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Hosting Service Owner

Davies

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Responsibilities

  • Own the full lifecycle of on-premise and Azure cloud hosting services, including compute, storage, virtualisation, backup, and platform services.
  • Define and maintain the service strategy, roadmap, and service catalogue entries.
  • Ensure hosting services meet performance, availability, security, and cost efficiency targets.
  • Oversee datacentre hosting platforms (VMware/Hyper V, physical servers, SAN/NAS storage, backup infrastructure).
  • Ensure capacity, performance, and resilience are proactively managed.
  • Govern patching, firmware updates, hardware lifecycle, and platform upgrades.
  • Govern Azure landing zones, resource groups, compute, storage, networking, and PaaS services.
  • Ensure cloud environments follow best practices for cost optimisation, tagging, RBAC, and security baselines.
  • Oversee Azure policy compliance, monitoring, and automation pipelines.
  • Ensure patching, firmware, and hypervisor updates are consistently applied.
  • Proactively identify capacity risks, ageing hardware, and end of support technologies.
  • Enforce Azure governance (naming standards, tagging, RBAC, policy compliance).
  • Monitor and remediate security recommendations (Defender for Cloud, identity hygiene).
  • Ensure unused, misconfigured, or non compliant resources are removed or corrected.
  • Maintain accurate CMDB and asset data for all hosting components.
  • Ensure backup success rates, retention policies, and recovery tests meet standards.
  • Drive automation to reduce manual effort and eliminate configuration drift.
  • Act as the hosting service authority during major incidents affecting compute, storage, or cloud services.
  • Ensure platform upgrades and migrations follow structured release processes.
  • Track and report on hosting performance, capacity, cost, and incident trends.
  • Use data to identify service gaps, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
  • Provide regular service health updates to IT leadership and key stakeholders.
  • Manage relationships with hosting vendors, cloud providers, MSPs, and hardware suppliers.
  • Ensure vendors meet contractual obligations, SLAs, and performance targets.
  • Lead service reviews and drive improvement actions across multi vendor environments.
  • Ensure hosting services comply with security policies, regulatory requirements, and audit standards.
  • Work with Security teams to manage vulnerabilities, patching, encryption, and identity controls.
  • Maintain risk registers and ensure mitigation plans are in place for hosting related risks.
  • Act as the primary point of contact for hosting service queries, escalations, and strategic discussions.
  • Collaborate with architects, cloud engineers, application teams, and project managers.
  • Support business change initiatives by ensuring hosting services are ready, scalable, and secure.
  • Ensure all hosting documentation, runbooks, and operational guides are accurate and up to date.
  • Maintain architectural diagrams, service models, and support processes.
  • Provide training and guidance to operational teams on hosting standards and best practices.

Requirements

Microsoft Azure administration or architecture

  • ITIL 4 Foundation (strongly preferred for service ownership roles)
  • 5–8+ years working in infrastructure, systems engineering, or hosting operations.
  • Hands on experience with: VMware or Hyper V virtualisation, Physical server hardware, SAN/NAS storage platforms & Backup and recovery technologies
  • Experience reducing technical debt and eliminating configuration drift.
  • Experience owning or managing a technical service within an ITIL aligned environment.
  • Strong understanding of Incident, Problem, Change, and Request processes, Risk and compliance management
  • Experience working with cloud engineers, architects, security teams, and application owners.
  • Ability to translate hosting issues into clear business language.
  • Ability to shape and deliver a hosting service roadmap.

Strong experience with VMware or Hyper V virtualisation

  • Solid understanding of physical servers, SAN/NAS storage, and backup infrastructure
  • Ability to manage patching, firmware updates, capacity, and lifecycle upgrades
  • Proven track record of enforcing patching, configuration baselines, and security hardening
  • Ability to maintain accurate CMDB/asset data and ensure backup success rates
  • Ability to lead hosting related major incidents with authority and clarity
  • Ability to run service reviews, track SLAs, and drive performance improvements
  • Ability to translate hosting issues into clear business language
  • Skilled at working with architects, cloud engineers, application teams, and leadership

Preferred

  • Postgraduate qualification in Cloud Architecture, Cybersecurity, or IT Management

Key Responsibilities

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

Bachelor’s degree in

  • Information Technology
  • Computer Science
  • Cloud Computing
  • Infrastructure Engineering

Formal training in

  • Virtualisation platforms (VMware, Hyper V)
  • Storage, backup, and datacentre technologies

Knowledge, Skill, ability

  • Strong experience administering Azure services, including: Virtual Machines, Storage Accounts, Virtual Networks, Azure Backup & Site Recovery, Resource Groups, RBAC, and Azure Policy
  • Experience with hybrid identity, landing zones, governance, and cost optimisation.
  • Proven experience maintaining platform hygiene across on prem and cloud environments: Patching, firmware updates, and configuration baselines, Monitoring, alerting, and capacity forecasting
  • Experience leading post incident reviews and driving root cause remediation.
  • Experience managing MSPs, cloud providers, hardware vendors, and datacentre partners.
  • Ability to run service reviews, track SLAs, and drive performance improvements.
  • Experience coordinating multi vendor environments during incidents and changes.
  • Experience supporting project delivery and ensuring hosting readiness for new services.
  • Experience driving improvements in hosting performance, automation, and cost efficiency.
  • Exposure to cloud migration, modernisation, or hybrid cloud transformation initiatives.

Essential requirement (non-negotiable) *

  • Hands on experience with Azure compute, storage, networking, RBAC, and governance
  • Ability to manage Azure Policy, tagging standards, cost optimisation, and resource hygiene
  • Experience with hybrid identity and Azure landing zone principles

Experience eliminating configuration drift and managing technical debt

Strong understanding of Incident, Problem, Change, and Request processes

Experience owning a technical service end to end

  • Ability to define SLAs, KPIs, service models, and governance frameworks
  • Experience managing MSPs, cloud providers, hardware vendors, and datacentre partners
  • Understanding of vulnerability management, patching, encryption, and identity controls
  • Ability to ensure compliance with audit, regulatory, and internal security standards
  • Clear documentation and communication during incidents and service reviews
  • Certification if any
  • ITIL 4 Foundation
  • Azure Administrator (AZ 104)
  • Windows Server Hybrid Administrator (AZ 800/801)
  • VMware VCP DCV
  • Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ 305)
  • Security+ or ISO 27001 Foundation