Operations Manager

We've been trusted to serve Aussie communities since 1914 and grown to become a top 30-listed on the ASX with 120,000 team members and a portfolio of iconic brands. At Coles Group, you'll not only get to make a difference to millions of Aussie lives—you'll also get to see your impact.

**About the team**

As the way we shop continues to evolve, our **Data and Artificial Intelligence Team** keeps us at the cutting edge. Driven by our innovative, inclusive, and forward-thinking culture, we’re constantly looking at ways to reinvent the shopping experience for our customers and build the next generation of digital retailing.

The **Data and Artificial Intelligence**within the broader Coles Technology Team focuses on building data collection and analytics capabilities to uncover customer, product, and operational insights. Providing data driven support to our users and enabling Coles to be a data driven organisation.

**About the role**

For this exciting position within our **Data and Artificial Intelligence team**, we are seeking an experienced individual to lead and manage Operations engineers, DevOps engineers, and vendor resources responsible for maintaining the health and performance of Data and AI/ML platforms.

You will oversee vendor relationships, including contract management, performance monitoring, and integration of third-party services to enhance platform operations.

Working closely with the Senior Platform Manager - SREs & Support, your main responsibilities will include the following but not be limited to the below:

- Ensure timely incident detection, response, and resolution by coordinating operational and engineering teams.
- Drive continuous automation initiatives to improve deployment pipelines, infrastructure management, and monitoring systems.
- Collaborate with SRE, platform engineering, and security teams to ensure compliance with governance, security, and operational standards.
- Manage capacity planning, resource allocation, and performance tuning to maintain platform reliability and scalability.
- Establish and track operational KPIs, SLAs, and reporting metrics to provide transparency and drive continuous improvement.
- Facilitate knowledge sharing, training, and process documentation within the operations team.
- Support change management and release processes to minimize operational risk and downtime.
- Proactively identify risks, bottlenecks, and improvement opportunities within platform operations.

**Leadership**
- Provide strong leadership, coaching, and development for operations and DevOps engineers, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, and collaboration.
- Build effective partnerships across internal teams and external vendors to ensure aligned objectives and high-quality service delivery.
- Lead operational planning and execution, ensuring teams meet or exceed performance and availability targets.
- Drive a culture of continuous learning and operational excellence within the team.
- Mentor team members to develop their technical skills, operational expertise, and career growth.
- Promote best practices in incident management, automation, and DevOps methodologies.
- Act as a liaison between vendors, engineering teams, and senior management to ensure smooth communication and alignment.

**Experience required**
- Proven years of experience in IT operations, platform support, or DevOps engineering roles, with at least three years in a leadership position.
- Proven experience managing technical operations teams supporting Data, AI, or ML platforms.
- Strong background in vendor management, including coordinating third-party service delivery and contract oversight.
- Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (Azure, Snowflake, Databricks), DevOps tooling, and monitoring systems
- Solid understanding of incident management, capacity planning, automation, and platform reliability principles.
- Experience collaborating with SRE, engineering, and security teams to deliver robust operational support.
- Excellent problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

**Commercial Skills and Formal Qualifications**
- Technical expertise in cloud platforms, infrastructure automation, DevOps practices, and monitoring tools.
- Leadership and team management capabilities, with a focus on operational excellence.
- Strong organizational and project management skills.
- Ability to manage vendor relationships and contract performance.
- Education:

- Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or related field.
- Relevant certifications (Azure, DevOps, ITIL) are preferred.

**What’s in it for you?**
- **
Flexible working options**:We know that work is only one part of your life, so we actively encourage a positive work-life balance and provide hybrid working options to help you achieve it.
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Office perks**:Take advantage of our gym facility and fitness classes, free parking, BBQ area, mini-Coles supermarket, fooderie hub where