Company Overview
Specialist Network Operations Ltd (SNO) is a dynamic Managed Service Provider dedicated to delivering exceptional managed network services to Fibre Cities across America. We pride ourselves on providing innovative solutions and reliable support to ensure seamless connectivity for our customers.
Job Summary:
We are seeking a highly skilled and customer-focused NOC Operations Director to lead our 24/7 Network Operations Centre (NOC), supporting managed network services delivered to customers across the United States.
The successful candidate will be responsible for the operational performance, service quality, governance, and continuous improvement of all NOC activities. They will provide leadership to a team of NOC engineers and technicians, ensuring the consistent delivery of high-quality services through disciplined operational management and ITIL-aligned best practices.
This role requires extensive experience leading customer-facing support operations, managing geographically distributed teams, and driving service excellence within a Managed Service Provider or telecommunications environment.
The NOC Operations Director will work closely with teams located in both Oswestry and the United States, ensuring consistent operational standards across all locations and shifts.
This is a full-time, office-based leadership position located in Oswestry.
Key Responsibilities:
NOC Operations & Service Management
- Lead the day-to-day operation of a 24/7 NOC supporting critical customer network infrastructure.
- Ensure the availability, performance, security and reliability of managed network services.
- Establish, govern and continuously improve ITIL-aligned service management processes, including Incident, Major Incident, Problem, Change, Request and Knowledge Management.
- Develop and maintain operational standards, KPIs and reporting frameworks.
- Ensure compliance with customer SLAs, internal policies and ISO27001 security requirements.
- Drive continual service improvement initiatives that enhance operational efficiency and customer outcomes.
Customer & Stakeholder Management
- Act as the senior operational point of contact for customers, providing leadership during major incidents and service-impacting events.
- Build strong relationships with customers and key stakeholders through regular operational reviews and service governance meetings.
- Ensure transparent communication regarding service performance, incidents, risks and improvement activities.
- Collaborate with customers to identify opportunities for service improvement.
- Promote a customer-first culture across the NOC and wider organisation.
Leadership & People Management
- Lead, mentor and develop a high-performing team of NOC engineers and support professionals.
- Recruit, develop and retain top talent to support business growth.
- Establish clear objectives, performance expectations and development plans.
- Ensure consistent operational standards across teams operating in the UK and United States.
- Foster a culture of accountability, professionalism, continuous learning and operational excellence.
Incident, Problem & Escalation Management
- Own and govern Incident, Major Incident and Problem Management processes.
- Ensure rapid detection, escalation and resolution of service-impacting events.
- Lead root cause investigations and post-incident reviews.
- Drive corrective and preventative actions to reduce recurring issues and improve service stability.
- Monitor and improve key operational metrics including SLA achievement.
Network Performance, Security & Compliance
- Maintain optimal network performance and service reliability through effective monitoring, analysis and capacity planning.
- Collaborate with Professional Services, IT, Security and Customer teams to meet and exceed SLA commitments.
- Ensure proactive identification and mitigation of cyber security threats and operational risks.
- Support business continuity and disaster recovery planning activities.
- Stay current with emerging technologies, threats and industry developments.
- Recommend strategic improvements to network infrastructure, tooling and operational processes.
Process Improvement & Documentation
- Develop, maintain and continuously improve Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), runbooks and service documentation.
- Ensure operational processes remain scalable and aligned with business growth.
- Maintain accurate records of incidents, trends, performance metrics and improvement activities.
- Leverage operational data and reporting to support informed business decisions and customer communications.
- Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, contractual obligations and industry standards.
Collaboration & Reporting
- Act as the primary operational liaison between customers, executive leadership, NOC teams, vendors and professional services teams.
- Provide regular reporting on service performance, operational health, incident trends and improvement initiatives.
- Lead operational governance meetings and service review discussions.
- Support strategic planning activities relating to network expansion, service enhancement and technology investment.
- Collaborate closely with US-based operational and customer teams to ensure seamless service delivery and operational alignment.
Qualifications & Requirements
Education:
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Network Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent industry experience.
Experience:
- Minimum 8 years' experience within Network Operations, Managed Services, Telecommunications or Service Delivery environments, with minimum 3 years' experience in a senior leadership or management role.
- Proven experience leading a 24/7 Network Operations Centre (NOC) or Managed Services organisation.
- Demonstrable experience implementing and governing ITIL-based service management practices.
- Experience managing customer-facing operational services and executive stakeholder relationships.
- Experience leading geographically distributed teams across multiple locations and time zones.
- Strong track record of improving operational quality, governance and service performance.
Technical Skills
- Strong knowledge of networking technologies and protocols including TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, DNS, MPLS and related technologies.
- Experience with ITSM platforms such as Halo, Jira Service Management, ServiceNow or equivalent.
- Experience with monitoring and observability platforms including Splunk, Nagios, Zabbix and similar technologies.
- Familiarity with cloud environments and systems integration.
- Experience producing operational dashboards, SLA reporting and service performance analytics.
Preferred Certifications
- ITIL Foundation Level Certification (essential).
- Cisco CCNP, CCIE or equivalent networking certification.
Personal Attributes
- Exceptional leadership, coaching and team development capabilities.
- Strong customer relationship and stakeholder management skills.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
- Strong decision-making and problem-solving abilities.
- Proven ability to build a customer-first culture.
- Strong analytical and reporting skills.
- Ability to operate effectively within a fast-paced, high-availability service environment.
- Strong focus on operational discipline, quality and accountability.
Working Arrangements
- This is a full-time, office-based position located in Oswestry.
- The successful candidate is expected to work alongside the NOC team on-site, providing visible day-to-day leadership, coaching and operational oversight.
- Regular collaboration with customers and colleagues in the United States is required.
- Flexibility to participate in management escalations and executive on-call duties outside normal working hours is essential.
Why Join Us?
- Lead a critical customer-facing Network Operations Centre supporting advanced Fibre City networks across the United States.
- Play a key role in shaping the future of a growing Managed Services organisation.
- Work alongside highly skilled engineers and industry professionals.
- Competitive salary and benefits package.
- Company pension.
- Healthcare benefits.
- Professional development and career growth opportunities.
Work Location:
In person – Oswestry, Shropshire, UK
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: £70,000.00-£85,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Paid volunteer time
- Private dental insurance
- Private medical insurance
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Oswestry, Shropshire: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
