Cloud & Digital Platforms Operational Director

Cloud & Digital Platforms Operational Director

Cegeka

Hasselt, Belgium

The Cloud & Digital Platforms Operational Director is a strategic leadership role within the Cloud and Digital Platforms Business Line.

This role includes the following key responsibilities:

• Take full end-to-end accountability for Cloud & Digital Platforms operations across multiple countries
• Ensure operational stability, service availability, security, compliance and business continuity
• Maintain strong SLA performance and a high-quality customer experience
• Lead a large international delivery organization of approximately 800 FTE
• Bring structure, prioritization and calm to operational teams in a fast-moving environment
• Manage incidents, escalations, operational risks and structural service challenges
• Drive first-time-right delivery, operational discipline and continuous improvement
• Ensure clear governance, performance follow-up and accountability across the delivery organization
• Lead key transformation initiatives linked to the integration of additional business line activities into Cloud & Digital Platforms
• Act as a driver of change in a complex and evolving operational environment
• Support the integration of new technologies, platforms and delivery models
• Drive standardization of services, products and operational processes
• Contribute to the evolution towards sovereign cloud capabilities in response to geopolitical and market developments
• Enable the controlled implementation of AI across operations, with focus on efficiency, quality and scalability
• Translate strategic priorities into clear operational roadmaps and executable plans
• Ensure the organization is ready for future growth, new services and evolving customer expectations
• Act as a trusted counterpart to the VP Cloud & Digital Platforms
• Challenge strategic ideas constructively and credibly when operational impact, timing or priorities require it
• Help translate ambition into realistic and executable operational plans
• Protect the delivery organization from overload by ensuring clarity, prioritization and disciplined execution
• Balance entrepreneurial drive with operational realism and long-term scalability
• Scale Cloud & Digital Platforms operations across Europe in line with business and customer growth
• Support further international expansion where required by customer footprint and strategic priorities
• Design scalable multi-country operating models
• Align sourcing, capacity planning and delivery models with market needs
• Ensure expansion is sustainable, compliant and cost-effective
• Create strong collaboration across countries, delivery teams and business units
• Ensure compliance with internal policies, customer commitments, security standards and regulatory requirements
• Oversee operational risk, cybersecurity readiness, audit preparedness and business continuity
• Ensure strong governance around cloud operations, data protection, security and AI adoption
• Maintain executive-level transparency on performance, risk and transformation progress.

What you need to succeed:

• Minimum 15 years of experience in IT services, Cloud, Managed Services, Digital Platforms or Professional Services
• At least 5 years in a senior operational or delivery leadership role
• Proven experience leading large, complex and international teams
• Experience in managing multi-country delivery organizations, ideally in a matrix structure
• Strong background in operational transformation, standardization and modernization of delivery models
• Proven ability to lead change in a business-critical environment
• Strong understanding of Cloud, Infrastructure, Managed services or Digital Platform environments
• Experience with automation, AI enablement, sovereign cloud or platform transformation is a strong advantage
• Master degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology or a related technical field. MBA or additional business education is considered an advantage
• Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills
• Excellent problem-solving and prioritization capabilities
• Fluent English, both written and spoken. Knowledge of Dutch and/or additional European languages are considered as a plus.