ZAIN- Manager - IT Operations

About The Role

The IT Operations Manager is responsible for leading and governing end-to-end IT operations across Zain Bahrain, covering infrastructure, enterprise applications, digital services, public and private cloud platforms, service desk, and operational support functions.

The role ensures availability, reliability, security, supportability, maintainability, lifecycle governance, and continuous improvement of all technology services supporting internal business operations and customer-facing platforms.

The position is accountable for IT Service Management, Enterprise Application Maintenance and Operations, Infrastructure Operations, Hybrid Multi-Cloud Operations, Dev Ops and Platform Operations, Database Administration, Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Operational Governance, Vendor Management, and Technology Lifecycle Management.

The role drives operational excellence through automation, proactive monitoring, service performance management, change and release governance, security and compliance adherence, cost optimization, and alignment with Zain Bahrain technology and digital transformation objectives.

• Lead end-to-end Technology Operations across infrastructure, applications, cloud, digital platforms, databases, service desk, and end-user support.
• Own KPIs, SLAs/OLAs, availability, incident/problem/change/release management, service reviews, reporting, and continuous improvement.
• Maintain service catalogue, documentation, ownership/escalation models, knowledge base, and coordinate priorities across Technology, Cybersecurity, Digital, business, and vendors.

• Own availability, performance, support, and lifecycle governance of enterprise and customer-facing applications.
• Oversee patches, upgrades, releases, enhancements, vendor support, monitoring, SLAs/OLAs, production readiness, rollback, and business validation.
• Ensure stable infrastructure operations supporting enterprise applications, digital platforms, customer-facing services, integrations, and supporting business systems.
• Ensure backup, data recovery, data protection, access governance, audit evidence, continuity, capacity, performance, modernization, and customer-impact monitoring.

• Manage on-premises, private, hybrid, and public cloud operations (i.e.: Azure, AWS, OCI, and other approved platforms).
• Govern workload placement, landing zones, connectivity, identity/access, monitoring, backup, resilience, support models, shared responsibility, and cloud readiness.
• Implement Fin Ops covering cost visibility, allocation, forecasting, optimization, anomalies, and accountability.

• Oversee Service Desk, IT Support, endpoints, hardware, user lifecycle, and ticket fulfilment.
• Manage Windows, Linux, Solaris, Microsoft 365, Entra , Active Directory, collaboration, messaging, identity, licensing, virtualization, and private cloud platforms including VMware, Huawei Fusion Compute, and Oracle VM.
• Oversee servers, storage, backup, archiving, DR, ransomware protection, business continuity, and database operations including patching, tuning, HA, recovery, upgrades, and licensing.
• Ensure availability, resilience, monitoring, integrations, and vendor support for contact centre platforms.

• Lead Dev Ops, Kubernetes, automation, and observability operations, including Rancher, cluster upgrades, governance, patching, hardening, and Linux administration.
• Oversee CI/CD and Git Ops tools including Helm, ArgoCD, Git Lab, and Ansible; govern Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/EFK, Dynatrace, or equivalent monitoring and logging.
• Drive automation across deployments, reporting, compliance, monitoring, and recovery.

• Develop and enforce Technology Operations policies, standards, procedures, controls, and governance frameworks.
• Maintain audit readiness through risk registers, remediation plans, lifecycle governance, access evidence, compliance tracking, audits, regulatory reviews, and security assessments.
• Partner with Cybersecurity on vulnerability remediation and operational controls across infrastructure, applications, cloud, Dev Ops, and digital services; ensure key operational activities are approved, traceable, and auditable.

• Own CAPEX/OPEX planning across applications, infrastructure, cloud, licenses, support contracts, end-user services, storage, tooling, and professional services.
• Manage vendors, managed services, contracts, renewals, escalations, service reviews, licensing, and commercial optimization.
• Forecast capacity, lifecycle refreshes, upgrades, renewals, platform expansion, and resources while driving cost optimization.

• From an infrastructure readiness point of view, oversee enterprise IP networks, services, and…