Sipho Shembe
Durban
Summary
Results-driven Service Manager with extensive experience in client service and technical delivery across diverse sectors. Proven ability to enhance operational efficiency and improve service quality through strategic leadership and effective team management. Expertise in client relations, service operations, and technical support, fostering collaboration to achieve organisational goals.
Overview
1
1
Certification
24
24
years of professional experience
Work History
Service Manager
MTN South Africa
03.2026 - Current
- Managed service delivery for strategic enterprise customers, ensuring alignment with business objectives.
- Drive SLA compliance and service performance improvement initiatives.
- Lead incident, escalation, problem and change management activities.
- Coordinate major incidents and ensure effective stakeholder communication.
- Act as the primary liaison between customers, MTN operational teams and third-party vendors.
- Conduct service review and governance meetings.
- Produced executive-level operational and service performance reports to inform decision-making and strategy.
- Support strategic projects, migrations and service transitions.
- Built and maintained strong customer relationships, driving service excellence and customer satisfaction.
Operations Manager
Workforce Staffing
03.2024 - 02.2026
- Driving process improvements and operational efficiencies, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery.
- Managing end-to-end recruitment for management, scarce, and critical roles, including sourcing, assessment, interviews, and offer negotiation.
- Creating and implementing targeted sourcing strategies to attract top talent for management and critical skill roles, aligned with the employer brand.
- Collaborating with business leaders to understand organizational goals and talent needs.
- Fostered strong client relationships, resulting in repeat business and sustained growth.
- Led and mentored a diverse team of recruiters, enhancing recruitment quality across various occupations.
- Guiding and supporting a team of recruiters, ensuring successful execution of recruitment strategies.
- Cultivating a high-performance team culture focused on continuous improvement and professional development.
- Leveraging recent on-the-desk experience to ensure effective candidate matching and successful placements.
- Analysing market trends and adapting strategies to maintain a competitive edge.
- Developing and implementing innovative recruitment strategies, staying ahead of industry and organizational trends.
- Conducting market research to stay informed on industry trends and talent landscapes.
- Building and maintaining a strong network of candidates through social media, professional networks, and industry events.
- Strengthened relationships with internal stakeholders, ensuring alignment with business objectives and talent needs.
Site Supervisor
Workforce Staffing
08.2024 - 02.2025
- Managed site workers, set team goals, and ensured successful project completion.
- Assessed and managed safety hazards in the site.
- Developed and enforced site procedures to ensure compliance and efficiency.
- Oversaw operations of charcoal producing plant, ensuring seamless production flow.
- Analysed plant efficacy, identifying areas for improvement to enhance operational smoothness.
- Maintained staff by recruiting, selecting, orienting, and training employees and developing personal growth opportunities.
- Accomplishing staff job results by coaching, counselling, and disciplining employees.
- Developed and enforced site procedures to ensure compliance and efficiency..
- Ensuring that the correct paperwork is signed and maintained for all assignees.
- Submitted timesheets and supporting documents in accordance with company requirements.
- Managing the issuing and control of PPE.
- Coordinated response to injuries on site, ensuring proper care and documentation..
- Assisting the client production in running the plant and ensuring high quality production.
Client Service Manager
Latita
01.2022 - 12.2023
- Ensuring the accurate and timely processing of Corporate Actions ensuring customer service is timely, accurate, of the highest standard and within the parameters of agreed to SLAs.
- Delivered face-to-face and online client support based on client needs.
- Followed up with customers to identify improvement areas through one-on-one interactions and online surveys.
- Escalated issues to management teams to ensure clarity on customer business requirements and priorities.
- Assigned seasonal staff to client projects to optimise coverage and support.
- Generation and transmission/delivery of reports in accordance with clients’ requirements.
- Development of procedures and ensuring adherence thereto.
- Managed issuance and tracking of personal protective equipment, ensuring compliance and safety standards.
Corporate Technical Service Manager
BT Communications
04.2017 - 08.2019
- Managed request fulfilment, incident resolution, problem-solving, and change management processes to ensure seamless operations.
- Managed customer feedback processes to enhance service delivery and address concerns effectively.
- Focus on driving down P1 calls and expediting support to improve MTTR per incident.
- Coordinate and manage all technical conference calls, analysis sessions, and post incident reviews for P1 escalations and between engineers, 3rd Party Vendor support teams and customer support teams.
- Acted as liaison between teams to facilitate communication and collaboration on operational issues. Act as the ISP service representative to the customer on all operational issues regarding the assigned portfolio.
- Interact with and coordinate between all support teams internal within ISP, and external within the customer, and bridge the divide between the ISP, vendor, and customer during escalations.
- Interact with ISP report writers and Service Delivery Managers to fuel effective reporting and analysis.
- Monitored understanding and adherence to SLAs, identifying areas for improvement to optimise service performance.
- Maintained customer relationships during interactions across process areas, ensuring clear communication and support.
- Assist the relevant stakeholders with analysing the customer’s network demand, capacity utilisation and service performance.
- Made recommendations on optimizing processes based on statistical analysis.
- Make recommendations on optimizing where appropriate, based on statistical analysis and forward planning.
- Manage the touchpoints between these process areas, including coordination between teams, all communication channels both internally and externally to customers.
- Maintained customer relationships during interactions across process areas, ensuring clear communication and support.
- Compile and disseminate the required collateral per process area.
- The support and administration of Network environments in line with IT security policy.
- Record agendas and minutes of meetings regarding technical investigations throughout the escalation lifecycle.
- Ensure that customer and personal notification profiles are kept up to date at all times.
- Reason for Leaving: Retrenchment
- Reason for Leaving: Retrenchment
Service Operations Manager
INTERNET SOLUTIONS
09.2013 - 04.2017
- The Service Operations Manager plays a critical role in the coordination and delivery of operational support to the customer, and is seen as an extension of the client’s IT Operations team.
- The SOM consistently strives to improve and strengthen the customer’s perception of service quality, through dedicated support expertise, and consistent communication.
- Provided customers with a single touch point into ISP for escalation and operational queries, streamlining communication and support.
- Acted as ISP service representative to customer on all operational issues for assigned portfolio, facilitating effective collaboration and issue resolution.
- Managed escalations in alignment with the documented Escalation Process, ensuring timely resolution and feedback.
- “Own” escalations pre-, during, and post incident, ensuring regular and timely feedback is provided to the client throughout the lifecycle of the escalation.
- Coordinate and manage all technical conference calls, analysis sessions, and post incident reviews for P1 Escalations’ and between engineers, 3rd Party Vendor support teams and customer support teams.
- Interact with and coordinate between all support teams internal within ISP, and external within the customer, and bridge the divide between the ISP, vendor, and customer during escalations.
- Focus on driving down P1 calls and expediting support to improve MTTR per incident.
- Functional Job Aspects: Ensure that SLAs are understood and adhered to, noting areas of improvement or concern.
- Ensure that customer and personal notification profiles are kept up to date at all times.
- Ensure that Technical Contact Lists and Vendor escalation matrices are kept up to date and disseminated appropriately amongst all relevant support structures.
- Work in tandem with ISP support teams and escalations managers.
- Own and manage feedback to the customer at all times.
- Champion the ISP Service Experience in every engagement with the customer.
- Service Portfolio Management: Assist with the compilation, management and improvement of the customer service portfolio.
- Reporting Function: Coordinate a Monthly Operational Summary Report which includes: A network Capacity Analysis Summary.
- A review of outstanding and implemented changes and their net effect on the customer’s 'servicescape' (Group of procured services).
- An analysis of recurring incidents and a summary of outstanding problems and their respective resolution status.
- A summary of all escalations for the month and their associated resolution/s.
- A summary of applicable SLA metrics and performance statistics.
- Produce AD HOC Reports dealing with operational issues which could include: Incident Reports sequence of events.
- Interact with ISP report writers and Service Delivery Managers to fuel effective reporting and analysis.
- Record agendas and minutes of meetings regarding technical investigations throughout the escalation lifecycle.
- Champion the ISP Service Experience in every engagement with the customer.
- Service Portfolio Management: Assist with the compilation, management and improvement of the customer service portfolio.
Network Engineer
INTERNET SOLUTIONS
03.2010 - 08.2013
- Maximised network performance through performance monitoring, troubleshooting network issues, scheduling upgrades, and collaborating with network architects on optimisation.
- Designed and implemented new solutions to enhance resilience of current environment.
- Establishing the networking environment by designing system configuration, directing system installation, defining, documenting and enforcing system standards.
- The configuration of routing and switching equipment.
- The support and administration of firewall environments in line with IT security policy.
- Securing network systems by establishing and enforcing policies, and defining and monitoring access.
- Undertaking data network fault investigations in local and wide area environments, using information from multiple sources.
- Remote troubleshooting and fault finding if issues occur upon initial installation.
- Upgrading data network equipment to the latest stable firmware releases.
- Capacity management and audit of IP addressing and hosted devices within data centres.
- Reporting network operational status by gathering and prioritizing information and managing projects.
- Liaising with project management teams, third-line engineers and service desk engineers on a regular basis.
- Data: I support and install data links on the provider edge routers and customer edge routers.
- This includes supporting all three layers of the OSI model with HDLC and frame relay on layer 2 and mostly BGP and static routing on layer 3.
- I handle second level support and level 3 installations.
- I install Hosted IP Telephony solutions and integrate them into MPLS.
- Supported various VoIP integration projects, including client site connections to the VoIP network.: I support different kinds of voip integration like IP and PABX integration from the client sites to the voip network.
- I work mostly on the application server and network server.
- IPT: I support mostly quintum based solutions as most of our clients are using this device to process voip calls on client sites.
- Facilitated integration of major clients into MPLS network, including Mr Price with over 1300 sites, ensuring seamless VoIP IP integration.
- The configuration of hosted IP voice services.
- The basic configuration of firewalls.
- Provided remote support to on-site engineers and end users/customers during installation. of on-site engineers and end users/customers during installation.
- Updating job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities, reading professional publications, maintaining personal networks and participating in professional organizations.
- Speaking with customers via email and phone for initial requirement capture.
- Have learnt to handle multiple network platforms and Technologies.
- All-rounder kind of an Engineer with experience in multiple IT platforms.
Core Network Engineer
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES
11.2008 - 04.2009
- Executed expansion of core network infrastructure, resolving switching issues to support increased traffic.
- Performed maintenance and troubleshooting on core network systems, ensuring reliability and optimal performance.
- Installed and commissioned core network sites, enhancing capacity with media gateways and MSC.
- Upgraded software on existing core network components.
- Reason for Leaving: Contract.
Systems Support Engineer
MTN
07.2007 - 06.2008
- Provided high-quality support for department applications to MTN corporate, MTN Group, and MTN International Customers.
- Maintaining the system thus making sure that it is always up and running.
- Monitored processes for the stats reporting system to ensure efficiency.
- Supported stats collecting system and configured nodes for effective stats generation.
- Installed stats reporting system nationally and internationally; created reports using SQL based on Oracle databases.
- Generated detailed reports for analysis.
- Performing the backend on platform for the system.
- Reason for Leaving: Contract.
Consultant
SIEMENS TELECOMMUNICATIONS
01.2007 - 06.2007
- Provided technical support to customers like Vodacom and Cell C for their test equipment within the department.
- Utilised Siemens-specific software within Cisco technology framework.
- Supported LAN by installing Siemens network applications and configuring Siemens databases.
- Developed links between various subnets and VLANs to enhance network functionality.
- The setup is like this: there are telecommunications switches which are accessed remotely via a signalling unit SS7 from anywhere in the building, configure on the router, SS7 signaling link and also on the terminals to make such a connection possible and to give support thereafter.
- Work for the test centre for Siemens Telecommunications products.
- The LAN is Cisco based but the other network elements are Siemens specific.
- Completed contract assignment.
Support Engineer
INTERNET SOLUTIONS
01.2005 - 06.2006
- Provided network support to customers, troubleshooting Telco-carrier related problems from the IS core router to the Ethernet interface on the customer site and supporting WAN links.
- Responded to customer calls regarding link issues, troubleshooting and coordinating with customers for effective resolutions.
- Monitored hosting area, ensured adequate rack space for hosting solutions, managed spare routers and cables, prepared network ports and patches on switches according to internal LAN layout, and resolved Data Centre Access tickets.
- Transitioned to Networking Support department.
- Reason for Leaving: Started own business.
GSM Technician Trainee
SIEMENS TELECOMMUNICATIONS
01.2003 - 12.2003
- Executed installations and commissioning of Siemens telecommunication radio equipment, conducted site preparations, and performed fault finding and maintenance.
- Completed advanced telecoms training.
- Concluded contract following successful completion of assigned tasks.
Education
National Diploma Electronic Engineering - Computer Science
Durban University of Technology
Durban University OF Technology01-2005
Matric -
ISLOMUZI HIGH SCHOOL
Vryheid01-1998
Skills
- Stakeholder communication
- Operational reporting
- Customer relationship management
- Service delivery management
- SLA compliance
- Data analysis
Custom
Bryanston, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Certification
- ITIL Foundation
Personal Information
ID Number: 790805 5845 082
Timeline
Service Manager
MTN South Africa
03.2026 - Current
Site Supervisor
Workforce Staffing
08.2024 - 02.2025
Operations Manager
Workforce Staffing
03.2024 - 02.2026
Client Service Manager
Latita
01.2022 - 12.2023
Corporate Technical Service Manager
BT Communications
04.2017 - 08.2019
Service Operations Manager
INTERNET SOLUTIONS
09.2013 - 04.2017
Network Engineer
INTERNET SOLUTIONS
03.2010 - 08.2013
Core Network Engineer
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES
11.2008 - 04.2009
Systems Support Engineer
MTN
07.2007 - 06.2008
Consultant
SIEMENS TELECOMMUNICATIONS
01.2007 - 06.2007
Support Engineer
INTERNET SOLUTIONS
01.2005 - 06.2006
GSM Technician Trainee
SIEMENS TELECOMMUNICATIONS
01.2003 - 12.2003
National Diploma Electronic Engineering - Computer Science
Durban University of Technology
Matric -
ISLOMUZI HIGH SCHOOL