Head - Application Operations & Support

Job Description

The Head of Application Operations is responsible for the day-to-day stability, support, and continuous service improvement of enterprise business applications across all domains ERP, Upstream, Downstream, Corporate Functions, and Platforms. This role ensures the effective execution of ITIL-based application service operations processes, focusing on incident resolution, service availability, change execution, and application monitoring.

Responsibilities

Key Result Areas:

• Application Support Management: Oversee L2/L3 support activities for all business applications, ensuring timely incident resolution, service requests handling, and application availability.
• Incident & Problem Management: Lead the triage, resolution, root cause analysis, and documentation of application incidents and recurring problems.
• Change and Release Support: Execute production changes in line with ITIL controls, minimizing risk and ensuring change traceability and rollback plans.
• Knowledge Management: Maintain operational documentation, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and knowledge base entries for supported systems.
• Business Communication: Coordinate with business stakeholders on application service updates, planned outages, and escalated incidents.
• Collaboration with Development Teams: Provide operational inputs during development lifecycle and receive handover of newly released systems.
• Escalation Management & Vendor Coordination: Manage escalation paths with third-party vendors and ensure adherence to support SLAs.
• Continuous Service Improvement: Identify recurring issues and lead initiatives to improve system reliability and user satisfaction.
• Team Management: Lead and mentor application support specialists, scheduling coverage, and developing operational capabilities.
  
  

Qualifications

Knowledge Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field.
• 7+ years of total work experience in enterprise IT environments with at least 5 years in a lead or senior role in application support operations.
• Certifications: ITIL 4 Managing Professional, SAP/Oracle application certifications, Microsoft Azure/AWS/Oracle Cloud.
• Strong knowledge of the ITIL service operations framework (incident, problem, change, release).
• Extensive hands-on experience with ERP systems (e.g. SAP or Oracle) supporting finance, HR, procurement, supply chain, and plant/asset management functions.
• Experience with application monitoring and performance management tools (e.g., Dynatrace, AppDynamics, New Relic), including proactive performance tuning for business-critical operations.
  
  

About Us

Bapco Energies operates a portfolio spanning the entire energy value chain in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The portfolio includes wholly-owned subsidiaries and specialized operating companies. Together, these companies drive Bapco Energies' mission to power the next generation.

About The Team

The integrated Company leading the energy transition in the Kingdom of Bahrain, powering the next generation.