Manager, IT Application Managed Services

Position Overview The Manager – IT Application Managed Services (AMS) is accountable for the governance and performance management of external service providers delivering AMS for a defined application portfolio. This role ensures vendors meet contractual commitments and service levels, provides oversight of operational delivery (without directly managing day-to-day incident/problem execution), and drives continuous improvement, cost optimization, and service maturity. A key focus is enabling cross-vendor collaboration to support end-to-end business process outcomes across integrated application landscapes. Success in this role requires strong, proactive alignment with two critical stakeholder groups: the IT Service Center (front-line intake, triage, and user experience) and Product Teams (roadmaps, releases, and product health). The Manager partners with Product, Application Owners, Infrastructure, Security, and Finance/Procurement to ensure vendor-delivered services align to business priorities and technology standards. Key Accountabilities Vendor Governance & Service Performance Management: • Act as the primary IT point of contact for AMS service providers for assigned application scope. • Establish and run vendor governance routines (weekly operational reviews, monthly service reviews, quarterly business reviews). • Monitor vendor performance against SLAs and contractual KPIs (availability, responsiveness, backlog, change success rate, knowledge quality), ensuring corrective actions are executed. • Review vendor RCA reports and improvement plans; challenge quality and timeliness of deliverables and ensure closure of actions. • Ensure vendors maintain appropriate documentation (runbooks, SOPs, knowledge articles) and operational readiness artifacts. Financial & Commercial Management: • Lead/participate in commercial negotiations with vendors for new scope, changes in service conditions, and pricing, diligently pursuing a continuous productivity practice to ensure value for money and alignment to service expectations. • Identify and deliver cost optimization opportunities while maintaining service quality. • Manage AMS financial administration for the scope: budget planning, forecasting, cost tracking, and variance explanations. • Validate vendor invoices for accuracy and correct allocation (projects vs. run, GL coding) in line with company policy. • Support contract lifecycle activities with Procurement/Vendor Management (SOWs, renewals, rate cards, scope changes). • Review and challenge vendor proposals, assumptions, and effort estimates; negotiate deliverables, acceptance criteria, and commercial terms in partnership with Procurement and Legal as required. Cross-Vendor Collaboration & End-to-End Service Delivery • Drive cross-vendor operating rhythms (shared governance, joint triage, integrated reporting) to ensure seamless service across multi-vendor environments. • Facilitate collaboration between vendors supporting different applications/technology towers to resolve handoffs, reduce “swivel-chair” support, and improve end-to-end business process performance (e.g., order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, inventory-to-fulfillment). • Define and enforce clear RACI, escalation paths, and cross-vendor accountability for integrated services and shared outcomes. • Lead cross-vendor initiatives to improve knowledge sharing, reduce recurring cross-system issues, and strengthen integration support. Service Improvement & Standardization • Drive continuous improvement initiatives with vendors (process adherence, shift-left, automation opportunities, reduction of recurring issues, improved documentation quality). • Define and track service improvement plans (SIPs) and ensure measurable outcomes. • Promote standard ways of working across vendors (templates, reporting, governance cadence, escalation paths). Stakeholder Alignment: IT Service Center & Product Teams • Foster strong day-to-day partnership with the IT Service Center to ensure effective intake, routing, escalation paths, knowledge availability, and a consistent end-user support experience. • Maintain tight alignment with Product Teams to anticipate roadmap-driven support impacts, ensure operational readiness for releases, and align vendor priorities to product health and business outcomes. • Establish clear engagement models (RACI, escalation, communications) between vendors, IT Service Center, and Product Teams to reduce friction and improve time-to-resolution across the service chain. • Provide clear, business-ready reporting on vendor performance, risks, and improvement progress to IT leadership and stakeholders. • Ensure effective escalation management and timely stakeholder communications for service risks and chronic issues (without owning operational execution). • Collaborate with Security, Risk, and Compliance teams to ensure vendors meet required controls, access standards, and audit needs. Required Qualifications • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent experience). • 8–10+ years of IT experience with significant exposure to Application Managed Services / outsourcing models. • 2–3+ years of experience managing vendors/service providers and holding them accountable to SLAs and deliverables. • Strong understanding of IT service management concepts (ITIL-aligned incident/problem/change processes) sufficient to govern vendor execution. • Demonstrated experience with budgeting, forecasting, invoice validation, and financial tracking for managed services. • Demonstrated capability to negotiate scope, service conditions, and commercials/pricing with vendors (in partnership with Procurement/Legal where applicable). • Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, including executive-level reporting and negotiation. • Experience with service management tools (e.g., ServiceNow) and reporting/metrics. Preferred Qualifications • ITIL Foundation certification. • Experience managing AMS for SaaS and subscription-based services. • Experience in global, multi-region environments and working with offshore/onshore delivery models. • Familiarity with governance frameworks, vendor scorecards, and service improvement planning