Senior Manager, Africa IT Services at IHS Towers

IHS TowersLagos, Nigeria Digital Marketing

Full Time

For 15 years we have been building and managing telecommunications towers that are the essential backbone of mobile telecommunications in Africa - the leapfrog technology driving economic development, prosperity and self-sufficiency across the continent. Right now, IHS is leading a new telecoms service sector driven by the growth of middle class business and consumer demand for mobile and data. We are the partner of choice for Africa’s and the world’s leading network operators because they demand the widest reach and highest reliability for their customers, and the highest standards of governance and operational excellence for themselves. Our long-term contracts and strong sustainable cash flows mean IHS is a unique, low risk entry point for investment in Africa. Over the last four years, IHS has brought over US$5 billion of investment to the continent. Our belief is that the future economic and social development of Africa will be exponentially accelerated by mobile connectivity, and our team of over 1,000 engineers in five countries is focused on making this happen. We are committed to developing our people and the communities we serve, and to help people and businesses across the region build a powerful, prosperous future - by Africa and for Africa. IHS is Africa’s leading mobile infrastructure company. Founded in 2001 by an experienced team of engineers and business people, IHS serves clients responsibly in the building and managing of effective telecommunications infrastructure and by employing the highest quality people, services and equipment.

Job Description

Service Support:

Ensure workplace facilities are adequate for installing, setting up, and providing IT services in Africa – Nigeria, Cote Ivoire, Cameroon, Rwanda, and Zambia, such as data centres, internet links, fibre routes, etc.
Lead, coordinate, and/or collaborate with facilities, physical security, and relevant units on African workplace projects and initiatives that have a dependency relationship with IT, such as access control systems, UPS backup, network-based surveillance systems, etc.
Responsible for ensuring that the technology and service support function in Africa conforms with the guidelines and provisions of the vital service operations processes established, such as Incident Management, Request Fulfillment, Change Management, and Event and Problem Management.
Responsible for ensuring that service support SLAs in Africa, such as MTTR, FCR, SLA performance, etc., are achieved.
Coordination of all infrastructural change-related activities for the IT Africa unit, which includes CAB meetings and ensuring all changes are logged and executed successfully within the agreed change window.
Ensure that standard operating procedures comply with IT principles, policies, and standards to drive operational excellence.
Coordinate the execution of service management processes in conformity with the guidelines of the global service management processes, such as Incident Management, Request Fulfillment, Change Management, Event, and Problem Management.
Responsible for the IT Africa services team competency development and motivation through coaching, mentoring and training to consistently deliver high-quality support services.
Serve as the escalation focal point for African business users to resolve complex and unresolved issues and requests.
Effective management and engagement of 3rd Parties/vendors to ensure reduced mean time to repair (MTTR) i.e. maintainability, and increase mean time between failure reliability (MTBF) i.e. reliability for 3rd party services e.g., internet
Ensure all operational activities are performed in compliance and accordance with global services recommendations e.g. technology standards, network standards, service management practices, security configuration baselines, and policies, etc.
Define purchasing recommendations that support business goals in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders.
Oversight responsibility for successfully implementing all low to medium scale technology projects localized to the various operating countries.
Collaboration with the global Service Management team, to monitor, measure, and report service support performance.
Ascertain the level of customer satisfaction within regional locations and recommend initiatives to improve service delivery to line the manager as part of Continual service improvement.

Asset Management:

Ensure the effective execution of an IT asset management process/lifecycle under the guidance of the global service management unit as part of process standardization.
Ensure the availability of required computing hardware, software, equipment/devices, and other resources for business productivity.
Ensure an accurate inventory of hardware, software, and other relevant technological tools exist and are made available to the global services team as required.
Develop acceptable practices and maintain external relationships to effectively repurpose, recycle, and/or safely dispose of obsolete assets.
Ensure inventories and usage monitoring of all IT assets are performed across Africa workplace locations to ensure point-in-time adequacy.

Relationship Management:

Ascertain the level of customer satisfaction within regional locations and recommend initiatives to improve service delivery to line the manager as part of Continual service improvement.
Awareness of IT projects and initiatives that can affect the service consumer (business/users).
Effectively manage 3rd Party vendors to ensure service excellence and project delivery success.
Interface the regional workplace location business stakeholders, Senior Manager Africa IT Services, and global IT services infrastructure team to plan and implement business continuity strategies.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in management information systems is essential. A master’s degree in a business-related subject area would be desirable
Minimum 7 years of experience in IT operations, IT user support, helpdesk, or NOC support with at least 2 years as a manager.
Certifications in any of the following would be an added advantage: ITIL Foundation, CompTIA (A+) and/or Microsoft MCSA.

Additional Information

Organizational Competencies

Customer Focus - People demonstrating this competency understand & exceed our customers’ needs. They develop trusted, reliable & collaborative relationships. They are consistently operating to the highest standards of service & delivery.
Innovation - People demonstrating this competency constantly seek new & improved ways to deliver our products & services. They champion engineering & skills development and work to create a collaborative and supportive operating environment.
Integrity - People demonstrating this competency are open & honest in everything they do. They support financially & environmentally sustainable growth. They make socially responsible decisions and treat their stakeholders with respect.
Be Bold - People demonstrating this competency are thorough in analyses & decision-making. They are courageous in expanding existing markets & developing new ones. They confidently pursue appropriate financial returns and are forward-thinking and ambitious.
Sustainability- People demonstrating this competency are constantly seeking to create a positive impact in the communities we serve.