Infrastructure Operations Team Lead

Job description

Role Summary The Infrastructure Operations Team Lead will provide technical and operational leadership for the growing Infrastructure Operations team, ensuring it is well supported with clear day-to-day direction, escalation support and effective coverage across key infrastructure disciplines. The role has approximately six direct reports, with dotted-line management responsibility for other infrastructure staff based in the region, who work on a hybrid office/home basis. This is a hands-on leadership role that combines people leadership, technical delivery and service improvement. It requires strong infrastructure engineering experience and sound judgement, with the ability to balance team management with direct technical involvement. The successful candidate will act as the on-site contact and escalation point for infrastructure-related work, stay close to the technical work, and help improve the service, processes and overall operational quality as the team matures. Key Responsibilities • Lead and support a team of approximately six infrastructure operations engineers across a range of technical disciplines. • Hold regular catch-ups with team members, support goal setting, track progress and provide coaching and feedback in line with Cigna management expectations. • Implement and manage a practical coverage rota across areas of expertise, supporting effective handover and coverage across EMEA and local business hours. • Provide day-to-day operational ownership for supported infrastructure platforms, including server, storage, virtualisation, backup and data protection services. • Administer and support cloud-hosted servers as the team takes on responsibility for cloud-based infrastructure, ensuring consistent operational standards across onpremises and cloud environments. • Remain close to the technical work, supporting troubleshooting, service improvement and operational delivery where needed. • Mandatory participation in the 24/7 on-call rota, supporting incident response and escalation as required. • Manage and resolve ServiceNow incidents, requests and operational tasks, including third-level troubleshooting across Windows and Linux environments. • Support vulnerability remediation, patching activity, operational controls and platform currency work. • Identify opportunities to improve service quality, reduce repeat issues, strengthen operational controls and streamline how the team works. • Drive improvements to operational documentation, knowledge bases and support procedures so the team can work consistently and reduce reliance on individual knowledge. • Coordinate with platform SMEs for specialist activity such as firmware updates, platform maintenance, lifecycle activity and complex troubleshooting. • Support change management activity, including planning, implementation, validation and post-change follow-up. • Practise enterprise-standard financial discipline, understanding the impact of decisions. • Contribute to project work where infrastructure operations support or implementation input is required. • Act as the local escalation point for infrastructure-related work, helping to drive ownership, visibility and timely resolution. • Build strong working relationships with local business teams and global Infrastructure Engineering teams across regions. • Occasionally adjust working hours where required to support role responsibilities, workload, handovers or coordination with global teams. Required Experience and Skills Essential • Degree in a relevant discipline, or equivalent practical infrastructure engineering experience. • Strong third-level infrastructure engineering experience in an enterprise environment. • Hands-on experience supporting both Windows and Linux operating systems. • Experience with enterprise virtualisation platforms (VMware or equivalent). • Good understanding of server, storage, backup, patching, vulnerability management and operational support processes. • Experience administering cloud-hosted servers (Azure, AWS or equivalent), including deployment, patching and day-to-day operational support. • Experience working with ServiceNow or similar ITSM tooling for incidents, requests, changes and operational work. • Experience supporting operational change activity in a controlled enterprise environment. • Practical experience of enterprise-standard financial discipline, including previous exposure to IT finances and cost centre management. • Practical experience of using AI tools to improve productivity. • Ability to troubleshoot technical issues, identify root cause and coordinate the right teams to restore service. • Clear communication skills, with the confidence to engage technical teams, business stakeholders and senior colleagues. • Good written and spoken English. • Willingness and ability to participate in a mandatory 24/7 on-call support rota. Desirable • Experience with NetApp storage technologies, or equivalent enterprise storage platforms. • Experience with Cohesity, or equivalent backup and data protection platforms. • Team leadership or line management experience in an infrastructure or operations environment. • Relevant certifications such as VMware, ITIL, or Microsoft/Linux platform qualifications. Leadership Expectations • Provide day-to-day direction, support and prioritisation for the Infrastructure Operations team. • Manage approximately six direct reports, including regular one-to-ones, performance conversations, goal setting and development planning. • Provide local leadership and dotted-line support for wider infrastructure staff, helping align priorities, escalate issues and maintain consistent ways of working. • Support effective team management and communication across a hybrid office/home working model. • Be proactive, self-driven and comfortable taking ownership without waiting to be directed. • Help build a positive, visible and collaborative team presence. • Be approachable and confident in building relationships across local business teams, regional colleagues and global technology groups, comfortable speaking up and engaging openly across different regions and working styles. • Support knowledge sharing, operational discipline and consistent ways of working across the team. • Be a champion of AI adoption, actively leveraging AI tools to improve ways of working and coaching the team to do the same. • Escalate risks, blockers and service issues clearly and early. • Work closely with global Infrastructure Engineering teams to ensure operational work is aligned with platform standards and engineering direction. Team Context The Infrastructure Operations team is a new and growing team with a broad mix of skills across virtualisation, general infrastructure engineering, backup and data protection, vulnerability management and patching. It comprises approximately six direct reports, with additional dotted-line coordination for other infrastructure staff, including Network, Telephony and Data Platform engineers. Staff work on a hybrid office/home basis. The wider Infrastructure Engineering teams are based across EMEA, so the role works closely with colleagues in other regions, with coverage arranged across EMEA and local business hours. Required Experience and Skills Essential • Degree in a relevant discipline, or equivalent practical infrastructure engineering experience. • Strong third-level infrastructure engineering experience in an enterprise environment. • Hands-on experience supporting both Windows and Linux operating systems. • Experience with enterprise virtualisation platforms (VMware or equivalent). • Good understanding of server, storage, backup, patching, vulnerability management and operational support processes. • Experience administering cloud-hosted servers (Azure, AWS or equivalent), including deployment, patching and day-to-day operational support. • Experience working with ServiceNow or similar ITSM tooling for incidents, requests, changes and operational work. • Experience supporting operational change activity in a controlled enterprise environment. • Practical experience of enterprise-standard financial discipline, including previous exposure to IT finances and cost centre management. • Practical experience of using AI tools to improve productivity. • Ability to troubleshoot technical issues, identify root cause and coordinate the right teams to restore service. Desirable • Experience with NetApp storage technologies, or equivalent enterprise storage platforms. • Experience with Cohesity, or equivalent backup and data protection platforms. • Team leadership or line management experience in an infrastructure or operations environment. • Relevant certifications such as VMware, ITIL, or Microsoft/Linux platform qualifications. Leadership Expectations • Provide day-to-day direction, support and prioritisation for the Infrastructure Operations team. • Manage approximately six direct reports, including regular one-to-ones, performance conversations, goal setting and development planning. • Provide local leadership and dotted-line support for wider infrastructure staff, helping align priorities, escalate issues and maintain consistent ways of working. About The Cigna Group Cigna Healthcare, a division of The Cigna Group, is an advocate for better health through every stage of life. 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