IT SERVICE OWNER

Lona Group; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Lona Group is seeking an IT Service Owner to drive end-to-end service delivery, performance, governance and continuous improvement across the group. You will coordinate with business units and technical SMEs to ensure service levels are met, issues resolved and initiatives progressed.

The role focuses on service ownership, stakeholder engagement and team leadership, with SMEs handling architecture and technical standards.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in IT operations, service management or technology support environments.
• 3+ years leading technical teams.
• Experience managing technology services across multiple stakeholders or business units.
• Experience with service delivery and operational performance management.
• Experience managing third-party vendors and service providers.
• Proven experience engaging at executive level, with the confidence and credibility to challenge senior executives.

Responsibilities

• Own the Group's technology service catalogue and continuously improve service delivery.
• Ensure all services meet SLAs/OLAs and take corrective action as needed.
• Establish and monitor service performance metrics and report to executives.
• Lead service reviews with stakeholders and address recurring issues before escalation.
• Act as the primary service relationship contact for all business units and manage expectations.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Service management

Team development

Governance

Education

Bachelor's Degree in IT/CS or related field

Job description

The Opportunity

The IT Service Owner is accountable for the end-to-end delivery, performance, governance and continuous improvement of the technology services provided across the Group. This includes making sure the service catalogue is maintained, agreed service levels are consistently met, and the technical team has what it needs to do its job well. The role also acts as the main point of contact between business stakeholders and the technology function, so a significant part of the job involves managing that relationship. This is not a hands-on technical role. The focus is on service ownership, stakeholder management and team leadership, while Technical Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) take responsibility for architecture, technical standards and solving technical problems.

Key Responsibilities

Service Ownership & Performance

• Own the Group's technology service catalogue and continuously improve how services are delivered.
• Ensure all agreed services are delivered within defined SLAs and OLAs, and take corrective action where required.
• Establish and monitor service performance metrics, including SLA compliance, availability and quality, and report on these to executive stakeholders.
• Lead service reviews with stakeholders and address recurring service issues before they escalation.

Stakeholder Management

• Act as the primary service relationship contact for all supported business units and maintain strong working relationships with business leaders.
• Manage expectations regarding service delivery, priorities and capacity, and help resolve competing business demands.
• Escalate strategic risks and opportunities to executive leadership as needed.

Team Leadership

• Lead and develop a technical team, including workload allocation and resource planning.
• Set individual development plans and encourage cross-skilling, knowledge sharing and a culture of accountability and continuous learning.

Operational Governance & Continuous Improvement

• Own operational governance processes, manage service-related risks and dependencies, and ensure compliance with company policies and standards.
• Support budgeting and technology planning activities and monitor supplier and vendor performance.
• Drive efficiency, automation and service maturity initiatives, and support the adoption of best-practice service management frameworks.

Working with Technical SMEs

The IT Service Owner is accountable for service performance, delivery, SLA achievement, team leadership, stakeholder satisfaction and operational governance. Technical SMEs remain accountable for technical standards, architecture decisions, technical escalations, solution design and technical mentoring.

Experience & Qualifications

Essential Experience

• 7+ years' experience in IT operations, service management or technology support environments.
• 3+ years' experience leading technical teams.
• Experience managing technology services across multiple stakeholders or business units.
• Experience with service delivery and operational performance management.
• Experience managing third-party vendors and service providers.
• Proven experience engaging at executive level, with the confidence and credibility to constructively challenge senior executives.

Preferred Experience

• Experience supporting complex, multi-disciplinary technology environments.
• Experience within a group, holding company or shared services environment.
• Experience leading service transformation or capability-building initiatives.

Essential Qualification

• Bachelor's Degree, Diploma or equivalent qualification in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Information Systems or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• ITIL Foundation or higher.
• Project Management qualification (PMP, PRINCE2 or equivalent).
• Agile, Lean or Continuous Improvement certification.
• Service Management certification.

Key Competencies

• Leadership: team leadership, coaching and mentoring, sound decision-making and accountability.
• Service management: service ownership, service governance, demand management and performance management.
• Business engagement: stakeholder management, influencing skills, negotiation and conflict resolution.
• Operational excellence: process improvement, risk management, problem solving and analytical thinking.
• Personal attributes: customer-focused, collaborative, adaptable, results-oriented and professional.

About Lona Group

Lona Group has been growing, packing and exporting fresh produce out of South Africa for almost 30 years, including citrus, mangoes, olives and stone fruit. Over that time the business has grown well beyond farming to include packing, cold storage, logistics, processing and a growing branded foods division.Through its operating brands, LonaFresh, Lona Foods, Unlimited Group and KHOLD, Lona Group exports produce to more than 40 countries and operates some of the largest specialised fresh produce cold storage facilities in South Africa. The Group holds Level 2 B-BBEE status and is headquartered in Claremont, Cape Town, with farms, packhouses and processing sites located across the country.It is a large and increasingly complex operation, which is why this role is important to the business.

Lona Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to Employment Equity. In line with the Group's Employment Equity Plan, preference may be given to candidates from designated groups, and appointments will be made based on the requirements of the role.