Zain
Manager - IT Operations
- Permanent
- Manama, Bahrain
- Experience 5 - 10 yrs
Job expiry date: 09/10/2026
Job overview
Date posted
25/08/2026
Location
Manama, Bahrain
Salary
Undisclosed
Compensation
Job description
In this role you will lead and govern 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. You will ensure availability, reliability, security, supportability, and continuous improvement of all technology services supporting internal business operations and customer-facing platforms. You are accountable for IT Service Management, Enterprise Application Maintenance and Operations, Infrastructure Operations, Hybrid Multi-Cloud Operations, DevOps and Platform Operations, Database Administration, Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Operational Governance, Vendor Management, and Technology Lifecycle Management. You will lead end-to-end Technology Operations across infrastructure, applications, cloud, digital platforms, databases, service desk, and end-user support, owning KPIs, SLAs/OLAs, and incident, problem, change, and release management. Your responsibilities include owning availability, performance, support, and lifecycle governance of enterprise and customer-facing applications, and overseeing patches, upgrades, and releases. You will manage on-premises, private, hybrid, and public cloud operations across Azure, AWS, OCI, and other approved platforms, implementing FinOps covering cost visibility and optimization. You are responsible for overseeing Service Desk, IT Support, endpoints, and managing Windows, Linux, Solaris, Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Active Directory, and virtualization platforms. In this role you will lead DevOps, Kubernetes, automation, and observability operations, and develop and enforce Technology Operations policies, standards, and governance frameworks. You will own CAPEX/OPEX planning across applications, infrastructure, cloud, and licenses, managing vendors and contracts, and overseeing enterprise IP networks and services for availability, performance, and resilience.
Required skills
Key responsibilities
- 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, and knowledge base
- Own availability, performance, support, and lifecycle governance of enterprise and customer-facing applications
- Oversee patches, upgrades, releases, enhancements, vendor support, monitoring, and production readiness
- Ensure stable infrastructure operations supporting enterprise applications and digital platforms
- Ensure backup, data recovery, data protection, access governance, and audit evidence
- Manage on-premises, private, hybrid, and public cloud operations across Azure, AWS, OCI, and other platforms
- Govern workload placement, landing zones, connectivity, identity/access, monitoring, backup, and resilience
- Implement FinOps covering cost visibility, allocation, forecasting, optimization, and accountability
- Oversee Service Desk, IT Support, endpoints, hardware, user lifecycle, and ticket fulfilment
- Manage Windows, Linux, Solaris, Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Active Directory, collaboration, and virtualization platforms
- Oversee servers, storage, backup, archiving, DR, ransomware protection, and database operations
- Ensure availability, resilience, monitoring, and vendor support for contact centre platforms
- Lead DevOps, Kubernetes, automation, and observability operations, including cluster upgrades and governance
- Oversee CI/CD and GitOps tools and govern monitoring and logging platforms
- Drive automation across deployments, reporting, compliance, monitoring, and recovery
- Develop and enforce Technology Operations policies, standards, procedures, and governance frameworks
- Maintain audit readiness through risk registers, remediation plans, and compliance tracking
- Partner with Cybersecurity on vulnerability remediation and operational controls
Experience & skills
- Hold a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Engineering, Telecommunications, or a related field, with a master's degree or professional management qualification preferred
- ITIL Foundation or higher is preferred
- Certifications in Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, VMware, Kubernetes, database administration, cybersecurity, project management, or FinOps are advantageous
- Bring 8 or more years of progressive IT operations, infrastructure, application operations, cloud operations, or service management experience
- Show experience managing vendors, service performance, lifecycle governance, audits, and budgets
- Telecom, digital services, or regulated-industry experience is preferred
- Demonstrate strong knowledge of ITSM, enterprise application operations, service desk, systems administration, and Microsoft cloud and identity
- Show knowledge of databases, virtualization, storage, backup, disaster recovery, and contact center systems
- Demonstrate knowledge of API/middleware, DevOps, Kubernetes, public cloud, hybrid cloud, monitoring, and automation
- Show knowledge of operational security controls, governance, risk, compliance, and audit readiness
- Demonstrate strong business technical awareness and stakeholder management skills