Application Support Manager

Description :The Application Support Manager is a critical leadership position requiring 5+ years of experience in application support, including a minimum of 2 years in a managerial role, within the financial or insurance technology sector.This role is responsible for leading the first-level support team dedicated to business-critical applications used in insurance broking operations, ensuring service excellence and high availability.The incumbent must possess a strong understanding of ITIL framework and be committed to continuous process improvement and regulatory compliance within the IRDAI-regulated environment.Job Summary :We are seeking a dynamic Application Support Manager to lead a high-performing team in providing first-level support for our core insurance broking applications. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in incident resolution, strict adherence to SLAs, and leveraging automation to improve efficiency. Expertise in the ITIL framework, familiarity with ticketing tools like JSM, and the ability to coordinate complex issue resolution with external partners (Insurers, TPAs) are mandatory for this leadership role.Key Responsibilities :- Team Leadership & Development : Lead and mentor the support team, ensuring high performance through effective coaching and professional development planning. Allocate resources effectively to manage fluctuating workload demands and consistently meet defined SLAs.- Incident & Request Handling Oversight : Oversee the resolution of all application-related issues and service requests raised by internal users, ensuring timely first-response and final resolution.- Triage and Escalation Management : Implement rigorous procedures for proper ticket triaging and prioritization based on impact and urgency, and ensure timely, accurate escalation to tech teams for Level 2/3 resolution when required.- External Coordination : Coordinate effectively with Partner Teams such as Insurers and TPAs (Third-Party Administrators) for the resolution of issues that cross organizational boundaries or require external vendor support.- Process & Compliance : Implement and maintain ITIL-based support processes (Incident Management, Request Fulfillment) to standardize operations. Ensure strict compliance with company policies, data security standards, and IRDAI regulatory requirements.- Monitoring & Reporting : Define and Track key objectives such as ticket resolution time, first-response time, and user satisfaction (CSAT). Prepare regular, analytical reports for management on team performance, application health metrics, and trends.- Continuous Improvement & Automation : Identify recurring issues by analyzing incident data and work with development teams to implement permanent fixes (Problem Management). Suggest automation opportunities using tools to improve efficiency, reduce manual effort, and optimize ticket assignments and workload balancing.Mandatory Skills & Qualifications :- Experience : 5+ years of experience in application support, with at least 2 years in a managerial role.- Education : Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.- Domain Knowledge : Strong understanding of insurance processes and related applications (e.g., policy administration, claims, broking platforms).- Framework : Mandatory Familiarity with ITIL framework principles and practices.- Tools : Experience utilizing ticketing tools (e.g., JSM, ServiceNow) and automation tools for ticket assignments and workload balancing.- Technical Interface : Knowledge of APIs, Postman, and SOAP for troubleshooting integration and service layer issues.Soft Skills : Excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.Preferred Skills :- ITIL Foundation Certification (v3 or v4).- Experience with cloud-based support infrastructure (e.g., AWS, Azure).- Familiarity with SQL for direct data investigation and troubleshooting.- Experience in a highly regulated financial services environment. (ref:hirist.tech)