Associate Principal - Service Excellence FEATURED

Fisher; Dubai; On-site; AED 223,000 - 446,000; Full time

Job summary

Fisher in Dubai is seeking a skilled leader to run the service desk and IT operations, ensuring efficient workload distribution, strong SLA adherence, and high service quality. You will guide L1 support, manage assets, and oversee access governance.

The role emphasizes automation, partner onboarding, and enterprise apps support, with collaboration across security, operations, and business teams. Strong English, leadership, and ITIL knowledge are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
• Proficiency in English.
• Proven experience in team leadership and management.
• Experience in IT service delivery, SLA management, and ticketing systems.
• Experience installing and configuring computer systems in large organizations.
• Extensive experience with Windows and open-source OS.
• Experience with Cisco IP telephones.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication, presentation, influencing and negotiation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the service desk team with workload distribution and capacity planning.
• Monitor ticket volumes, identify trends, and implement proactive measures to reduce incidents.
• Review performance metrics, SLA compliance, and resolution times to improve service quality.
• Drive automation, workflow optimization, and software enhancements.
• Act as escalation point for critical issues ensuring timely resolution.
• Oversee L1/L2 support and coordinate with internal teams for escalation to L2.
• Coordinate vendor software subscriptions and renewals within budget.
• Oversee IT asset management and inventory accuracy.
• Govern user access management and identity governance across applications.
• Onboard integration partners securely and ensure readiness.

Skills

Team leadership

IT service delivery

SLA management

Ticketing systems

Incident management

Automation & process improvement

Stakeholder collaboration

English proficiency

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

ITSM tools

ERP/CRM systems

Cisco IP phones

Job description

Team Leadership & Service Excellence

• Lead and manage the service desk team, ensuring effective workload distribution, resource utilization, and service capacity planning.
• Monitor incoming ticket volumes, identify recurring issues and trends, and implement proactive measures to reduce repeat incidents.
• Review service performance metrics, ticket resolution timelines, and SLAs to improve operational efficiency and service quality.
• Identify and implement opportunities for automation, workflow optimization, and software enhancements.
• Drive improvement initiatives from planning through implementation, ensuring measurable results and successful deployment.
• Act as the escalation point for critical issues, guiding the team toward timely and effective resolution.

Technical Support & IT Operations

• Oversee L1 technical support for internal and external users, including incident management and request fulfillment.
• Supervise the installation, configuration, and maintenance of desktops, laptops, operating systems, and business applications.
• Ensure effective support for security patches, antivirus updates, remote access, VPN connectivity, virtual machines, and peripheral devices.
• Guide the team in troubleshooting hardware, software, and system-related issues.
• Manage ticket resolution and coordinate with internal teams to **escalate** unresolved issues to the appropriate L2 service owners.
• Coordinate software subscription purchases and renewals with vendors while ensuring alignment with budgetary requirements.

IT Asset Management

• Manage company IT assets and ensure accurate records and alignment with asset registers.
• Oversee software inventories, asset tracking, and configuration management repositories.
• Ensure appropriate monitoring and maintenance of IT equipment and software resources.

User Access Management & Identity Governance

• Oversee user access management across business applications and software platforms, ensuring consistent governance and adherence to internal policies.
• Define and govern access control matrices and standard access models in line with least-privilege principles, segregation of duties, and regulatory requirements.
• Supervise user access provisioning, modification, and revocation throughout the user lifecycle.
• Ensure periodic access reviews are completed, documented, and followed up with corrective actions where required.
• Oversee external partner access enablement, including certificate issuance and renewals for banks, financial institutions, and government entities.

Integration Partner Onboarding & Governance

• Own the end-to-end onboarding framework for new integration partners, establishing standards, controls, and readiness criteria.
• Coordinate with technology, security, and operations teams to ensure connectivity, system integration, and access requirements are completed.
• Track onboarding progress, risks, dependencies, and blockers, providing regular updates to management.
• Resolve cross-functional and partner-related issues affecting integration timelines and service readiness.
• Ensure new partners are onboarded securely and are operationally ready before going live.

ITIL, Compliance & Service Reporting

• Ensure adherence to ITIL practices, including incident management, request fulfillment, change management, and problem management.
• Coordinate communications regarding planned downtime, application upgrades, critical deployments, and maintenance activities.
• Oversee operational checks for enterprise applications and customer-facing digital platforms.
• Drive the resolution of audit findings and regulatory requirements in coordination with relevant stakeholders.
• Prepare and review weekly and monthly reports covering ticket volumes, SLA compliance, resolution times, and service performance.
• Maintain training materials, knowledge bases, and solution repositories for internal and external stakeholders.

Enterprise Applications & Data Quality

• Oversee the resolution of user queries and support tickets relating to enterprise applications, including ERP and CRM systems.
• Guide the investigation and resolution of data quality issues reported by customers accessing credit reports.
• Coordinate with banks and internal data teams to investigate and resolve data-related discrepancies.
• Identify opportunities to enhance existing applications, define improvement requirements, and coordinate implementation.
• Measure the impact of implemented improvements and recommend further actions to enhance service quality.

Requirements

• Mandatory Requirements: Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
• Proficiency in English.
• Proven experience in team leadership and management.
• Experience in IT service delivery, SLA management, and ticketing systems.
• Experience installing and configuring computer systems and applications in large organizations.
• Extensive experience with Windows and open-source operating systems.
• Experience configuring and setting up Cisco IP telephones.
• Knowledge of product review and development, commercial agreements, and business frameworks.
• Strong technical troubleshooting, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication, presentation, influencing, and negotiation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, work under pressure, and meet deadlines.
• Ability to lead teams, manage change, and collaborate with internal stakeholders and B2B partners.
• Preferred Requirements: Master's degree or specialization in Business.
• Proficiency in Arabic.
• MCSA, MCITP, or Azure certification.
• Experience supporting enterprise applications, ERP, CRM, and help desk tools.
• Knowledge of user access management, identity governance, and partner integration.
• Experience in automation, process improvement, and service optimization.
• Knowledge of databases, backup systems, network and local printers, biometric systems, and CCTV.
• Strong time management and structured analytical thinking.