Manager, IT Application Managed Services

Position Overview

The Manager – IT Application Managed Services (AMS) is accountable for the governance and performance management of external service providers delivering AMS for a defined application portfolio. This role ensures vendors meet contractual commitments and service levels, provides oversight of operational delivery (without directly managing day‑to‑day incident/problem execution), and drives continuous improvement, cost optimization, and service maturity. A key focus is enabling cross‑vendor collaboration to support end‑to‑end business process outcomes across integrated application landscapes. Success in this role requires strong, proactive alignment with two critical stakeholder groups: the IT Service Center (front‑line intake, triage, and user experience) and Product Teams (roadmaps, releases, and product health). The Manager partners with Product, Application Owners, Infrastructure, Security, and Finance/Procurement to ensure vendor‑delivered services align to business priorities and technology standards.

Key Accountabilities

Vendor Governance & Service Performance Management

• Act as the primary IT point of contact for AMS service providers for assigned application scope.
• Establish and run vendor governance routines (weekly operational reviews, monthly service reviews, quarterly business reviews).
• Monitor vendor performance against SLAs and contractual KPIs (availability, responsiveness, backlog, change success rate, knowledge quality), ensuring corrective actions are executed.
• Review vendor RCA reports and improvement plans; challenge quality and timeliness of deliverables and ensure closure of actions.
• Ensure vendors maintain appropriate documentation (runbooks, SOPs, knowledge articles) and operational readiness artifacts.

Financial & Commercial Management

• Lead/participate in commercial negotiations with vendors for new scope, changes in service conditions, and pricing, diligently pursuing a continuous productivity practice to ensure value for money and alignment to service expectations.
• Identify and deliver cost optimization opportunities while maintaining service quality.
• Manage AMS financial administration for the scope: budget planning, forecasting, cost tracking, and variance explanations.
• Validate vendor invoices for accuracy and correct allocation (projects vs. run, GL coding) in line with company policy.
• Support contract lifecycle activities with Procurement/Vendor Management (SOWs, renewals, rate cards, scope changes).
• Review and challenge vendor proposals, assumptions, and effort estimates; negotiate deliverables, acceptance criteria, and commercial terms in partnership with Procurement and Legal as required.

Cross‑Vendor Collaboration & End‑to‑End Service Delivery

• Drive cross‑vendor operating rhythms (shared governance, joint triage, integrated reporting) to ensure seamless service across multi‑vendor environments.
• Facilitate collaboration between vendors supporting different applications/technology towers to resolve handoffs, reduce “swivel‑chair” support, and improve end‑to‑end business process performance (e.g., order‑to‑cash, procure‑to‑pay, inventory‑to‑fulfillment).
• Define and enforce clear RACI, escalation paths, and cross‑vendor accountability for integrated services and shared outcomes.
• Lead cross‑vendor initiatives to improve knowledge sharing, reduce recurring cross‑system issues, and strengthen integration support.

Service Improvement & Standardization

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives with vendors (process adherence, shift‑left, automation opportunities, reduction of recurring issues, improved documentation quality).
• Define and track service improvement plans (SIPs) and ensure measurable outcomes.
• Promote standard ways of working across vendors (templates, reporting, governance cadence, escalation paths).

Stakeholder Alignment: IT Service Center & Product Teams

• Foster strong day‑to‑day partnership with the IT Service Center to ensure effective intake, routing, escalation paths, knowledge availability, and a consistent end‑user support experience.
• Maintain tight alignment with Product Teams to anticipate roadmap‑driven support impacts, ensure operational readiness for releases, and align vendor priorities to product health and business outcomes.
• Establish clear engagement models (RACI, escalation, communications) between vendors, IT Service Center, and Product Teams to reduce friction and improve time‑to‑resolution across the service chain.
• Provide clear, business‑ready reporting on vendor performance, risks, and improvement progress to IT leadership and stakeholders.
• Ensure effective escalation management and timely stakeholder communications for service risks and chronic issues (without owning operational execution).
• Collaborate with Security, Risk, and Compliance teams to ensure vendors meet required controls, access standards, and audit needs.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 8–10+ years of IT experience with significant exposure to Application Managed Services / outsourcing models.
• 2–3+ years of experience managing vendors/service providers and holding them accountable to SLAs and deliverables.
• Strong understanding of IT service management concepts (ITIL‑aligned incident/problem/change processes) sufficient to govern vendor execution.
• Demonstrated experience with budgeting, forecasting, invoice validation, and financial tracking for managed services.
• Demonstrated capability to negotiate scope, service conditions, and commercials/pricing with vendors (in partnership with Procurement/Legal where applicable).
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, including executive‑level reporting and negotiation.
• Experience with service management tools (e.g., ServiceNow) and reporting/metrics.

Preferred Qualifications

• ITIL Foundation certification.
• Experience managing AMS for SaaS and subscription‑based services.
• Experience in global, multi‑region environments and working with offshore/onshore delivery models.
• Familiarity with governance frameworks, vendor scorecards, and service improvement planning.