Operations Analyst

Encore Talent Solutions; Cincinnati (OH); On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Encore Talent Solutions is seeking an Operations Analyst to join the IT Operations Command Center. You will serve as an incident commander, lead real-time response, and ensure cross-functional alignment during service disruptions across client and internal environments.

Responsibilities include monitoring, triage, incident classification, escalating as needed, and coordinating engineering, service desk, vendor, and client stakeholders to restore services and drive improvements.

Qualifications

• 2–4+ years in IT operations, service desk, NOC, or command center environments.
• Strong incident management frameworks (ITIL).
• Experience in real-time operations, escalation management or crisis coordination.
• Ability to lead calls and coordinate teams under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Maintain continuous presence in the designated telephony queue during shifts.
• Monitor networks, infrastructure, cloud, and applications using observability platforms.
• Identify anomalies, service degradation, and incident indicators.
• Correlate alerts to reduce noise and identify actionable incidents.
• Act as primary responder and coordinator for incidents following runbooks.
• Lead major incident/crisis bridges and provide updates to stakeholders.
• Deliver clear incident communications to internal/external audiences.
• Support post-incident reviews and process improvements.

Skills

IT operations

ITIL knowledge

Real-time ops

Escalation mgmt

Crisis coordination

Education

ITIL Foundation

Tools

LogicMonitor

Datadog

Zabbix

Job description

Position Summary

The Operations Analyst serves as a process and engagement leader within the IT Operations Command Center responsible for real-time operational governance, critical incident coordination, and service health oversight across client and internal environments. The role extends beyond traditional monitoring and triage by owning execution of incident management processes, facilitating major incident response, and ensuring cross-functional alignment during service disruptions. The Operations Analyst acts as the initial Incident Commander, driving structured response, communication, and activities in high-impact situations. This role reports to the Operations Manager.

Responsibilities:

Service Monitoring & Event Monitoring

• Maintain continuous presence in the designated telephony queue during assigned shifts to ensure immediate response to incoming priority and high priority incident reports.
• Continuously monitor enterprise environments (network, infrastructure, cloud, applications) using centralized observability platforms.
• Proactively identify anomalies, service degradation, and early indicators of critical incidents.
• Correlate alerts and events to reduce noise and identify actionable incidents.
• Maintain situational awareness across all environments within the ITOCC scope.
• Act as the primary responder and coordinator for incidents, following defined processes and procedures.
• Perform incident classification, prioritization, and severity determination.
• Drive timely triage and escalation aligned to runbooks and service level objectives.
• Ensure incidents are owned end-to-end until resolution or proper handoff.
• Maintain strict adherence to defined incident management workflows and governance.
• Orchestrate cross-functional teams (i.e. engineering, service desk, vendor, client stakeholders).

Major Incident & Crisis Leadership

• Serve as Incident Commander for Major/Critical Incidents.
• Initiate and lead technical bridge calls, ensuring structured participation and progress tracking.
• Orchestrate cross-functional teams (i.e. engineering, service desk, vendor, client stakeholders).
• Provide real-time executive-level updates and situational summaries.

Client Communication & Stakeholder Management

• Deliver clear, concise, and timely incident communications to internal and external stakeholders.
• Communicate impact, status, risks, and estimated restoration timelines.
• Serve as the single source of truth during active incidents.
• Ensure communication aligns with both internal and external expectations.

Process & Runbook Governance

• Execute against and continuously improve incident management runbooks and SOPs.
• Identify gaps in existing processes and recommend enhancements.
• Contribute to standardization of ITOCC operating procedures.
• Ensure Consistency and auditability of response actions.
• Maintain detailed and accurate incident timelines, actions, and decisions.
• Support post-incident reviews and improvement opportunities.
• Ensure all incidents meeting documentation and compliance standards.
• Analyze incident patterns and recommend preventative measures.
• Collaborate with engineering teams on problem management initiatives.
• Participate in process maturity advancements within the ITOCC.
• Support automation and tooling improvements for event and incident handling.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• 2-4+ years’ experience in IT operations, service desk, NOC, or command center environments.
• Strong understanding of incident management frameworks in ITIL.
• Experience in real-time operations, escalation management, or crisis coordination.
• Ability to lead calls and coordinate teams under pressure.

Preferred:

• ITIL Foundation or higher certification.
• Experience with a monitoring/observability tool (i.e. LogicMonitor, Datadog, Zabbix, etc,).
• Exposure to enterprise infrastructure (network, server, cloud).
• Experience supporting external clients in managed service.

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Occasional walking between facilities.
• Occasional lifting, pushing, pulling up to 15 lbs.

Encore Talent Solutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We respect and seek to empower each individual and support the diverse cultures, perspectives, skills, and experiences within our workforce.