Head of IT Operations

CARIAD Estonia is the international hub of CARIAD, the automotive software company of the Volkswagen Group. CARIAD is providing and developing automotive software to all Volkswagen Group brands.

CARIAD Estonia contributes to the mission of the Group with two core business areas – subsidiary management and IT operations team ensuring the performance and stability of digital services used by millions of Volkswagen brands` connected customers around the world. 

Our Digital Services team forms an integral part of the Digital Business and Mobility Services team of entire CARIAD Group. The team in Tallinn ensures the performance and stability of digital services used by millions of Volkswagen brands` connected customers around the world. 

We’re looking for talented, digital minds to reshape the automotive experience for everyone, everywhere.

Head of IT Operations is responsible for building, leading and managing successfully our Digital Services team which offers 2nd and 3rd level support to various IT infrastructures, systems and applications of CARIAD Group.  Head of IT Operations is also responsible for the administration, budget and reporting of the team activities and for acting as the main contact person for related business topics between CARIAD Estonia and our partners.

Responsibility areas:

Team Leadership & Management:

• Supporting the related hiring processes and ensuring smooth onboardings and integrations across sub-teams.

• Developing and managing team structures, including sub-teams, shift schedules for 24/7 on-desk and on-call support.

• Team Performance Management. Fostering a collaborative team environment through team-building activities and workshops in collaboration with key functions within the DS team.

• Conducting capacity planning and schedule management to ensure optimal team performance and resource allocation in collaboration with key functions within the  team.

• Designing training and development programs for team members in collaboration with HR to ensure knowledge retention and continuous skills and team culture development.

Services Transition and Management:

• Overseeing service transition roadmaps and plans for various services, ensuring budgeting and capacity alignment.

• Establishing and aligning service offerings with partners and managing IT service level agreements (SLAs) to be met or exceeded.

• Overseeing service portfolio transitions for multiple product teams, ensuring alignment with business objectives and stakeholder needs.

• Developing and implementing disaster recovery and business continuity plans to ensure the team’s readiness and resilience.

• Improving Workflow Automations for IT operations such as scheduling, workload calculations, and reporting, etc.

• Developing an observability maturity model to achieve stability among supported services.

Stakeholder Management:

• Coordinating with internal and external stakeholders to align on service needs, expansions, and strategic goals.

• Cost Management.

IT Service Management & Governance:

• Maintaining ITIL-based processes for incident, problem, and change management in collaboration with stakeholders and ensure reporting structures for performance tracking.

• Investigating and aligning cost-reduction scenarios and support models to optimize service delivery and efficiency.

• Supporting risk assessment and risk management.

• Supporting product safety and conformity for digital services being in charge.

What we expect?

• Bachelor or MSc in Computer Science, Information Technology or a comparable course of studies of IT management.

• Extensive (5+ years) experience in IT operations and service management including service transition planning and implementation as well as in leading tech teams functionally and disciplinary.

• Experience in tool development, automation and implementing observability solutions.

• Expertise in ITIL support processes (ITIL Foundation certification is required).

• Additional certifications such as Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Project Management Professional (PMP), or relevant cloud certifications (AWS, Azure) are of advantage.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

• Strong collaboration, leadership& networking abilities.

• Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to work effectively in a dynamic environment.