Application Operations Manager

Redhill Surrey Based -Fixed Term Contract 12 months

About Indra Group UK & Ireland

Indra is a leading global technology and consulting company, and a trusted technological partner for the core business operations of its clients worldwide. It stands at the forefront of key sectors including Transport, Defence, Air Traffic Management and Space, alongside advanced Information Technology services delivered through Minsait, and cutting-edge capabilities in Sovereign AI, Cybersecurity, and Cyberdefence via IndraMind.

The company’s business model is built around a comprehensive portfolio of proprietary products, combining strong innovation with a high-value focus for customers.

With more than 2,500 projects implemented across 50 countries and over 100 cities, Indra is a global benchmark in innovative transportation and mobility solutions. It is recognised as one of the world’s top three companies in public transportation management systems. Indra’s technology supports the daily journeys of over 78 million people, helping to reduce more than 10 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually, and helping save nearly 3,000 lives through improved traffic management and road safety.

Indra Group is paving the way to a more secure and better-connected future through innovative solutions, trusted relationships and the very best talent. Sustainability sits at the heart of its strategy and culture, driving efforts to address current and future social and environmental challenges.

In the 2024 financial year, Indra achieved revenues of €5.5 billion, over 60,000 professionals, maintained a local presence in 46 countries, and operated across more than 140 countries worldwide.

As the technological partner for its customers’ key operations, Indra is at the core of their business, and Indra’s four values guide everything we do:

Innovation - Our capacity for innovation, cutting-edge solutions, and specialised team of professionals enables us to drive a safer, more connected future through technology.

Trust - We work with strength, commitment, and reliability, delivering quality solutions to build trust with customers, employees, partners, investors, and society.

Connection - We harness the power of collaboration, connect ideas and solutions, and adapt to our customers’ needs, supporting them on the path to a better future.

Foresight - We anticipate future needs to make the world safer and more connected, transforming our experience and knowledge into solutions for a better tomorrow.

About the Project

Transport for London (TfL) has awarded Indra a long-term contract to operate, develop, enhance and expand ticketing and access control systems across London’s transport network through to 2034, with extension options to 2039.

This programme covers the maintenance, operation and evolution of a large-scale, complex ecosystem, including turnstiles, validators, ticket machines, sales terminals, back-office systems, payment gateways, IT infrastructure and cybersecurity that supports over 8.6 million daily journeys.

Therefore, Indra will become TfL’s strategic technology partner to guarantee the operation and evolution of the world’s largest and most sophisticated ticketing system. Following a transition period of approximately two years, Indra will serve as the sole provider across the network that includes more than 8,500 buses, nearly 400 Underground stations, around 300 rail stations (Overground, DLR, Elizabeth Line and suburban services), 4,000 Oyster Card outlets, seven customer service centres, and 24 river boat boarding points.

Drawing on over 30 years of experience in urban public transport solutions, Indra will manage and evolve all aspects of the system. The project also envisages, in partnership with TfL, the implementation of new technologies to develop the system, make it more efficient and automate key processes; in short, to jointly create the next generation of the ticketing system for London.

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Application Operations Manager to play a pivotal leadership role throughout the mobilisation, knowledge transfer, shadowing, reverse shadowing and transition phases of a large-scale, mission-critical IT service transition.

The Application Operations function is responsible for the 24x7 operation, support and control of critical back-office applications, including incident resolution, system monitoring, change support, delegated procedure execution and service stability. The function will work closely with infrastructure, database and other technical teams to ensure end-to-end service continuity.

The primary focus of this role is to establish operational readiness, acquire and retain knowledge, develop operational capability and ensure the successful handover of complex back-office technology platforms. The successful candidate will be responsible for establishing and maturing the Application Operations capability, leading knowledge transfer activities, validating operational readiness and supporting recruitment and onboarding to ensure the future service organisation is fully prepared to assume ownership of the platform.

Working closely with customers, incumbent suppliers, technical SMEs, operational teams and programme stakeholders, the Application Operations Manager will drive the transition towards a sustainable, resilient and knowledge-driven operating model, while maintaining a strong focus on service continuity, governance, risk management and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the Application Operations workstream through mobilisation, knowledge transfer, shadowing, reverse shadowing and service transition.
• Establish and validate operational readiness, ensuring the future support organisation has the required knowledge, people, processes and documentation to assume service ownership.
• Coordinate knowledge transfer with incumbent suppliers and technical SMEs, ensuring key operational knowledge, runbooks, SOPs and escalation procedures are captured and validated.
• Provide leadership and direction to the Application Operations team, supporting recruitment, onboarding, capability development and the establishment of a 24x7 support model.
• Manage key stakeholders, suppliers, risks and dependencies, providing clear reporting and evidence to support transition and Go/No-Go decisions.
• Lead Early Life Support following cutover, coordinating incident escalation, service stabilisation, hypercare activities and the transition into BAU operations.
• Ensure application operations are aligned with ITIL service management principles, governance requirements and agreed operational standards.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Proven experience in Application Support, Application Operations or IT Operations leadership within complex enterprise environments.
• Strong experience of service transition, operational handover, Early Life Support or managed service mobilisation.
• Experience managing, organising and defining 24x7 operational services.
• Proven expertise in knowledge transfer, operational readiness, service acceptance and capability validation.
• Good working knowledge of ITIL principles across Incident, Problem, Change, Request and Configuration/Asset Management.
• Strong stakeholder management and customer-facing skills.
• Experience working with suppliers and outsourced or managed service providers.
• Excellent planning, organisational and communication skills.
• Experience with ITSM, monitoring, reporting, CMDB/asset control and governance frameworks.
• Ability to lead operational teams through complex transition and transformation environments.

Desirable

• Experience within transport, mobility, public sector or other mission-critical operational environments.
• Background working across outsourced or managed application and infrastructure support services.
• Knowledge of enterprise applications, databases, monitoring platforms, service management tooling and hybrid technology environments.
• Experience of transformation, workforce transition, automation or operational optimisation programmes.
• Familiarity with operational readiness frameworks, validation gates and service accreditation models.
• Experience working within large-scale service integration and transition programmes.

Education and Qualifications

Essential

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering or a related discipline.
• ITIL Foundation or equivalent Service Management qualification.

Desirable

• Advanced ITIL qualification.
• PRINCE2 or PMP certification.
• Service Transition certification.
• Knowledge Management or Change Management certification.
• Relevant leadership or management qualification.

• Holidays: 25 days per annum + 8 days bank holidays (options to buy/sell days).
• Pension – 4% employee and 4% employer.
• Private medical insurance (including dental & optical).
• Life assurance.
• Income protection.
• Employee assistance programs.
• Flexible/remote working options.
• Charitable initiatives.
• Social events (formal & informal).
• Learning and development programs.
• Innovative & collaborative work environment.

Indra is an equal employment opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, origin, disability or other characteristics protected by law.