NOC - Team Leader (Network and Security Practice) in Derby

Key Tasks & Responsibilities

• Leads Node4's Network Operations Centre, acting as the Derby control tower for 247 monitoring and incident response.
• Accountable for day-to-day NOC performance, team leadership, and continuous improvement across both onshore and offshore NOC teams.
• Ensures proactive detection, disciplined incident management, and consistent service outcomes aligned with the practice's service strategy.
• Works closely with Reactive Support, Network Delivery, and Architecture to reduce incident demand and improve end-to-end service outcomes.
• Oversees the safe execution of pre-approved out-of-hours maintenance changes by the NOC, under strict change governance and with minimal risk
• Lead and line-manage the NOC team (Senior NOC Engineers and NOC Engineers). Plan and maintain 247 shift schedules, ensuring full coverage and resilience. Provide direction, set clear performance expectations, and maintain a high-performance, customer-focused culture.
• Oversee NOC monitoring and incident response to ensure timely detection and resolution of alerts. Act as the management escalation point during critical incidents, coordinating resources and communication as needed.
• Oversee NOC execution of standard, low-risk changes during out-of-hours maintenance windows. Ensure each change is backed by an approved runbook or change plan, proper change record/approvals, thorough pre-checks, live monitoring, and a clear rollback plan. Authorise go/no-go decisions for NOC-run changes on shift and elevate to on-call specialists if any deviation occurs.
• Track NOC operational KPIs (response times, MTTR, change success rate, etc.) and drive continuous improvement. Maintain strict adherence to Node4's change management and incident management processes. Assure quality of incident tickets and change records and ensure smooth shift handovers with no loss of context.
• Use data and incident/change trends to identify service risks or recurring problems. Implement improvement actions (e.g., tune monitoring thresholds, refine runbooks, or introduce automation) in collaboration with the wider team. Sponsor upskilling and knowledge-sharing initiatives to enhance NOC capabilities over time.
• Liaise closely with Network Support and Delivery teams. Ensure NOC involvement in scheduled changes is coordinated with those teams (e.g., when NOC acts as hands for a Network Delivery plan). Keep stakeholders informed of NOC activities and successes (like changes completed without incident) and integrate feedback to refine processes.
• Coach and mentor NOC staff. Provide ongoing feedback, conduct regular 1:1s, and support career progression (e.g., guiding engineers from reactive tasks towards proactive maintenance and automation). Foster an environment of accountability, trust, and professional development., Leads by example under pressure - maintaining composure during major incidents or changes, and enforcing strict adherence to runbooks, change controls, and escalation protocols.
• Takes ownership of service outcomes, especially during out-of-hours activities. Ensures all changes executed by the NOC are well-governed and halts or escalates any that present unexpected risk.
• Continuously seeks ways to improve processes (both reactive and maintenance). Encourages a mindset of prevention (e.g. addressing recurring issues through planned changes) and empowers the team to initiate improvement ideas.
• Works transparently with other teams and management. Communicates clearly around planned NOC activities (like scheduled changes or incident status), and ensures any support needed from specialists is well-coordinated and timely.
• Supports the growth of individuals. Provides guidance on technical tasks and change execution, builds team confidence, and reinforces Node4's values - Nimble, Original, Driven, Engaged, and Made for More - in day-to-day operations.
• Proven experience in an IT support/operations environment, ideally in a network or infrastructure support function. Prior team lead or supervisory experience in a 247 or shift-based team is highly desirable.
• Strong understanding of network/infrastructure components (e.g., routing, switching, firewalls, server basics) and monitoring systems, sufficient to guide and validate the team's work. Not expected to be the design authority but must competently review technical plans (like change runbooks) and assess risk.
• Familiarity with ITIL processes, especially Change Management and Incident Management. Demonstrated ability to enforce process compliance in a fast paced environment. Experience approving or overseeing changes and ensuring safe implementations is a significant advantage.
• Excellent communication skills with both technical staff and non-technical stakeholders. Comfortable providing executive-level updates during incidents or planned maintenance, and adept at managing customer expectations when needed.
• Track record of identifying operational inefficiencies or recurring problems and implementing solutions (process changes, training, automation). Ability to analyse data from tools (e.g., ServiceNow reports, alert trends) to inform decisions.