About the position
Our client, a leading BPO company based in Durban, is looking to fill the position of IT Manager.
Purpose of the Role:
The IT Manager is responsible for the overall management, coordination, and delivery of IT services across the Group. This is a hands-on technical leadership role that oversees the day-to-day operations of the IT department, including infrastructure, cloud services, end-user support, application management, and security and compliance functions. Operating within a 600-seat BPO call centre environment, the IT Manager ensures that all technology platforms supporting contact centre operations are stable, secure, and continuously improved. The role balances operational management with technical delivery, acting as the primary escalation point for critical incidents and driving IT projects that enable business growth. The IT Manager directly oversees the Infrastructure & Cloud Engineer, Application & Service Desk Specialist, and Security & Compliance Coordinator, ensuring alignment across all IT functions and accountability against service level commitments.
Key Responsibilities:
IT Operations & Service Delivery:
- Oversee all IT operations, ensuring the stability, availability, and performance of infrastructure, applications, and end-user services across the group.
- Own and manage IT service level agreements (SLAs) with internal stakeholders and external clients, ensuring consistent delivery against agreed targets.
- Act as the primary escalation point for P1/P2 incidents, coordinating cross-functional response and driving resolution.
- Implement and maintain ITIL-aligned processes for incident, problem, change, and release management.
- Produce regular IT performance reports for executive leadership, covering uptime, ticket volumes, SLA compliance, and risk posture.
- Manage the on-call schedule and ensure 24/7 support coverage aligned to business operating hours.
Team Leadership & Development:
- Lead, mentor, and performance-manage a technical team comprising the Infrastructure & Cloud Engineer, Application & Service Desk Specialist, and Security & Compliance Coordinator.
- Conduct regular one-on-ones, set clear objectives, and drive accountability across all IT functions.
- Identify skills gaps and facilitate training, certifications, and professional development opportunities.
- Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, proactive problem-solving, and continuous improvement.
- Manage team capacity and workload allocation to ensure balanced coverage across BAU and project activities.
Infrastructure & Cloud Oversight:
- Provide technical oversight of the organisation's hybrid infrastructure (on-premises and cloud) including Azure, AWS, and/or GCC environments.
- Review and approve infrastructure designs, change requests, and architecture decisions.
- Ensure disaster recovery and business continuity plans are documented, tested, and audit ready.
- Oversee network infrastructure (WAN/LAN/VPN), telephony systems, and data centre operations.
- Drive cloud cost optimisation and ensure infrastructure is right-sized and scalable.
Application & Service Desk Oversight:
- Ensure the service desk function delivers efficient, high-quality support to 600+ contact centre agents and back-office staff.
- Oversee application administration for contact centre platforms (diallers, CRM, WFM, quality assurance tools).
- Ensure device provisioning, asset management, and onboarding/offboarding processes are streamlined and compliant.
- Coordinate with client operations teams to align IT support with campaign requirements and staffing changes.
- Monitor and drive improvements in first-call resolution, mean time to resolution, and user satisfaction scores.
Security, Compliance & Risk Management:
- Ensure the organisation maintains compliance with PCI-DSS, SOC 2, POPIA, and other applicable frameworks.
- Oversee the Security & Compliance Coordinator in maintaining the risk register, audit calendar, and policy documentation.
- Coordinate internal and external audits, due diligence requests, and client security assessments.
- Ensure cybersecurity best practices are implemented across all IT functions, including patch management, vulnerability scanning, and access control.
- Act as the IT lead for incident response and security breach management.
Vendor & Stakeholder Management:
- Manage relationships with key IT vendors, service providers, and technology partners.
- Negotiate contracts, SLAs, and renewals to optimise cost and service quality.
- Act as the primary IT contact for client stakeholders, managing expectations and communicating service performance.
- Coordinate with external consultants for specialised projects (e.g. security assessments, platform migrations).IT Project Management & Strategy:
- Plan, execute, and deliver IT projects including platform migrations, new client onboarding, technology refreshes, and office setups.
- Manage project timelines, budgets, resources, and stakeholder communication.
- Contribute to the IT strategy and technology roadmap in alignment with business growth objectives.
- Evaluate and recommend new technologies, tools, and platforms to improve operational efficiency and reduce cost.
- Manage the annual IT budget, tracking expenditure against forecast and identifying savings opportunities.
Qualifications and Experience:
- Grade 12 Senior Certificate
- Diploma or degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field
- 5 - 8 years' progressive IT experience, with at least 3 years in a supervisory or team lead capacity
- Demonstrated experience managing IT operations in a BPO, call centre, or similar high-availability environment
- Strong technical foundation across infrastructure, networking, cloud platforms, and end-user support
- Experience implementing and managing ITIL-based service management processes
- Hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure and/or AWS cloud environments
- Proven experience managing vendor relationships, contracts, and SLAs
- Experience with compliance frameworks (PCI-DSS, SOC 2, POPIA) in a technology context
- Solid project management skills with a track record of delivering IT projects on time and within budget
Preferred Certifications:
- ITIL Foundation v4 (highly preferred)
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate or equivalent cloud certification
- CompTIA Security+ or equivalent security certification
- Project management certification (PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent)
Advantageous:
- Experience managing IT for multi-site or multi-client BPO operations
- Knowledge of contact centre technologies (diallers, CRM, workforce management, call recording)
- Exposure to telephony infrastructure (SIP, VoIP, IP PBX)
- Experience with IT budgeting and cost management
- Familiarity with scripting and automation (PowerShell, Python, Bash)
If you are interested in applying for this role, please send a detailed copy of your CV to [Email Address Removed]
If you have not been contacted within two (2) weeks, please consider your application as unsuccessful.
Desired Skills:
- IT Management
- IT operations
- service delivery
- Leadership
- development
- infrastructure oversight
- cloud oversight
- application oversight
- service desk oversight
- Security Management
- compliance management
- risk management
- vendor management
