Principal Manager Citrix/AVD EngOps

Vodafone Group; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading international telecommunications company in Greater London is seeking a Principal Manager for Citrix/AVD Engineering Operations. This role involves strategic leadership, overseeing a global team responsible for maintaining critical remote access services. The ideal candidate boasts extensive experience in strategic IT service ownership, particularly in Azure and Citrix environments. Joining this dynamic team offers opportunities to significantly impact operations and drive the transition to a cloud service provider.

Benefits

28 days annual leave

Charity days: 5 days/year

Hybrid working

Private pension with matching contributions

Private medical and dental care

Global parental leave policy

Access to training platforms like LinkedIn Learning

Qualifications

• Proven experience in strategic IT service ownership across multiple countries.
• Strong expertise in Azure Virtual Desktop and cloud architecture.
• Minimum 3 years of people leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and engineering of Citrix and AVD platforms.
• Ensure availability of remote access services for customer support.
• Drive innovation in cloud-native remote access technologies.

Skills

Strategic IT service ownership

Azure Virtual Desktop

Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops

Cloud architecture

Stakeholder management

Budget management

Job description

Join Us

At Vodafone, we’re not just shaping the future of connectivity for our customers – we’re shaping the future for everyone who joins our team. When you work with us, you’re part of a global mission to connect people, solve complex challenges, and create a sustainable and more inclusive world. If you want to grow your career whilst finding the perfect balance between work and life, Vodafone offers the opportunities to help you belong and make a real impact.

What you’ll do

The Principal Manager Citrix/AVD Engineering Operations provides strategic leadership and end-to-end accountability for the design, engineering, implementation and operation of VOIS-delivered Citrix and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) platforms. The role ensures the availability and performance of mission-critical remote access services that enable more than 50,000 Vodafone agents across Customer Support, Sales, Call Center and Retail to deliver revenue-impacting operations every day.

This position is a key driver in Vodafone’s transformation to a Cloud Service Provider, accountable for defining and executing the global Citrix-to-AVD migration and modernization strategy. It assures financial efficiency, operational excellence and compliance, while aligning to VOIS’ strategic ambition to commercialize internal capabilities as external customer offerings.

With direct line responsibility for onshore technical leads and functional oversight of offshore delivery teams, the role leads a global team of ~50 senior engineers and coordinators operating 65 Platinum-critical platforms across 14 markets. It governs performance, cost, and innovation targets, ensuring all services meet or exceed corporate SLAs, security, and regulatory standards.

The role requires thought leadership, complex stakeholder management, and strategic decision‑making to balance technology, cost, and business priorities, directly influencing Vodafone’s operational stability and profitability.

• End-to-end accountability for the high availability, resilience and compliance of Citrix & AVD platforms in line with Platinum SLA targets
• Strategic leadership of the Citrix-to-AVD cloud transformation, including roadmap definition, investment decisions, business case ownership, market commitment, implementation governance and reporting to senior leadership teams (SLT)
• Leadership responsibility for a combined onshore/offshore workforce consisting of senior engineers, coordinators and technical program leaders
• Cross‑market stakeholder management, influencing technology leaders across Vodafone markets, VOIS functions and business domains
• Ownership of commercialised P*Q products, with responsibility for margin contribution, product roadmap and external customer adoption
• FinOps accountability for optimized Azure consumption and cost efficiency across all remote access workloads
• Driving innovation in cloud‑native remote access technologies to support Vodafone’s long‑term digital workplace strategy
• People leadership & organisational development, ensuring capability growth, succession readiness and performance excellence within all onshore and offshore teams

Who you are

• Proven experience in strategic IT service ownership and end-to-end platform accountability across multiple countries
• Strong expertise in Azure Virtual Desktop, Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops, and Azure Cloud architecture
• Deep understanding of security, compliance, and risk governance for externally exposed enterprise services
• Advanced leadership, stakeholder, and communication skills, including experience engaging with senior technology and business executives
• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic transformation with operational delivery in large, complex organisations
• Minimum 3 years of people leadership experience managing onshore and offshore engineering teams across different bands and geographies
• Minimum 3 years of end-to-end accountability for enterprise‑scale IT products, services, or platforms
• Proven experience with agile SAFe, SOX and regulatory compliance frameworks
• Strong background in budget management, FinOps, and operational governance

Not a perfect fit?

Worried that you don’t meet all the desired criteria exactly? At Vodafone we are passionate about empowering people and creating a workplace where everyone can thrive, whatever their personal or professional background. If you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align exactly with every part of the job description, we encourage you to still apply as you may be the right candidate for this role or another opportunity.

What’s in it for you

• Annual leave: 28 days + bank holidays + the opportunity to buy/sell/carry over 5 days/year
• Charity days: 5 days/year
• Hybrid working
• Private pension: You can contribute up to 5% of your basic pay with 2:1 matching from Vodafone up to 10%
• Vodafone family and friends discount
• Private medical, private dental, free health assessments, share save scheme
• Global parental leave policy for all new parents which includes 39 paid weeks of maternity leave and 16 weeks fully paid leave and upon returning to work, new parents can work part‑time hours for 6 months whilst being paid their full‑time salary
• Access to Vodafone University and LinkedIn Learning

Who we are

We are a leading international Telco, serving millions of customers. At Vodafone, we believe that connectivity is a force for good. If we use it for the things that really matter, it can improve people’s lives and the world around us. Through our technology we empower people, connecting everyone regardless of who they are or where they live and we protect the planet, whilst helping our customers do the same.

Belonging at Vodafone isn’t a concept; it’s lived, breathed, and cultivated through everything we do. You’ll be part of a global and diverse community, with many different minds, abilities, backgrounds and cultures. We’re committed to increase diversity, ensure equal representation, and make Vodafone a place everyone feels safe, valued and included.

If you require any reasonable adjustments or have an accessibility request as part of your recruitment journey, for example, extended time or breaks in between online assessments, please refer to https://careers.vodafone.com/application-adjustments/ for guidance.

Together we can.