Sr. Manager, IT Operations

Americo Financial Life and Annuity; Kansas City (MO); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Americo Financial Life and Annuity is seeking a Sr. Manager of IT Operations to lead end-user technology support and IT operations across Americo’s business units and remote workforce.

You will own incident, request/response, change, and knowledge management with measurable SLAs and CSAT targets, while driving automation and scalable operating models to support growth and resiliency.

Qualifications

• Degree in IT, CS, business or engineering or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of progressive IT experience with large-scale ops.
• 5+ years of leadership in IT operations or service delivery.
• Experience leading production systems, governance, and service management.
• Familiarity with automation, security, and modern workplace platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead End User Services / IT Operations teams and coach staff.
• Own day-to-day service operations with SLA/CSAT/MTTA/MTTR goals and ITIL leadership.
• Drive strategy, automation, self-service, and documentation improvements.
• Manage IT asset lifecycle, licenses, renewals, and vendor relations.
• Serve as senior escalation and relationship owner across key teams and stakeholders.

Skills

End User Services

IT Operations Leadership

Incident Management

Vendor Management

Automation & Scripting

People Leadership

ITSM Knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT/CS/Engineering/Business

Tools

ServiceNow

Freshworks

Jira Service Management

Zendesk

Microsoft 365

Azure/Entra ID

Job description

The Sr. Manager, IT Operations exists to lead Americo’s end-user technology support and IT operations functions, ensuring associates have reliable, secure, and effective technology services to perform their work. This role owns the operational discipline, service quality, team leadership, vendor coordination, SaaS lifecycle management, and continuous improvement needed to deliver a consistent support experience across Americo’s business units and remote workforce. The role also serves as a senior operational escalation point between End User Services, Infrastructure, Security, Finance, Procurement, and business stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead, coach, and develop Americo’s End User Services / IT Operations team, setting clear expectations, identifying development opportunities, and maintaining a professional service culture.
• Own day-to-day service operations including incident, request/response, problem, change, escalation, and knowledge management, with measurable SLA, CSAT, MTTA, and MTTR expectations. Provide ITIL leadership.
• Drive operational strategy and continuous improvement through automation, self-service, AI-assisted support, runbook standardization, and process documentation.
• Manage the IT asset, endpoint, software, SaaS, and vendor lifecycle, including inventory accuracy, hardware refresh planning, license compliance, renewals, and cost optimization in partnership with Finance and Procurement.
• Serve as senior escalation and relationship owner across Infrastructure, Security, Application teams, Facilities/Workplace, People Operations, and business stakeholders to ensure reliable associate technology services.

Required Knowledge and Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related field required. Equivalent directly relevant experience may be considered in accordance with Americo policy and HR/Compensation guidance.

The ideal candidate will possess extensive experience leading enterprise IT operations within a complex, highly regulated environment, including responsibility for production support, infrastructure services, enterprise applications, service management, and operational governance. Candidates should demonstrate a proven ability to lead technical teams, manage competing priorities, influence organizational outcomes, and develop scalable operational models that support business growth, resiliency, and technology modernization.

Preferred qualifications include:

10+ years of progressive IT experience.

5+ years of leadership responsibility.

Experience managing enterprise production systems and service delivery functions.

Experience driving automation, operational maturity, process improvement, and workforce development initiatives.

Relevant industry certifications (ITIL, Microsoft, AWS, Azure, Oracle, VMware, CISSP, PMP, or equivalent) are desirable.

End-user services, service desk/help desk, endpoint management, or infrastructure operations experience; 3+ years leading teams, supervisors, analysts, or engineers preferred.

Day-one proficiency with ITSM practices and modern workplace platforms such as Microsoft 365, Teams, Azure/Entra ID, Intune/endpoint management, identity/access management, remote support tools, asset inventory, reporting dashboards, and knowledge management. Experience with ServiceNow, Freshworks, Jira Service Management, Zendesk, or comparable tools preferred.

Strong working knowledge of ITIL-based service delivery, incident/request/problem/change management, vendor management, license lifecycle, procurement/renewals, hardware refresh planning, scripting/automation concepts, and secure access/endpoint practices. ITIL, Microsoft, endpoint management, or project/service management certifications preferred.