Operations Lead - Service Delivery

Award-winning Cybersecurity company Work with leading technologies and innovative peers Work in a dynamic environment with opportunities for professional growth and development Ready to power the growth of one of New Zealand's leading cybersecurity companies? At DEFEND, our mission is to create a cyber resilient world, and we're looking for an Operations Lead, Service Delivery to be the trusted operational partner our customers rely on, driving service excellence and continuous improvement across our Managed Services. About the Role: As our Operations Lead, Service Delivery, you'll be accountable for service performance, customer experience, and operational coordination. You'll act as a customer advocate within Managed Services, translating customer needs into operational action, ensuring services are delivered consistently, issues are proactively managed, and customers remain confident in DEFEND's service. What You'll Do: Own the day-to-day delivery health of Managed Services across assigned customers, ensuring SLAs, service commitments, and quality standards are consistently met Act as the primary operational contact and escalation point, understanding customer priorities, risks, and service concerns, and ensuring these are clearly communicated and actioned Monitor and report on service performance, identifying risks and opportunities to improve delivery quality and customer experience Lead service reviews and regular customer updates to gain clear insights and agreed actions Identify recurring issues, process gaps, and customer friction points, and drive service improvement in partnership with Continuous Improvement, Automation, and Service Management functions Collaborate across operations teams to align customer needs with delivery capability, ensuring a consistent, high-quality service experience The skills and experience you will bring to DEFEND: Strong experience in cybersecurity operations or managed security services (MSSP) Proven ability to manage service delivery and cross-team coordination Strong customer engagement and stakeholder management skills Experience handling escalations, service issues, and operational follow-up Strong written and verbal communication skills Strong reporting and service review capability The ability to balance customer needs with operational delivery requirements A proactive, organised, and service-focused approach Technical skills you'll bring: SOC/NOC workflows Incident response and escalation management ITIL-aligned service environments ServiceNow (or equivalent ITSM platforms) Framework awareness: NIST, CIS, NZISM Our dream at DEFEND is to improve everyday life by creating a cyber resilient world. Over the last few years, we've experienced phenomenal growth and winning several industry awards, including Microsoft's Global Partner of the Year for 2025! Why DEFEND? We believe in investing in our employees’ growth and providing them with opportunities to advance their skills and careers. We offer a collaborative workplace culture, and we are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where innovative thinking is encouraged. By joining our innovative and creative team you will have the opportunity to contribute a variety of cybersecurity outcomes, from culture & awareness of cyber resilience, through to offensive & defensive security. No matter what your role, everyone at DEFEND contributes towards our dream of creating a cyber resilient world. The benefits of working at DEFEND In addition to working for a growing, dynamic NZ company, DEFEND offers the following benefits to all our DEFENDers 3.5% Kiwisaver on top of your base salary Southern Cross Health Insurance coverage Mobile and Broadband discounts for yourself and family Flexible, hybrid work environment An allowance to contribute to your home office setup Access to EAP services to support you across a range of wellbeing needs Diversity & Inclusion: At DEFEND, we celebrate a variety of perspectives and experiences. We know from experience that people from underrepresented groups often don’t apply for roles they don’t feel they meet all the criteria for. We’re committed to creating an environment that enables all our team to thrive. If you think you have what it takes, but don’t check every single box, please consider applying. We’d love to hear how you might contribute to the team and being our next DEFENDer. Ready to help shape the future of cybersecurity in New Zealand? Apply now or learn more at: https://defend.co.nz/careers/