Head of Focus Service Operations

First Central Services; Manchester, Haywards Heath; Hybrid; GBP 91,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

A market-leading insurance company, First Central Services, is seeking a Head of Focus Service Operations to develop and drive a DevOps culture across its Product Engineering team. This role entails strategic oversight of operational performance and service delivery, ensuring an exceptional experience for customers. With flexible working options, you will oversee key technologies and lead initiatives promoting continuous improvement within a rapid growth environment.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in IT service management or leadership roles.
• Experience with incident, problem, and change management.
• Insurance or financial services background preferred.

Responsibilities

• Building and implementing the Focus Service strategy.
• Overseeing day-to-day operations ensuring service levels are maintained.
• Leading the integration of DevOps practices across teams.

Skills

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

Strategic decision making

Understanding of Lean / Continuous Improvement tools

People management and leadership

Influencing and negotiation skills

Problem-solving skills

Job description

Location: Guernsey, Haywards Heath, Home Office (Remote) or Manchester

Salary: £91,536 - £114,420 - depending on experience

Department: Technology and Data

We’re 1st Central, a market-leading insurance company utilising smart data and technology at pace. Rapid growth has been based on giving our 1.4 million customers exactly what they want: great value insurance with an excellent service. And that’s the same for our colleagues too; we won Insurance Employer of the Year at the British Insurance Awards 2024 and our Glassdoor score is pretty high!

We're looking for a Head of Focus Service Operations who'll be responsible for creating and delivering the Focus Service strategy and driving a DevOps culture across the Product Engineering team. A key responsibility is to oversee the operational performance and service delivery for the Focus application within the cloud environment.

This role includes managing DevOps practices across various value streams, each responsible for resolving incidents and operating their services. The Head of Focus Service Operations will ensure the overall platform's enterprise-wide service, providing a seamless experience across the business. Additionally, you’ll lead the Focus service strategy, combining customer experience management with operational oversight to ensure exceptional service at every touchpoint.

We value flexible working arrangements, so you can choose to work remotely or from our offices in Salford Quays, Manchester, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, or Guernsey, with occasional office visits.

Core skills required:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Strategic decision making
• Understanding of Lean / Continuous Improvement tools, thinking, and methodologies
• People management and leadership, motivating employees in high-pressure environments
• Influencing and negotiation skills
• Good time management and organisation
• Change management
• Problem-solving skills, identifying root causes and solutions
• Stakeholder management and influencing key decision makers
• Coaching, focusing on development and providing constructive feedback

Key responsibilities include:

• Building and implementing the Focus Service strategy, adopting new ways of working aligned to cloud technologies and DevOps principles
• Overseeing day-to-day operations of the platform, ensuring service levels are maintained and disruptions minimized
• Managing incident, problem, release, and change management following best practices
• Coordinating with Value Stream teams to align with operational goals and ensure platform performance
• Reporting platform performance to stakeholders with insights into metrics and incident trends
• Leading the integration of DevOps practices across teams
• Enabling teams to take ownership of their services, aligned with standards and objectives
• Establishing and monitoring service performance metrics and reports
• Supporting incident resolution and root cause analysis to prevent recurrence
• Developing communication strategies and dashboards for operational visibility
• Collaborating with stakeholders to align service delivery with business needs
• Leading a team of professionals managing Focus operations
• Driving continuous improvement initiatives and knowledge sharing
• Working with cross-functional teams to meet operational expectations
• Managing on-call rotations and out-of-hours releases
• Ensuring compliance with policies, standards, and regulations

Experience & knowledge:

• Extensive experience in IT service management, application development, or leadership roles
• Experience with incident, problem, and change management
• Proven track record in service delivery and platform performance improvements
• Insurance or financial services background preferred, but not essential
• Knowledge of FCA requirements and cloud-based platforms or SaaS applications

Skills:

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Strategic decision-making
• Understanding of Lean / Continuous Improvement methodologies
• Leadership and motivational skills
• Negotiation and influencing abilities
• Time management and organisation
• Change management
• Problem-solving and root cause analysis

We invite you to join our vibrant team and contribute to our success. If you're ready for the challenge, we want to hear from you today.