Senior Problem Manager

Senior Problem Manager

• Organization: Asian Development Bank (ADB)

• Operating Unit: Enterprise Service Operations (ESO) / ATLAS Operating Model — Information Technology Department (ITD)

• Reporting To: Head of Service Operations, Enterprise Service Operations (ESO)

• Location: Manila, Philippines (Local Sourcing)

• Work Arrangement: Hybrid (Minimum 3 days/week onsite; flexibility required for time-sensitive investigations/cross-time-zone coordination)

• Schedule: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Manila Time

• Contract Type: IDIQ Staff Augmentation (1 Year, subject to extension)

Core Role & Objectives

The Senior Problem Manager establishes, governs, and operates ADB’s Problem Management practice within the ATLAS/ESO framework. The role leads end-to-end reactive and proactive investigations to identify, analyze, and mitigate root causes/latent conditions of IT service degradations or incidents.

Key Authority Boundary: The role possesses governance and facilitation authority (convening stakeholders, challenging hypotheses, setting investigation cadences, demanding evidence/action plans, and tracking remediation) while technical diagnosis, resolution, and implementation remain with the accountable resolver teams, MSPs, or suppliers.

Key Responsibilities & Scope of Work

1. Practice Governance & Problem Identification

• Own, govern, and continuously improve Problem Management policies, processes, lifecycle standards, and templates (aligned to ITIL/ITSM best practices).

• Establish decision rights and integration points with Incident, Major Incident, Change, Knowledge, Configuration, Risk, and Continual Service Improvement (CSI) practices.

• Filter and prioritize candidate problems using evidence- and value-based triage (evaluating service harm, recurrence risk, financial impact, and feasibility).

• Perform trend analysis across multi-vendor/service integration environments to identify systemic clusters and cumulative-harm themes.

  
  

2. Investigation Leadership & Causal Analysis

• Convene and direct cross-functional investigation teams (SMEs, service owners, MSPs, third-party vendors, security, risk, finance).

• Facilitate structured root-cause analysis (RCA) techniques: 5 Whys, Fault-Tree Analysis, Pareto, Timeline/Barrier Analysis, and Hypothesis Testing.

• Distinguish solid evidence from assumptions/hypotheses and challenge technical teams constructively.

• Coordinate with Incident/Major Incident Management to capture early evidence during active incidents without disrupting recovery efforts.

  
  

3. Workarounds, Corrective Actions & Closure

• Ensure workarounds are documented, validated, and logged into Known Error records linked to reusable knowledge repositories.

• Evaluate permanent corrective actions considering cost, risk, and effectiveness.

• Assign clear ownership, target dates, and acceptance criteria for all remediation actions; track through implementation without taking over technical delivery.

• Prevent premature closure by keeping records open or formally risk-accepted until remedies are verified as effective.

  
  

4. Supplier Governance, Portfolio & Reporting

• Hold Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and third-party suppliers accountable for timely RCA participation and remediation execution.

• Maintain decision-ready, authoritative records in ServiceNow linked to incidents, changes, risks, and CSI items.

• Report problem trends, risk profiles, quality checks, and realized value to governance forums.

• Escalate ownership disputes, unmanaged risks, or delayed supplier actions through established channels.

  
  

Required Qualifications & Experience

Education & Background

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, Operations, Business, Data, Risk, or equivalent.

• Experience:

  • 7+ years in IT Service Management (ITSM), Service Operations, Assurance, or Problem Management.

  • 3+ years directly leading cross-functional investigations/RCA activities across multi-vendor environments.

    
    

Technical Knowledge & Skills

• Strong knowledge of ITIL-aligned Problem Management and related ITSM practices (Incident, Change, Knowledge, Configuration, Asset, Supplier, SLM).

• Sufficient technical breadth (cloud, infrastructure, applications, network) to credibly challenge SMEs without acting as the resolver.

• Capability aligned with SFIA Problem Management (PBMG) Level 5 (Ensure/Advise), with selected Level 6 behaviors for enterprise-wide policy or vendor governance.

  
  

Soft Skills & Competencies

• Authority through influence: Ability to direct, convene, and challenge senior SMEs, service owners, and vendor leads without direct line-management authority.

• Strong facilitation, interviewing, analytical reasoning, and conflict resolution skills.

• Blameless learning mindset, high ethical standards, and pragmatic value-based judgment.

  
  

Tools & Certifications

• ITSM Tools: Advanced proficiency in ServiceNow (or similar platform) and analytics tools (Excel, Power BI).

• Mandatory Certification: ITIL Foundation (current).

• Desirable Certifications: Advanced ITIL (Strategic Leader / Practice Manager), RCA, Kepner-Tregoe, Lean Six Sigma, SIAM, COBIT, Reliability Engineering, Risk Management, or ServiceNow certifications.