Technical Operations Manager

Technical Operations Manager

Remote but must be based in the UK

Competitive Salary, plus bonus, plus other benefits

We currently have a fantastic opportunity to join us in a newly created role.

We're looking for a Technical Operations Manager to lead the day-to-day operations for nominated key customers within our managed secure networking services across SD-WAN, LAN, WLAN, SASE/SSE and firewall platforms.

This is a true player-manager role, you will own the technical health, stability and performance of customer estates, work with the operations engineering team, and makes sure services meet contracted SLAs while continually improving through automation, problem management and better tooling.

You'll be the senior technical escalation point within operations for key customers, and the bridge between service delivery managers, transition teams and engineering, so that nominated customers and newly migrated sites are run well from day one. You'll be equally comfortable leading major incident bridges, mentoring engineers, engaging with senior customer stakeholders and diving into technical escalations across SD-WAN, networking, wireless, security and SASE platforms.

You must be based in the UK as there will be occasional travel to sites. You will also participate in the senior on-call and major incident rota, with occasional out-of-hours work for planned changes.

If you have broad technical expertise, a passion for operational excellence and experience delivering managed services at scale, we'd love to hear from you!

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Provide senior technical escalation across SD-WAN, routing and switching, wireless, SASE/SSE and NGFW platforms

• Lead root cause analysis for significant incidents and drive permanent fixes through problem management

• Work with solution architects and service transition leads to review designs for supportability before go-live

Operational Service Delivery

• Own the technical performance of managed services against contracted SLAs and KPIs: availability, response and resolution times, change success

• Oversee incident, problem, change, request and event management in line with ITIL 4 practices

• Act as major incident manager for P1 and P2 incidents: run bridges, coordinate carriers and vendors, and issue timely customer updates

Continual Improvement and Automation

• Own the service improvement plan and track actions to closure

• Reduce toil through automation of common tasks: configuration compliance, health checks, report generation and L1 triage

• Drive adoption of AIOps and platform tooling (for example ServiceNow, network source of truth, observability and AI-assisted triage)

Security and Compliance

• Make sure operations comply with security policy and customer contractual obligations

• Oversee vulnerability and patch management across managed platforms within agreed timescales

• Maintain privileged access controls, audit trails and evidence for ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus and customer audits

Commercial and Financial

• Manage operational cost drivers: resourcing, overtime, tooling and third-party support

• Contribute to managed service pricing and effort models, including onboarding and steady-state estimates

• Track service credits and mitigate SLA risk before it becomes a commercial issue

Essential Experience

• At least 8 years in network or security operations, with at least 3 years leading technical operations or NOC teams in a managed service provider or large enterprise Strong hands-on networking background including:
• Routing & Switching (BGP, OSPF, VLANs, VRFs)
• Enterprise LAN & WLAN
• SD-WAN technologies
• Network Security and Next-Generation Firewalls
• Experience supporting SASE/SSE environments
• Proven Major Incident Management experience
• Solid understanding of ITIL Incident, Problem and Change Management
• Strong stakeholder management and customer engagement skills
• A track record of driving service improvements through data, automation and process enhancement

The role requires broad operational fluency across the following domains, with deep expertise in at least two:

• Aruba EdgeConnect, Aruba Central and Aruba CX
• Cisco Catalyst, Meraki and SD-WAN
• Fortinet FortiGate, FortiManager and Secure SD-WAN
• Palo Alto Networks, Panorama and Prisma
• Zscaler ZIA and ZPA
• Aruba ClearPass and Cisco ISE
• Microsoft Entra ID and Okta
• Python, Ansible, APIs and automation tooling
• ServiceNow, IP Fabric, Nautobot and observability platforms

Qualifications and Certifications

• ITIL 4 Foundation (essential); ITIL 4 Managing Professional modules (desirable)

• Expert or Professional-level vendor certification in at least one core platform, for example Aruba ACCP/ ACCX or ACSP/ACSX, Cisco CCNP/CCIE, Fortinet NSE 5–7, Palo Alto PCNSE or Zscaler ZDTA

• Security certification such as CompTIA Security+, CCSP or CISSP (desirable)

Company Description

Xalient is a global boutique specialising in the convergence of identity-driven security and secure networking. We help the world’s leading enterprises stay secure, connected, and ready for the future - bringing together deep technical expertise, business insight, and AI-powered innovation to solve the complex challenges of modern digital businesses.

Independent by design and driven by a passion for exceptional service, Xalient combines global reach with the agility and customer intimacy of a boutique provider. Our advisory, professional, and managed services teams operate across the UK, US, EMEA and Asia - delivering fast, tangible outcomes and long-term impact.

Xalient is trusted by forward-thinking enterprises to reduce risk, optimise performance, and navigate today’s digital complexity with confidence.

Equal Opportunities Statement

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy or maternity or age.

Our Commitment to Diversity