Service Desk Operations Manager

The IT Services Service Desk is the central point of contact for IT queries from academics, students, staff and IT Support Officers in colleges and departments. The Service Desk strives to set the standard of behaviour for customer engagement, playing a key customer advocacy role, developing and delivering services that support customer needs and inform IT Services objectives.

The team act as customer champions, offering specialist advice and support on IT-related issues while providing customers with the best possible service and conveying a sincere willingness to help. The team comprises Service Desk Analysts (SDAs), Senior Service Desk Analysts (SSDAs), Service Desk Supervisors (SDSs) and Service Managers (SMs).

The Service Desk Operations Manager is a senior role. The post holder will provide leadership to a professional team of Service Desk staff who are responsible for the delivery of a telephone, email and face-to-face based service. The post holder is responsible for ensuring that adequate resources, consistency and quality are maintained and that service targets are met.

The post holder will be an experienced leader who is able to set the direction of a large team, working most closely with the Service Desk Improvement Manager to drive service improvements. As a senior member of the team, the post holder will act as a point of escalation, offering specialist advice and support on IT-related issues; and will ensure the effective management of all incidents and service requests through a telephone, email and appointment based service.

This role requires the ability to develop effective working relationships with senior colleagues within and beyond IT Services, in order to ensure that a consistent, high quality service is delivered by the Service Desk. This is a fast-paced and varied role, requiring excellent communication and customer service skills as well as a broad range of IT knowledge.

Essential selection criteria

  • Educated to degree level or with equivalent practical experience
  • Experience of managing a service desk
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • An active / empathic leader
  • Proven organisational skills with the ability to multi-task
  • Ability to oversee effective resource planning for a busy team
  • Experience of collaborating with colleagues at a senior level in order to achieve a goal
  • Demonstrable ability to think around issues and look at the wider picture in order to provide solutions through a variety of problem-solving techniques
  • Drive, self-motivation and ability to work under own initiative
  • Knowledge and understanding of best practice framework (such as ITIL, ISO20k) for the delivery of IT services
  • Sound knowledge and experience of supporting range of IT applications, platforms and technologies
  • Experience of administration / ownership of service desk tools and technology, such as Contact Centre, ITSM, remote access, knowledge resources
  • Experience of developing effective working relationships with customers and suppliers
  • Experience of delivering a high level of customer service
  • The necessary skills and attributes to integrate successfully into a busy team

Desirable selection criteria

  • Experience of initiating and delivering service improvement projects
  • Experience of managing an IT support service within a higher education institution
  • ITIL Intermediate qualifications