compliance for classified and unclassified environments.
• Maintain documentation, controls, and evidence to support audits and meet internal and external regulatory requirements.

• Lead and mentor a team of IT operations, service desk, and vendor management professionals across multiple locations.
• Foster a culture of accountability, reliability, and continuous improvement within the team.
• Develop training, certification, and career development plans.
• Oversee vendor and managed service provider relationships, ensuring cost‑effectiveness, performance, and value delivery.
• Manage budgets, resource allocation, and co‑sourcing arrangements.

• Support organizational growth and productivity improvements by continuously evaluating and enhancing IT infrastructure and operations.
• Drive innovation through data‑driven insights, automation, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Deliver measurable value through operational excellence, cost optimization, and…