Service Delivery Manager: Job Description, Skills Required, Salary Trends

More than 23,993 service delivery managers are currently operating in the United States. This number is increasingly going up in countries like India. India is a hub for new-age businesses; hence, they employ service delivery managers to aid the organisation’s growth. 

Read on to learn everything about service delivery managers and the significance of their roles. 

Who is a Service Delivery Manager?

The primary role of a service delivery manager is to ensure that all the services are delivered to the organisation’s clients well in time and without any glitches. They handle multiple aspects of business, like managing the project end-to-end and monitoring the progress of different activities under a project. 

A service delivery manager’s roles and responsibilities also include KPI tracking along with managing the entire project of the budget. They perform a customer-facing role to ensure the company’s clients are cared for and receive their deliverables well in time. However, the service delivery manager job description changes with their industry. 

For instance, a service delivery manager checks the inventory in the retail logistics space, etc. However, in an advertising agency, a service delivery manager takes care of all the clients’ requirements, such as the timely delivery of digital collaterals. 

Roles & Responsibilities

A service delivery manager wears different hats at the same point in time. It is important to understand the service delivery manager roles and responsibilities before they apply for such a role. 

A service delivery manager’s primary responsibilities are as follows:

Service Management

• A service delivery manager’s most important role is to ensure that the company provides the best services to its clients.
• They monitor all the aspects of support operations provided to different clients by the company. 
• They are also responsible for redressing and managing any critical incidents within an organisation.
• An ideal service delivery manager is also responsible for improving the end-to-end company’s service delivery to ensure clients are happy with the services. 

Performance and Quality Management

• One of the most important roles of a service delivery manager includes identifying and implementing different strategies to improve the service deliveries of the company. 
• They also play a pivotal role in drafting and implementing several human management strategies. They help recruit the right people and train them to perform different service delivery functions. 

Technical Contributions

• The service delivery function involves different technological elements like software and hardware. A service delivery manager is responsible for creating an efficient environment for all their team members to make the project deliveries on time. 
• They decide on different software and hardware standardisation for easy access. 
• Also, they make sure that efficient anti-virus updates are implemented efficiently and promptly. 

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Requirements

A service delivery manager has to meet several requirements before they are entrusted with all the responsibilities within an organisation. Let’s look at these requirements:

Educational Requirement

While anyone can become a service delivery manager, several companies prefer hiring someone with a business degree. A business-related degree like customer service or project management is also considered valid for the service delivery manager role. Companies prefer candidates with leadership abilities and advanced management skills.

Relevant Experience

The role of a service delivery manager is generally not given to a fresher. Companies prefer hiring someone with a relevant experience in the field. Someone who is good at managing logistics and deliverables and has good quality control know-how is an ideal candidate for the service delivery manager role. 

While different companies have different requirements, most companies want to hire a service delivery manager who understands client relationship management and can understand and solve the problems that a client might face during its association with the company. 

Project Management Know-How

Project management is one of the major prerequisites for hiring a service delivery manager. Different project management concepts like kaizen, quality control and value-added managerial abilities are a part of the day-to-day service delivery manager’s roles and responsibilities. Hence, a potential service delivery manager must understand project management and quality control. 

Resource Planning

Service delivery is not a standalone function. It involves interaction with different stakeholders. Hence, a service delivery manager needs to have a team in place. They should be able to plan and manage all the resources effectively. 

Apart from human resources, they also have to utilise other company resources to their fullest, ensuring no waste. The delivery managers must evaluate the project’s scope and then ascertain the resources that will be utilised to meet the client’s requirements. 

Skills Needed

A service delivery manager must possess the best skills to help them deliver their duties and responsibilities. Different companies look at a few skills before hiring a service delivery manager. 

Let’s have a look at these skills:

1. Teamwork

Since service delivery managers have to work in teams, they must know how to manage and work in a team. Apart from their team, they will also have to interact with several other teams that are a part of the company. Therefore, they must have good teamwork skills. 

2. Usage of Business Support Software

Business support software is deployed in most companies. Service delivery managers must know how to use technology and carry out different tasks using the software. A service delivery manager must use business support software to address client queries and manage manpower schedules. 

3. Conflict Management

Conflicts are a part of any business, and a good service delivery manager must know how to resolve these conflicts. They must be patient enough to hear all sides of the problem and take the best decision that is in the company’s favour but does not disadvantage someone. 

4. Ability to Diversify

Workplace diversity is a primary objective of all organisations today, and hence, a service delivery manager needs to ensure diversity prevails when they onboard resources and create teams. A diverse workforce will help a service delivery manager effectively contribute to the company’s goals. 

5. Strong Customer Management Skills

The primary function of any service delivery manager is to serve clients. Hence, they must have a strong customer service orientation and know how to handle clients efficiently. A service delivery manager will be the one-point contact for all the clients. Hence, they should know how to handle them well. 

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6. Decision Making

Making decisions is a necessary component of modern management. The primary duty of management is often seen as making defensible decisions. Every manager is required to make wise choices that can affect their work. Similarly, a service delivery manager must make several decisions related to teams, deliveries, etc. 

7. Communication Skills

As a service delivery manager interacts ad liaises with several stakeholders inside and outside the company, they must have the best verbal and communication skills. They should know how to interact with clients and communicate messages from one party to the other without any gaps. 

Service Delivery Manager Salary

The demand for a service delivery manager has recently increased as the number of clients and the company’s responsibility towards these clients has increased. A service delivery manager takes up a multifaceted role in an organisation, so they are paid well. 

A service delivery manager in India earns an average salary of INR 16,26,008. However, the pay differs across industries. In industries like retail logistics, real estate, etc., a  service delivery manager plays a much more pivotal role than in industries like food and beverage. Hence, these industries tend to pay the service delivery managers more.

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Top Industry Recruiters

• IBM
• JP Morgan Chase
• HCL
• Cognizant
• Tata Consultancy
• Capgemini
• Techmahindra
• IndusInd
• Accenture

Wrapping Up!

A service delivery manager is a significant position within any company. Also, with an increase in the number of projects and clients that a company manages simultaneously, the role of a service delivery manager has become even more important. All companies need someone to act as a point of contact between different teams to handle the entire project well. 

If you aspire to become a service delivery manager, you need to upskill yourself and make yourself aware of what goes into delivering the responsibilities of a service delivery manager. You can enrol for the Post Graduate Certificate in Product Management by upGrad. The course is anchored in collaboration with Duke Corporate Education. 

The course duration spans 10.5 months with 200+ hours of learning. You will also get to work on 10+ case studies. The course also allows you to build your product.