Service Delivery Manager (SDM) – Job Description

Position: Service Delivery Manager

Department: IT / Service Delivery
Reports to: IT Director / Head of Service Delivery
Location: [Location]
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Summary

The Service Delivery Manager (SDM) is responsible for ensuring the effective and consistent delivery of IT services to clients in line with agreed Service Level Agreements (SLAs), business requirements, and service quality standards.

The role acts as the primary point of contact between the client and internal technical teams, ensuring that service performance, incidents, requests, escalations, and operational requirements are managed effectively.

The SDM will work closely with infrastructure, application, network, security, service desk, project, and management teams to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

1. Service Delivery Management

• Own and manage day-to-day IT service delivery for assigned clients.
• Ensure services are delivered according to agreed SLAs, KPIs, contracts, and service standards.
• Monitor service performance and identify areas requiring improvement.
• Ensure operational issues are addressed within agreed timelines.
• Maintain effective communication with clients regarding service performance and operational matters.
• Conduct regular service reviews with clients and provide performance updates.

2. Client Relationship Management

• Act as the primary operational contact for assigned clients.
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with client stakeholders.
• Understand client business requirements and translate them into appropriate IT service expectations.
• Manage client expectations and ensure timely communication.
• Handle client concerns, complaints, and escalations professionally.
• Identify opportunities to improve client satisfaction and service quality.

3. Incident & Escalation Management

• Monitor major and critical incidents and ensure appropriate escalation.
• Coordinate technical teams during high-priority incidents.
• Ensure incidents are properly documented, tracked, and closed.
• Conduct or coordinate Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for recurring or major incidents.
• Ensure corrective and preventive actions are implemented.
• Maintain an escalation matrix and ensure stakeholders are contacted appropriately.

4. SLA & KPI Management

• Track and report SLA performance.
• Monitor metrics such as:Incident response timeResolution timeAvailabilityService request turnaround timeCustomer satisfactionBacklogEscalation volumes
• Identify SLA breaches and implement corrective actions.
• Prepare monthly/quarterly service performance reports.

5. Team & Resource Management

• Coordinate with technical teams to ensure appropriate resource availability.
• Work with team leads and managers on resource planning.
• Monitor workload and identify resource constraints.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, training, and performance management where required.
• Ensure appropriate backup and coverage arrangements are available.
• Encourage knowledge sharing and continuous improvement within the delivery team.

6. Change & Project Coordination

• Coordinate operational changes affecting client environments.
• Ensure appropriate change-management processes are followed.
• Assess potential service impact of planned changes.
• Coordinate with project teams during transition of new services into operations.
• Ensure proper documentation and handover before services go live.

7. Reporting & Governance

• Prepare regular service delivery reports for clients and management.
• Conduct service review meetings.
• Maintain service dashboards and operational reports.
• Track outstanding actions, risks, issues, and dependencies.
• Ensure governance processes are followed.
• Provide management with visibility of service risks and operational challenges.

8. Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve service quality, efficiency, and customer experience.
• Analyze recurring incidents and operational trends.
• Recommend automation and process improvements.
• Drive service improvement initiatives.
• Review existing processes and identify gaps.
• Ensure lessons learned from incidents and projects are incorporated into operational practices.

9. Commercial & Contract Management

• Ensure services are delivered within the agreed contractual scope.
• Identify out-of-scope requirements and coordinate appropriate Change Requests (CRs).
• Support contract renewals and service expansion discussions.
• Track additional service requirements and associated resource needs.
• Work with sales/account management teams on new requirements and opportunities.

Required Skills & Competencies

• Strong IT service management knowledge.
• Excellent client and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical abilities.
• Strong understanding of SLA, KPI and service governance.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and escalations.
• Strong leadership and coordination skills.
• Ability to work effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong documentation and reporting skills.
• Ability to work under pressure during critical incidents.
• Commercial awareness and understanding of IT contracts.

Technical / Professional Qualifications

Preferred qualifications include:

• Bachelor's degree in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or a related discipline.
• ITIL certification is preferred.
• PMP, PRINCE2, Agile or other project-management certification is an advantage.
• Relevant experience in IT infrastructure, cloud, applications, networking, cybersecurity, or managed services.

Experience

Typically 5–10 years of experience in IT, with relevant experience in:

• IT Service Management
• Managed Services
• Infrastructure Operations
• Service Desk / Technical Support
• Client Management
• Incident and Problem Management
• SLA Management
• IT Governance

Experience managing enterprise clients and geographically distributed technical teams would be an advantage.