Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Incident and Problem Manager
💰 $90,000 - $140,000
IT Service ManagementIncident ManagementProblem ManagementITIL
🎯 Role Definition
The Incident and Problem Manager is responsible for managing and improving IT incident and problem management processes to ensure timely resolution of service interruptions, root cause analysis of recurring issues, and continuous improvement in service delivery. This role works closely with IT operations, support teams, and business stakeholders to maintain high service availability and operational excellence.
📈 Career Progression
Typical Career Path
Entry Point From:
- IT Service Desk Lead
- IT Support Manager
- IT Operations Analyst
Advancement To:
- IT Service Delivery Manager
- IT Operations Director
- Head of IT Service Management
Lateral Moves:
- Change and Release Manager
- IT Service Continuity Manager
Core Responsibilities
Primary Functions
- Oversee the end-to-end incident management process to ensure timely resolution and minimal business impact.
- Lead problem management initiatives, including root cause analysis, known error identification, and preventive actions.
- Monitor and analyze incident trends to proactively prevent recurring issues.
- Coordinate cross-functional teams to resolve complex technical problems and escalate when necessary.
- Maintain incident and problem records, ensuring accurate documentation in ITSM tools.
- Develop and enforce ITIL-compliant incident and problem management policies and procedures.
- Conduct post-incident reviews and problem reviews to identify lessons learned and areas for improvement.
- Ensure communication and updates to stakeholders during major incidents and outages.
- Manage major incident response, including crisis coordination and impact assessment.
- Collaborate with IT operations, application support, and infrastructure teams to implement permanent solutions.
- Track and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) related to incident and problem resolution.
- Facilitate regular problem review meetings with IT and business teams.
- Support continuous improvement initiatives by recommending process enhancements and automation opportunities.
- Ensure compliance with regulatory, security, and organizational standards for incident handling.
- Mentor and coach incident and problem management staff to build operational expertise.
- Participate in capacity planning and risk assessment to reduce potential service disruptions.
- Review and validate service tickets to ensure SLA adherence and proper categorization.
- Provide guidance on technical troubleshooting, escalation procedures, and resolution strategies.
- Collaborate with change management teams to minimize incidents related to planned changes.
- Maintain knowledge management databases, including known errors, workarounds, and solutions.
Secondary Functions
- Support ad-hoc reporting and analysis of IT service performance metrics.
- Contribute to IT service management strategy and operational roadmap.
- Collaborate with IT and business units to translate service requirements into operational processes.
- Participate in IT service improvement projects and initiatives.
Required Skills & Competencies
Hard Skills (Technical)
- Strong knowledge of ITIL frameworks and service management best practices.
- Proficiency with IT service management (ITSM) tools such as ServiceNow, BMC Remedy, or Jira Service Management.
- Experience in incident tracking, problem investigation, and root cause analysis.
- Ability to analyze complex IT issues across applications, infrastructure, and networks.
- Knowledge of SLA management and performance metrics reporting.
- Familiarity with change management, configuration management, and release processes.
- Understanding of IT infrastructure, cloud services, and enterprise applications.
- Competence in documenting incidents, problems, and technical solutions.
- Experience in crisis and major incident management.
- Data analysis skills to identify trends and prevent recurring issues.
Soft Skills
- Strong leadership and team coordination capabilities.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Problem-solving and critical thinking in high-pressure environments.
- Attention to detail and accuracy in documentation and reporting.
- Collaboration and negotiation skills across technical and business teams.
- Adaptability and decision-making under time-sensitive situations.
- Coaching and mentoring abilities for IT staff development.
- Analytical mindset with a focus on continuous improvement.
Education & Experience
Educational Background
Minimum Education:
Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field
Preferred Education:
Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in IT Service Management or Business Administration
Relevant Fields of Study:
- Information Technology
- Computer Science
- IT Service Management
Experience Requirements
Typical Experience Range:
5–8 years in IT operations, incident, or problem management
Preferred:
Experience leading incident and problem management teams, ITIL certifications (ITIL v4 Foundation or higher), and managing major incidents in enterprise environments.