Network Operations (NOC) Manager
Future Opportunity — Not Currently Hiring
Position Overview
The NOC Manager is responsible for the operational leadership, performance, and continuous improvement of the Network Operations Center (NOC). This role oversees the delivery of infrastructure monitoring, alert response, systems administration, maintenance activities, incident coordination, and operational support across managed client environments.
The NOC Manager leads the NOC team by establishing operational standards, developing technical capability, managing staffing and performance, and ensuring infrastructure services are delivered consistently, securely, and efficiently. This role partners closely with the Service Desk, SOC, Automation & Integration Engineering, Field Engineering, Customer Success, Compliance & Risk, and leadership teams to ensure operational excellence and continuous service improvement.
The NOC Manager owns the operational execution of monitoring and infrastructure services while driving improvements in service reliability, documentation quality, automation opportunities, security alignment, and operational maturity.
Key Responsibilities
NOC Leadership & Team Development
- Lead, coach, and develop NOC engineers and infrastructure operations personnel
- Establish performance expectations, provide coaching, and support professional development
- Develop staffing plans, scheduling, and resource allocation to maintain operational coverage
- Recruit, onboard, and mentor team members
- Foster a culture of accountability, technical excellence, documentation discipline, and continuous improvement
- Promote consistent troubleshooting methodologies and operational best practices across the team
Infrastructure Operations
- Oversee daily operation of managed infrastructure services, ensuring reliable monitoring, maintenance, and operational support
- Ensure ticket and phone coverage is distributed equitably across the entire NOC team — this responsibility must not be allowed to concentrate on one or a small number of individuals
- Provide backup ticket and phone coverage during staffing shortages, peak demand, or major incidents as needed
- Ensure alerts, incidents, maintenance activities, and operational tasks are managed according to established procedures and service level commitments
- Coordinate infrastructure administration activities across managed environments
- Maintain operational consistency through standardized processes, runbooks, and documentation
- Support operational readiness for planned maintenance, infrastructure changes, and customer-impacting events
- Ensure infrastructure operations support availability, reliability, and business continuity objectives
Monitoring & Service Reliability
- Own the operational effectiveness of infrastructure monitoring services
- Ensure monitoring coverage remains accurate, actionable, and aligned with customer requirements
- Improve monitoring effectiveness by reducing alert fatigue, improving alert quality, and identifying monitoring gaps
- Monitor service trends and proactively identify risks affecting infrastructure availability and performance
- Coordinate remediation activities for recurring operational issues
- Partner with Automation & Integration Engineering to improve monitoring workflows and operational efficiency
Incident Management & Operational Improvement
- Ensure effective response, escalation, and coordination of infrastructure incidents
- Support major incident management activities involving NOC-managed environments
- Establish operational metrics including response times, resolution performance, workload distribution, and infrastructure health indicators
- Analyze operational trends and recurring issues to identify improvement opportunities
- Drive continual improvement initiatives focused on reliability, efficiency, and customer satisfaction
- Promote effective incident, problem, and change management practices
Security Operations & CIS Controls Alignment
- Ensure NOC operational processes support applicable security frameworks including CIS Controls, NIST Cybersecurity Framework concepts, and customer security requirements
- Partner with SOC and Compliance & Risk teams to improve infrastructure visibility, operational controls, and security posture
- Support operational activities related to asset inventory and ownership tracking, secure configuration management, vulnerability remediation coordination, backup and recovery validation, logging and monitoring requirements, access management processes, and incident escalation and response coordination
- Ensure infrastructure documentation and operational procedures provide appropriate evidence for customer security requirements, audits, and compliance activities
- Promote security-focused operational practices across the NOC team
Technical Leadership
- Provide technical guidance for infrastructure operations and operational best practices
- Support escalation of complex infrastructure issues
- Ensure technical standards are followed consistently across NOC operations
- Promote proactive maintenance, preventative actions, and infrastructure health improvements
- Coordinate knowledge sharing and cross-training within the team
- Work with engineering teams to improve operational capabilities and technical standards
Documentation & Knowledge Management
- Maintain operational standards for infrastructure documentation
- Ensure procedures, runbooks, monitoring standards, escalation processes, and operational documentation remain accurate and current
- Promote consistent documentation practices across the team
- Support creation and maintenance of knowledge articles and technical standards
- Contribute to organizational knowledge management initiatives
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with Service Desk to ensure effective escalation paths and incident coordination
- Collaborate with SOC on security events, infrastructure controls, and operational response activities
- Work with Field Engineering to coordinate infrastructure changes, deployments, and project transitions
- Partner with Customer Success regarding operational trends, service improvements, and customer experience
- Coordinate with Automation & Integration Engineering on monitoring enhancements, workflow automation, and operational tooling improvements
- Support Compliance & Risk initiatives by ensuring operational controls are implemented and evidence can be produced for infrastructure-related requirements
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in infrastructure operations, network operations, systems administration, managed services, or enterprise IT environments
- Experience leading technical teams responsible for monitoring, incident response, infrastructure support, and operational service delivery
- Strong understanding of enterprise infrastructure including servers, networking, virtualization, cloud services, monitoring platforms, and security controls
- Experience operating within SLA-driven environments with defined incident, problem, and change management processes
- Experience establishing operational metrics, improving processes, and driving continuous improvement initiatives
- Strong troubleshooting, organizational, leadership, and communication skills
- Experience developing technical staff through mentoring, coaching, and knowledge sharing
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience working within a Managed Service Provider (MSP) or Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) environment
- Experience supporting multiple customer environments with varying technology requirements
- Experience with RMM, PSA, ITSM, monitoring, and infrastructure management platforms
- Experience supporting Microsoft 365, Azure, virtualization platforms, networking technologies, and enterprise infrastructure
- Experience supporting security and compliance frameworks including CIS Controls, NIST CSF, SOC 2, PCI, HIPAA, or similar standards
- Experience working alongside automation, scripting, or operational engineering teams
- Relevant Microsoft, VMware, Cisco, cybersecurity, or infrastructure certifications
Professional Skills
- Leadership and team development
- Analytical thinking and problem solving
- Communication and cross-functional collaboration
- Prioritization under competing operational demands
- Documentation discipline
- Data-informed decision making
- Continuous improvement mindset
Success Measures
- High availability and reliability of managed infrastructure services
- Consistent achievement of operational service objectives and SLA commitments
- Improved infrastructure stability through proactive monitoring and preventative maintenance
- Strong NOC team performance, engagement, and technical development
- Reduced operational inefficiencies through process improvements and automation
- Improved monitoring effectiveness and reduced unnecessary alert noise
- Accurate operational documentation and standardized procedures
- Improved alignment between NOC operations, SOC requirements, and security controls
- Effective collaboration across Service Desk, SOC, Engineering, Automation, and Compliance teams
Career Growth Opportunity
This position provides opportunities to advance into Director of Infrastructure Operations, Director of Managed Services, Technical Operations Leadership, Infrastructure Strategy, or executive technology leadership roles.
This position provides opportunities to advance into Senior Network Architect, Senior Infrastructure Architect, Cloud Architect, Principal Network/Systems Engineer, Solutions Architect, Technical Consultant, or Engineering Leadership roles while expanding expertise across enterprise networking, Microsoft infrastructure, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, automation, and security architecture.
The NOC Manager gains broad exposure across infrastructure engineering, cybersecurity operations, automation, compliance requirements, and managed services delivery while building leadership capability and operational expertise.
Benefits
About NOCDOC
NOCDOC is a U.S.-based technology operations company with more than 35 years of experience delivering Security Operations Center (SOC), Network Operations Center (NOC), Service Desk, Network Engineering, Automation, and Managed Security Services.
Supporting organizations across North America and internationally, NOCDOC delivers responsive, customer-focused technology operations that help businesses improve reliability, security, and operational efficiency.
At NOCDOC, we invest in our people through continuous learning, mentorship, and career development, providing opportunities to grow into advanced engineering, automation, architecture, and technical leadership roles.