WHAT DOES A MAJOR INCIDENT MANAGER DO?

Reviewed by Lam Nguyen under Editorial Standards

Published: Mar 04, 2026. The Major Incident Manager leads and coordinates the response to critical incidents, ensuring rapid service restoration and minimal business impact through effective collaboration with cross-functional teams and stakeholders. This role involves managing ITIL-based processes, including incident, problem, change, and service transition management, while providing clear executive communication, reporting, and vendor performance oversight. The manager also drives continuous service improvement, operational excellence, and proactive risk mitigation across global IT service environments.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Major Incident Manager

1. Major Incident Manager Responsibilities

  • Major Incident Coordination: Coordinate and manage the Major Incident Management process activities.
  • Risk Escalation: Escalate risks and issues to the Major Incident Management Process Owner.
  • KPI & SLA Compliance: Support Major Incident Management to comply with customer KPIs and SLAs.
  • Recovery Management: Manage the recovery process based on Major Incident Management best practices and ITIL process standardization.
  • Process Governance: Ensure consistent end-to-end application of the Major Incident Management process across the account.
  • Process Implementation: Drive the implementation of the standard execution of the Major Incident Management process.
  • Customer Representation: Represent IBM to the customer.
  • Issue Resolution Planning: Agree on issue definition, action plan, and success criteria with the customer.

2. Major Incident Manager Duties

  • Incident Oversight: Oversee the incident management process and coordinate resources to work toward incident resolution.
  • Incident Triage: Respond, triage, and prioritize incidents and ensure pertinent information is gathered.
  • Matrix Management: Matrix management of people, processes, and resources, including third-party vendors.
  • Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborate with incident stakeholders and resolving teams to ensure the right people are involved in the incident or are aware of it.
  • Resolution Coordination: Collaborate with stakeholders in deciding when a Major Incident is resolved and ensure incident data is gathered and recorded for RCA.
  • SOP Management: Maintain and produce Standard Operating Procedures relating to the Major Incident process.
  • Dashboard Management: Ensure the Major Incident dashboard is updated and data is consistent.
  • Reporting Preparation: Prepare reviews, metrics, and reports for consumption by different teams at various levels.
  • Process Improvement: Identify opportunities for continuous improvement of the MI process.

3. Major Incident Manager Additional Details

  • Incident Leadership: Lead, facilitate, and communicate critical incidents and hold all IT and third-party providers accountable.
  • Incident Resolution: Ensure incidents are effectively diagnosed and resolved according to agreed procedures to ensure timely recovery and resolution and minimize business impacts.
  • Vendor Performance: Manage, monitor, and improve outsourcing provider service performance and adherence to agreed SLAs through regular meetings and operational reporting.
  • Process Improvement: Identify ongoing service process improvement opportunities and implement them in collaboration with the entire IT team.
  • Change Governance: Review and approve changes, challenge teams on implementation procedures, and ensure they are scheduled and managed.
  • Problem Identification: Proactively identify recurring incidents and create problem records to investigate the root cause.
  • Problem Coordination: Review and coordinate any problem records created as part of high-priority incidents in the environment and ensure they are completed within the agreed SLA.
  • Risk Planning: Manage preparation and planning, including risk mitigation, to trade in the lead-up to critical sales periods/events.

4. Major Incident Manager Responsibilities and Key Tasks

  • Stakeholder Collaboration: Work with internal stakeholders to translate ITSM objectives and plans into actions that maximize productivity and performance.
  • Objective Alignment: Input to the team and own objectives to ensure they reflect operational service delivery priorities and best practices.
  • Service Improvement: Support continuous improvement through the creation and management of a Continuous Service Improvement Plan for ITSM.
  • Service Culture: Support the development of a proactive, service-oriented culture within the team, wider IT, and third-party supplier teams.
  • Event Monitoring: Monitor critical events across various monitoring tools and elevate issues to relevant technical teams for remediation as part of a proactive Major Incident Management process.
  • Community Participation: Participate in Global Major Incident Management forums and actively contribute to the global Major Incident community on ITSM best practices.
  • Change Scheduling: Support the management of the Forward Schedule of Change (including all IT change, maintenance and release windows, and critical business periods).
  • Emergency Changes: Review and approve emergency and unplanned urgent changes.

5. Major Incident Manager General Responsibilities

  • Service Monitoring: Continuous monitoring of IT services to detect potential critical issues on a 24/7 basis.
  • Incident Leadership: Lead, drive, coordinate, facilitate, and chair all troubleshooting activities, meetings, and conference calls dedicated to the prompt resolution of Major Incidents.
  • Incident Escalation: Conduct escalation to service support teams, senior management, and leaders to ensure appropriate awareness, engagement, and focus.
  • Stakeholder Communication: Produce accurate and timely communications tailored to relevant audiences (senior leaders, internal stakeholders, and customers).
  • Incident Reporting: Produce accurate and thorough Major Incident Reports to be delivered to customers and stakeholders.
  • Ticket Compliance: Audit and ensure ticket compliance per ITIL and Major Incident Management best practices.
  • Communication Adaptation: Adapt communication techniques for audiences at multiple internal and external levels.
  • Process Governance: Provide guidance and governance to technical cross-functional teams and customers on proper Major Incident Management processes, procedures, and best practices.

6. Major Incident Manager Roles and Responsibilities

  • Service Transition: Accountable for developing and maintaining the Transition and Early Life Support process for all new/changed services in the live BAU environment.
  • Client Onboarding: Responsible for transitioning clients into service with a focus on client satisfaction, ensuring the first contact with customers sets expectations for all future client relations.
  • Transition Management: Responsible for managing all client transition-related tasks in an effective, efficient, and client-focused manner.
  • Change Assessment: Assess change impacts and risk mitigations, communicating effectively with all stakeholders.
  • Asset Management: Accountable for the accurate upload of client asset-owned inventory and ensuring service contract compliance.
  • Knowledge Management: Deliver internal knowledge articles across multiple services, providing an overview of each Insight service offering to educate and onboard new hires.
  • ITIL Documentation: Accountable for ensuring ITIL Managed Service practices are documented for all new/changed services before accepting them into the live BAU environment.
  • Workflow Management: Implement workflow management across all services and clients, ensuring adherence to contracted SLAs.
  • Quality Assurance: Deliver monthly call and ticket quality scoring, ensuring all teammates adhere to call quality guidelines.
  • Team Development: Ensure all training and development needs for teammates across customer operations are delivered.
  • Customer Satisfaction: Own and activate the Customer Satisfaction Management process.
  • Service Improvement: Identify, execute, and measure continual service improvement initiatives.

7. Major Incident Manager Functions

  • Shift Coverage: Provide shift coverage in a 24x7x365 operational team.
  • Operational Commitment: Work-life balance is important, but there will be times when extra effort to ensure continuity and client experience.
  • Global Collaboration: Collaborate with local, regional, and global partners to share knowledge of people, processes, and technology.
  • Executive Communication: Ensure all Major Incidents are communicated in executive technology and business-centric terms.
  • Process Improvement: Identify opportunities for improving processes in the pursuit of being ''Faster, Better, and Cheaper''.
  • Relationship Building: Help establish, cultivate, and grow nurturing relationships with global business and technology organizations.
  • Organizational Knowledge: Improve technology, business unit, and organizational knowledge.
  • Partner Collaboration: Help build close relationships with partner functions like App Dev/DevOps, Production Support, and process teams (e.g., Problem and Change Management).

8. Major Incident Manager Essential Functions

  • Critical Response: Assist or lead critical response efforts for critical vulnerabilities, Major Incidents, and Major Problems.
  • Executive Escalation: Manage executive communication and escalation.
  • Process Compliance: Ensure compliance with established processes and protocols.
  • Cross-Team Coordination: Engage with cross-functional teams during service restoration and risk mitigation.
  • Resource Coordination: Ensure that the right resources are engaged to achieve successful outcomes.
  • Continuous Improvement: Identify and pursue opportunities for continuous improvement and lead programs or projects.
  • Metrics Reporting: Provide regular metrics, presentations, and program or project status updates.
  • On-Call Support: Fulfill the required work type, location, and hours requirements, including weekend coverage on an on-call basis.

9. Major Incident Manager Roles and Details

  • Team Leadership: Lead a team of professionals in managing the day-to-day operations and full life cycle management of Information Technology Major Incident and Problem Management.
  • Incident Facilitation: Provide communication, facilitation, recording, and management of active Major Incidents, as well as the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) process (Problem Management) and monitoring the implementation of corrective actions.
  • Program Design: Strategically design and mature the Major Incident and Problem Management programs, including documentation and workflows.
  • Tool Evaluation: Ensure processes are relevant and current, and evaluate tools to gain additional efficiencies.
  • Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborate with appropriate leadership and stakeholders to ensure all support guidelines are met and to understand departmental business structures and requirements for managing business playbooks.
  • Metrics Reporting: Provide metrics reporting and analytics for Major Incident and Problem Management to the appropriate leadership and committees.
  • Program Monitoring: Monitor the effectiveness of the Major Incident and Problem Management program.
  • Performance Analytics: Work with the service management team to design and mature analytic performance improvements for Major Incident and Problem Management.

Job Role FAQs

What is a job role?

A job role refers to the duties, responsibilities, and expectations associated with a specific position within an organization. It explains what tasks an employee performs, how they contribute to team objectives, and how their work supports the company’s overall goals.

What are the typical responsibilities of a job role?

Typical job role responsibilities include completing daily tasks, collaborating with team members, making decisions, and meeting performance targets. For example, a software developer may write code, fix bugs, review pull requests, and collaborate with product teams.

What is the difference between a job role and a job title?

A job title is the official name of a position, such as Marketing Manager or Software Engineer. A job role describes the actual duties, responsibilities, and expectations associated with that position.

Why are clearly defined job roles important?

Clearly defined job roles help organizations improve productivity, reduce workplace confusion, and ensure accountability. When employees understand their responsibilities and expectations, teams can collaborate more effectively.

How do job roles support career development?

Understanding different job roles helps professionals identify career paths and the skills required for advancement. By learning the expectations of various roles, individuals can build relevant skills and plan long-term career growth.

Editorial Process

Lamwork content is developed through structured review of publicly available job postings and documented hiring trends.

Editorial operations are managed by Thanh Huyen, Managing Editor, with research direction and final oversight by Lam Nguyen, Founder & Editorial Lead. Content is periodically reviewed to reflect observable labor market changes.