Manager, IT Service Management
Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity. Through science, policy, fieldwork, and finance, we spotlight and secure the most important places in nature for the climate, biodiversity, and for people. With offices in 30 countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples, and local communities to help people and nature thrive together.
POSITION SUMMARY - This position is based in South Africa - Johannesburg or Cape town
This role will provide both first and second-tier technical support to system end-users. Handle routine technical support issues in the areas of PC support including configuring new and existing PCs, MACs, and peripherals and performing basic hardware and software installations. Review, troubleshoot, and resolve issues reported by users and work with other members of the technical support team to resolve more complex issues. Ensure user requests, follow-up actions, and final resolutions are documented in a tracking or ticket system. Assist management in reviewing trends in support requests and help build end-user capacity and skills by providing tools, training, and other resources as appropriate. Work with other IT staff to support system upgrades and deployments to new and existing computers and ensuring compliance with overall CI Information Technology standards and protocols.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Service Operations and SLA Performance
Own daily queue health for the region — ticket aging, SLA breach risk, P1/P2 active work — and lead the daily team stand-up.
Lead the warm handover at start and end of day with the neighboring regions; resolve cross-region conflicts on ticket ownership.
Own SLA performance for the region against the global priority matrix; publish weekly SLA reports to the Director and to in-region stakeholders.
Act as on-scene commander for in-region major incidents until either the global Major Incident Manager assumes command or the incident is resolved.
Participate as a designated approver in the global Change Advisory Board (CAB) for changes affecting the region; sign off on regional implementation.
Own the regional on-call rotation: fair, sustainable, documented, and consistent with the global on-call standard.
Leverage Ninja and JAMF Pro for efficient remote management and support of end-user devices.
Conduct bi-weekly software updates, enhancing the performance and security of end-user devices.
Configure and install hardware and software for PCs and Macs, boosting system efficiency.
Train field technicians in Mac setup, boosting efficiency.
Analyze IT systems, identifying key areas for improvement.
Optimize AV setups for virtual meetings, ensuring flawless execution.
Ensures a positive IT onboarding experience by preparing equipment and software, setting-up IT account and other required IT tasks for all new staff in Africa.
People Leadership and Team Development
Directly supervise 3 to 8 Coordinators and Senior Coordinators in the region.
Hire, onboard, coach, performance-manage, and develop the regional team in line with CI's people-management standards and the global ITSM standardized job descriptions.
Conduct weekly one-on-ones with every direct report; deliver annual performance reviews on time.
Build and execute the regional development plan: ITIL Foundation and MS-900 certification, role-relevant Microsoft and Apple certifications, and rotational learning opportunities.
Drive a culture of accountability, learning from incidents, and respect across cultures anchored in CI's values.
Manage workforce planning for the region: shift coverage, leave coordination, surge planning for known events, and succession for each role.
ITIL Process Execution and Continual Improvement
Ensure consistent execution of the global ITIL processes within the region: Incident, Request, Problem, Change, Knowledge, Access, and Service Level Management.
Lead regional problem management: identify recurring incidents, sponsor root-cause analysis, drive permanent fixes.
Champion Knowledge Management ensure every team member contributes to and uses the global Knowledge Base; reviews and approve KB articles authored in the region.
Sponsor at least one continual service improvement initiative per quarter, with measurable outcomes.
Stakeholder Partnership and Communication
Serve as the primary IT Service Management point of contact for Country Directors and Field Management Unit leadership in the region.
Run a regular (typically monthly) service review with key in-region stakeholders, focusing on SLA performance, top issues, change pipeline, and improvements.
Coordinate with Country IT, Programs, HR, Finance, Procurement, and other operational functions on shared workflows (onboarding, terminations, office moves, audits).
Communicate clearly and frequently with users during major incidents and planned changes affecting the region.
Translate user feedback into actionable change for the global service.
Participate in global ITSM working groups; for Managers, lead at least one global process area.
Vendor, Budget, and Asset Management
Manage regional vendor relationships for hardware, telephony, internet, and on-site services in coordination with IT Procurement.
Hold vendors accountable for SLAs and quality; escalate to IT Procurement and the Director when corrective action is needed
Other duties as assigned
Other duties as assigned by the Director, including audit support, security investigations, strategic initiatives, and short-term cross-region assignments.
WORKING CONDITIONS
Typical office environment with hybrid work pattern; physical location flexible across CI offices globally provides reliable connectivity to all four regional hubs.
Member of the IT executive on-call rotation for major global incidents.
Significant evening, early-morning, and weekend work driven by global time-zone coverage, major-incident response, executive engagement, and partner organizations.
International travel up to 40% of time for regional reviews, field-office support, vendor and partner engagement, executive offsites, and CI corporate events.
Existing legal authorization to work in South Africa without employer sponsorship.
Ability to lift and move equipment up to 50 lbs. (23 kg) on an occasional basis.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
Bachelor's degree in information technology, Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or a related field; equivalent combination of education and experience considered.
5+ years of progressive IT experience including hands-on Tier 1 / Tier 2 support and at least 2 years of direct people management experience.
Demonstrated experience leading a Service Desk or technical support team that operated against documented SLAs.
ITIL Foundation certification (V3 or 4) at hire, or willingness to complete within 90 days. Demonstrated working experience executing ITIL processes.
Strong working knowledge of the Microsoft 365 platform end-to-end (Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Intune, Entra ID, security and compliance).
Experience managing endpoint platforms — Windows 11 / Intune and macOS / JAMF — at fleet scale.
Experience operating an enterprise ticketing platform (ServiceDesk Plus, ServiceNow, Jira Service Management) as both practitioner and administrator.
Strong vendor and consultant management experience.
Excellent written and verbal English; ability to translate technical issues to non-technical audiences. Proficiency in the local language(s) of the regional hub.
Demonstrated experience working in a globally distributed and culturally diverse team.
Fluent English, both written and spoken
Ability to travel internationally up to 25% of the time.
Preferred
Master’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, Business, or a related field.
Additional Microsoft certifications: Microsoft 365 Certified Enterprise Administrator Expert, Microsoft Modern Desktop Administrator (MD-102), Identity and Access Administrator (SC-300).
Experience leading through major incidents at enterprise scale, including post-incident reviews and follow-up action.
Experience with continual service improvement programs and the use of operational metrics to drive change.
Fluency in a second language commonly used at CI (Spanish, French, Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia, Khmer, Tagalog, Mandarin, Swahili).
Commitment to environmental conservation.
To apply for this position please submit a resume and cover letter.
See all Conservation International Career Opportunities HERE
Conservation International is an equal opportunity, affirmative action, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility-committed employer. We are proud to have a diverse, global workforce where employment decisions are based on qualifications, experience, position requirements, business needs, market conditions, merit, and other legitimate nondiscriminatory factors.
