Service Operations Manager

Role overview

Service operations and incident leadership

• Own live-service performance, availability and operational health; oversee incidents, problems, risks, dependencies and service performance.
• Coordinate operational priorities, resources and support activities.
• Lead major-incident responses and act as senior escalation point for serious and out-of-hours issues.
• Ensure effective incident communication, recovery, review and completion of follow-up actions.

Readiness, improvement and governance

• Ensure services are supportable, monitored, documented and resourced before entering business-as-usual operations.
• Represent operational requirements in projects, change and organisational initiatives.
• Use incidents, service performance, risk and user feedback to drive measurable improvements, automation and reduced recurring issues.
• Report performance, trends, risks, blockers and required decisions; maintain effective operational governance, controls and processes.
• Support financial planning, resource forecasting and operational decision-making.

Team and stakeholder leadership

• Lead and develop the Service Operations team, building accountability, capability and operational excellence.
• Build relationships with stakeholders, suppliers and partner organisations; work with service delivery managers to hold third parties accountable.
• Recruit, interview, hire and train staff; oversee department workflow; provide one-to-ones and performance evaluations; handle discipline and termination in line with company policy.

Experience and technical knowledge

• Experience with ITSM toolsets such as ServiceNow, Freshservice or Jira; stakeholder-management experience or comparable skills such as customer service.
• Good technical understanding of platforms, tools and common issues; ITIL v4 Foundation certification at minimum.
• Understanding of common SQL queries and ability to identify anomalies.
• Previous experience managing a multidisciplinary operational team and adapting processes to a methodology such as ITIL.

Working capabilities and clearance

• Communicates technical information clearly to non-technical audiences and maintains careful, consistent communication under pressure.
• Works effectively across disciplines, including in a public-sector context; self-motivated and able to maintain standards without direct supervision.
• Must be eligible to undergo NPPV3 and SC vetting clearances.

Salary

• Salary starts at £60,000 per annum.

Working arrangements

• Remote role with some national travel required to attend meetings.