Sr. Operations Manager

Job Description Summary Novartis’ Biomedical Research Data and Digital Operations group is establishing a strong presence in India, and we are seeking proactive and versatile professional in the role of IT Operations Manager As an “IT Operations Manager” within the BR Data & Digital Operations team, you will be responsible for leading and managing complex, globally deployed, high-impact software solutions. This role is accountable for end-to-end software operations, including providing an operational perspective, overseeing user support, maintaining stable and secure systems, and driving continuous improvements in product value and operational excellence. You will ensure alignment with enterprise architecture, security, compliance, and governance standards while collaborating closely with external vendors, internal technology partners, and key business stakeholders. The role requires a strong focus on delivering measurable business value quickly and effectively through reliable, scalable, and well-managed digital solutions. Job Description Major Accountabilities Own the end-to-end operational lifecycle of applications, including onboarding, production support, upgrades, enhancements, and decommissioning. Ensure application stability, availability, performance, reliability, and operational resilience across global environments. Lead incident, problem, and service management activities, driving timely resolution, root cause elimination, and prevention of recurring issues. Govern application releases, patches, upgrades, and vendor-driven changes while ensuring operational readiness and minimal business disruption. Drive security, vulnerability remediation, compliance, audit readiness, and adherence to enterprise governance standards. Manage cross-functional dependencies with infrastructure, platform, integration, backup, and disaster recovery teams to ensure business continuity. Define, monitor, and improve service performance through SLAs, KPIs, operational health metrics, and continuous performance reporting. Serve as the primary point of accountability for business stakeholders, engineering teams, vendors, and support partners regarding application operations. Lead external support providers, ensuring effective governance, service quality, cost optimization, license compliance, and resource efficiency. Drive continuous operational excellence through automation, knowledge management, user enablement, process optimization, and service improvement initiatives. Essential Requirements Graduate/ Postgraduate in Technology or Life Sciences with relevant experience in business or operations in a complex environment. Bachelor's degree in technology or scientific domain. 7+ years relevant subject matter expertise, obtained through experience or education in software development or operations in a complex environment. Experience in IT operations or software development in complex business environments Highly collaborative, proven experience as a team player. Strong communication skills. Knowledge of Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) Familiarity with DevOps tools. Awareness of authentication protocols Knowledge of cloud environment and services (AWS - Amazon Web Services, Azure) Familiarity with drug discovery research or life sciences Skills Desired Algorithms, Computer Programming, Computer Science, Computer Vision, Data Science, People Management, Waterfall Model