Director, IT Applications

Job Description

Experience

15+ years of overall IT experience
10+ years in Application Service Delivery / Application Operations / IT Service Management

Role Summary

The IT Application Service Delivery Manager is responsible for end‑to‑end service delivery, operational stability, and continuous improvement of enterprise applications. This role ensures that application services meet business expectations for availability, performance, responsiveness, and change reliability, leveraging ServiceNow ITSM as the system of record.

The role focuses exclusively on application support and service management and does not include infrastructure ownership.

Key Responsibilities

1. Application Service Delivery Ownership

• Own service delivery for enterprise applications (ERP, Finance, HR, CRM, BI, SaaS, and custom applications).
• Ensure applications meet agreed SLAs, OLAs, and business KPIs.
• Act as the single point of accountability for application service performance.
• Coordinate L2/L3 application support teams and AMS vendors.

2. ServiceNow‑Based ITSM Governance

• Govern application support processes using ServiceNow ITSM, including: 
  • Incident Management
  • Problem Management
  • Change Management
  • Request Fulfillment
  • Knowledge Management
• Ensure ticket quality, proper prioritization, escalation, and closure.
• Drive SLA compliance, queue discipline, and reporting accuracy.
• Improve application knowledge base usage and self‑service adoption.

3. Incident & Major Incident Management

• Lead application‑related incidents and major incidents, including triage and resolution coordination.
• Manage stakeholder communication and business impact updates.
• Drive post‑incident reviews and corrective/preventive actions.
• Reduce repeat incidents and production defects.

4. Problem Management & Stability Improvement

• Own Root Cause Analysis (RCA) governance for application issues.
• Identify recurring application errors, gaps, or design issues.
• Partner with application teams and vendors to implement permanent fixes.
• Track and reduce problem backlog over time.

5. Change & Release Management (Applications)

• Govern application changes and releases through CAB and change approval processes.
• Assess risk, business impact, and deployment readiness.
• Improve change success rate and reduce incidents caused by application changes.
• Ensure effective release communication and post‑production validation.

6. Vendor & Stakeholder Management

• Manage AMS partners and application vendors against SLAs.
• Lead vendor performance reviews and improvement plans.
• Act as the escalation point for service delivery issues.
• Build strong relationships with business stakeholders, product owners, and leadership.

7. Reporting, Metrics & Continuous Improvement

• Own operational dashboards and service metrics using ServiceNow reports / Performance Analytics.
• Track and improve KPIs such as: 
  • SLA compliance
  • MTTR
  • Incident trends
  • Change success rate
• Drive continuous improvement through process optimization, automation, and standardization.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Strong experience in Application Service Delivery / Application Operations
• Solid working knowledge of ITIL processes
• Hands‑on operational experience with ServiceNow ITSM
• Strong vendor and stakeholder management skills
• Excellent analytical, communication, and problem‑solving abilities
• Ability to manage multiple applications and priorities effectively

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in IT / Engineering or equivalent experience
• ITIL v3 / v4 Foundation certification
• ServiceNow Certified System Administrator (CSA) – preferred
• Experience supporting large enterprise or SaaS‑based applications
• Experience in regulated or enterprise environments

Personal Attributes

• Strong ownership and accountability
• Business‑focused, customer‑centric mindset
• Calm and decisive during high‑impact incidents
• Data‑driven and continuously improvement‑oriented