Service Manager - DevOps Engineering & Automation-MGRDEVOP

What you'll be doing:

The IT Service Manager – Automation and DevOps Engineering leads the delivery of resilient, scalable and automated DevOps and engineering services across Church Mutual Group’s IT landscape. This role is accountable for the day‑to‑day operations, reliability, and continuous improvement of enterprise automation and DevOps platforms that support application delivery, infrastructure operations, and business services. The position provides technical leadership and direction for DevOps engineering and automation capabilities spanning application quality engineering (test automation), middleware and application platforms, and infrastructure automation across on-premises and cloud environments.  Operating as a principal‑level contributor, the role partners closely with architecture, application engineering, infrastructure, security and service management teams to define technical strategy, guide solution design, and ensure operational excellence. Key focus areas include enterprise automation strategy, DevOps platform operations, CI/CD and middleware enablement, infrastructure automation (e.g., automation for post-patching, DR validation, environment readiness, etc.,), with existing enterprise AI adaption strategy and team leadership, vendor coordination, and continuous service improvement to enhance speed, reliability, customer satisfaction, and cost efficiency.

 

 

Organizational Leadership:

• Participate in the development and implementation of policies, standards, and procedures to deliver Automation and DevOps Engineering services with existing enterprise AI adaption strategy.
• Operate with near‑complete autonomy while collaborating seamlessly across IT and business domains; make architecture‑level decisions related to DevOps and automation platforms.
• Identify future‑state needs and drive enterprise‑wide automation and DevOps maturity.
• Engage directly with senior IT leadership to help shape priorities, roadmaps, and investment strategies for automation and DevOps capabilities.
• Drive transformational improvements in deployment automation, test automation, infrastructure remediation, resiliency, and operational controls.
• Establish standards, govern technical patterns, and evaluate modern tooling across CI/CD, middleware automation, test automation frameworks, and infrastructure‑as‑
• Act as a top technical mentor and thought leader within the DevOps and automation community, influencing Engineering, Architecture, Infrastructure, QA, and Security stakeholders.
• Supervise direct reports with strong hands‑on technical leadership and accountability.

Team Management:

• Supervise and mentor IT staff supporting DevOps Engineering, Application Automation, and Infrastructure Automation.
• Foster a collaborative, high‑performance culture focused on reliability, speed, and automation‑first thinking.
• Oversee daily operations including task assignments, backlog prioritization, workload distribution, and performance management.
• Oversee staffing, training, skill development, performance management goals and evaluations, and contribute to workforce planning initiatives.
• Allocate resources effectively to meet business delivery and operational goals.
• Monitor and control operational expenses, optimizing cost‑efficiency of tools, platforms, and vendor services.
• Enforce security policies and compliance requirements across DevOps pipelines and automation tooling.
• Collaborate with security teams to manage risk, vulnerability remediation, and secure automation practices.
• Contribute to budgeting, forecasting, and resource planning activities.

Service Reliability & Performance:

• Ensure reliability, stability, and performance of DevOps platforms, CI/CD pipelines, automation frameworks, and middleware services.
• Monitor and manage system operations, proactively identifying risks and addressing issues to minimize service disruption.
• Ensure automation supports critical operational activities including post‑patching validation, post‑disaster recovery testing, environment health checks, and release readiness.
• Utilize ITIL frameworks, DevOps metrics, and industry best practices to define KPIs and provide monthly operational reporting.
• Drive improvements in deployment success rates, automation coverage, defect leakage, and recovery times.

Process Improvement:

• Identify and implement opportunities to improve operational efficiency, developer experience, and service quality through automation.
• Standardize and document DevOps and automation processes, ensuring consistent and repeatable execution across environments.
• Promote Enterprise Orchestration, configuration management, automated testing, and self‑service capabilities.
• Provide regular updates to leadership on operational health, automation adoption, and improvement initiatives.
• Continuously evaluate and implement new tools and technologies to streamline delivery and operations.

Service Delivery:

• Lead response efforts for major incidents related to DevOps platforms, automation tooling, or middleware services.
• Oversee root cause analysis and drive corrective and preventive actions to improve reliability and resilience.
• Support strategic initiatives by providing leadership, expertise, and oversight of DevOps and automation resources.
• Ensure successful implementation and integration of new automation frameworks, CI/CD tools, middleware platforms, and engineering solutions.
• Track, measure, and report on KPIs and service level agreements (SLAs) related to DevOps and automation services.

Relationship Management:

• Manage relationships with vendors, system integrators, and third‑party service providers supporting automation and DevOps platforms.
• Ensure third‑party services meet performance, security, and compliance expectations.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for DevOps and automation‑related escalations, inquiries, and issues.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders to ensure satisfaction with automation and DevOps services.

 

 

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, or a related field. 
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in IT engineering, DevOps, Automation, with at least 2 years in a supervisory or management position. 
• Strong experience with DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and middleware or application platform engineering.
• Hands-on experience with application QA automation frameworks and infrastructure automation (e.g., post-patching validation, DR testing, environment provisioning).
• Experience supporting both on-premises and cloud environments.
• Familiarity with IT service management (ITSM) frameworks such as ITIL. 

 

Skills and Competencies:

• Strong leadership and team management skills.
• Deep understanding of DevOps, Automation, and platform engineering principles.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical abilities.
• Outstanding communication, interpersonal, and customer service skills.
• Proficiency with DevOps, automation, and monitoring tools.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, delivery-driven environment.
• Strong understanding of security, risk management and compliance considerations in automated environments.