Application Operations Problem Manager

Role Overview

• Own the end-to-end Problem Management lifecycle in line with ITIL best practice: problem detection, logging, categorisation, prioritisation, investigation, resolution, and closure
• Maintain and govern the Problem Record backlog in Jira Service Management, ensuring all records are accurate, prioritised, and progressing toward resolution
• Define and enforce the standards for problem identification, including criteria for reactive problem management (post-incident) and proactive problem management (trend analysis and risk identification)
• Manage the Known Error Database (KEDB), ensuring it is current, accurate, and actively used by L1/L2 support teams to improve first-contact resolution
• Lead and facilitate structured RCA sessions following major and recurring incidents, using recognised methodologies (e.g. 5 Whys, Fishbone/Ishikawa, fault tree analysis)
• Produce high-quality Problem Records and RCA reports that clearly articulate the root cause, contributing factors, timeline, and recommended corrective/preventative actions
• Ensure RCA outputs translate into tracked, accountable action plans with clear owners, timelines, and success criteria
• Challenge superficial root cause findings and push for systemic, durable fixes rather than symptomatic workarounds
• Analyse incident, change, and event data to proactively identify trends, recurring issues, and systemic risks before they become major incidents
• Collaborate with Observability and Platform teams to use monitoring signals, error budgets, and SLO breach data as early-warning inputs to the problem management process
• Communicate problem status, known errors, and risk exposure clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including engineering leads and senior management
• Produce regular problem management reporting, including metrics such as: number of open problems by age/severity, incident recurrence rate, time to root cause, and percentage of problems with preventative actions closed on time
• Present insights and trends to the Director of Application Operations and wider PETO leadership to inform prioritisation decisions and continuous improvement initiatives
• Work closely with Incident Management to ensure seamless handoff from major incidents into the problem management process
• Partner with L2.5/L3 engineering teams to coordinate investigation effort, agree timelines, and remove blockers to root cause resolution
• Integrate problem management activity into the Service Catalogue and Jira Service Management workflows, ensuring service ownership and escalation paths are respected
• Continuously assess and improve the Problem Management process itself, maturing capability over time and aligning with evolving ITIL and organisational standards
• Build and maintain problem management documentation, templates, and guidance to enable consistent, high-quality practice across the PETO organisation
• Support the development of L2 team capability in recognising and logging potential problems, contributing to the team's progression toward greater autonomy

Requirements

• Solid, demonstrable experience in an ITIL-aligned Problem Management role, ideally within a fast-paced, product-led technology organisation
• Strong working knowledge of ITIL Problem Management practices (ITIL 4 Foundation certification or above preferred), including the distinction between reactive and proactive problem management and the role of the KEDB
• Hands-on experience facilitating RCA sessions using structured methodologies (5 Whys, Fishbone, fault tree analysis, etc.) and translating findings into actionable improvement plans
• Experience working with Jira Service Management or a comparable ITSM platform to manage problem records, workflows, and reporting
• Ability to analyse incident and operational data to identify trends and systemic issues, with experience using dashboards or reporting tools to communicate findings
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear RCA reports and updates for both technical audiences and senior non-technical stakeholders
• Collaborative working style with experience engaging engineering, infrastructure, and operations teams in problem investigation and resolution
• Familiarity with Agile ways of working and the ability to integrate ITIL practices within a modern, product-centric engineering environment
• Experience with observability and monitoring tooling (e.g. Datadog, Grafana, PagerDuty) as inputs to proactive problem management (desirable)
• Understanding of SLOs, error budgets, and their relationship to operational risk and problem prioritisation (desirable)
• Experience contributing to or maintaining a knowledge base (e.g. Confluence), including runbooks and known error documentation (desirable)
• Exposure to cloud-native application architectures and API-first platforms (desirable)
• ITIL 4 Specialist or Practitioner certification in relevant practices (e.g. Problem Management, Incident Management) (desirable)
• Experience with operational metrics and reporting frameworks, including DORA metrics or similar (desirable)

Tech Stack

• Cloud
• Grafana
• ITSM

Benefits

• Annual Wellness Bonus
• Monthly Edenred Electronic Food Voucher
• Udemy: Access for your professional development
• Flexible Holiday plan & other leave benefits
• Book Benefit: Professional development books and an additional annual budget for fiction books of your choice
• Subsidised sports card and many other benefits!