Head of Service Management

FCDO Services; Ovingdean; On-site; GBP 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A government service organization seeks a leader for its IT service management team in Ovingdean. This role involves managing a dedicated team of IT Service Managers, ensuring high-quality service delivery, and setting strategic direction for IT practices. The ideal candidate will hold an ITIL 4 Managing Professional certification and possess substantial experience in service delivery environments. The organization offers competitive salaries, generous holidays, and various benefits to support employee growth.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Generous holiday entitlement

Civil Service Pension

Access to training and development opportunities

On-site gym

Interest-free loans on season tickets and bikes

Qualifications

• Hold ITIL 4 Managing Professional certification.
• Well developed experience in service delivery environments.
• Leadership and management skills to lead a team.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of IT Service Managers to ensure service delivery.
• Act as a hands-on escalation point for stakeholders.
• Oversee service operations and maintain customer support quality.

Skills

ITIL 4 Managing Professional certification

Experience in service delivery environments

Leadership and management skills

Experience with ServiceNow

Knowledge of SLAs/OLAs

Tools

ServiceNow

Job description

About FCDO Services

At FCDO Services we protect the UK’s interests at home and overseas. We design and construct secure government buildings and courier diplomatic packages worldwide, safeguard government tech and a whole lot more. Our work is as varied and vital as it gets, but we never lose sight of our people. Their skills, aspirations and growth mean as much as the global mission we’re on. In our world, it all matters.

Digital and Data Technology Team

Our Digital and Data technology team are at the forefront of digital innovation. They provide best in-class solutions for our clients, helping to shape and support a data driven future for UK government. Whether it’s creating bespoke, secure software, offering programme and application support or moving an entire embassy’s servers to a Cloud platform. No matter the task, they are on hand to support. Now, you’ve got the opportunity to join them.

Lead the expert team that helps to maintain the security of our IT operations

When you join us in this vital leadership role you’ll be responsible for a small team of highly committed and collaborative IT Service Managers, and focus on ensuring adequate resources are available to deliver an efficient and successful service. Acting as a hands‑on escalation point for business stakeholders, you’ll be accountable for the ongoing execution of continual service improvements, and be responsible for the recruitment, coaching, development and performance of your team. And most importantly, you’ll set the vision and strategy for IT service management throughout our organisation, ensuring that practices and services are standardised while at the same time capable of adapting to the needs of different services and customers.

Operational responsibilities

Committed to building service management considerations into all new bids, proposals and change requests, and overseeing service operations to ensure consumer support is of the highest quality, you’ll work to create, develop and maintain excellent relationships with a diverse range of internal stakeholders and customers. We’ll also expect you to confirm that each individual customer service agreement is fulfilled, support the renegotiation of agreements, interact with customers to resolve any issues that arise, and work to maintain you and your team’s professional development and knowledge.

Required qualifications and experience

To be a success in this significant role you’ll hold ITIL 4 Managing Professional certification, have well developed experience of working in service delivery environments, and possess the leadership and management skills necessary to lead an expert service delivery team. It goes without saying that you’ll have hands‑on experience of using service management tooling such as ServiceNow, and in addition to demonstrable knowledge of formulating SLAs/OLAs, you should be capable of delivering services to defined standards at a minimum level of ISO9001 and ISO20000:1.

Desirable skills

With well developed commercial acumen and the confidence to drive organisational change management, experience of working with project and programme management methodologies would be desirable, as would the ability to operate in both established and ‘green field’ service management environments. It would be an advantage if you possess some technical expertise relating to security, IT and comms technologies, and in addition to knowledge of our organisation’s overseas operations, experience of supplier management would be a plus.

Benefits and support

But we’re always looking to improve – just like you. That’s why when you join us, expect to receive a competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement and a Civil Service Pension. Along with this, you’ll also have access to training and other development opportunities to help grow your career with us. Our offices have an on‑site gym, nursery, café, and restaurant, and we offer interest‑free loans on season tickets and bikes to help you get there. It’s a great set of benefits made to support all you do, and all you need.

Explore the Virtual Embassy

Want to see your future team’s work in action? Step into our Virtual Embassy and select a guide to take you round to see how we deliver for government customers and how you could help. Explore the embassy now at virtual-embassy.fcdoservicescareers.co.uk

Security and vetting

Every single colleague must be security cleared before joining us. If you’re successful in your application, we’ll ask you to undergo our vetting process to achieve Security Check (SC) clearance. You can find out more about vetting at fcdoservicescareers.co.uk/how-to-apply/

Diversity and inclusion

It takes a diverse team to protect a diverse world. The vital work we do takes an incredible community of colleagues, with different skills, backgrounds, cultures and identities. We support every individual, so that you always know you’re welcome and valued. It’s what makes us a Disability Confident employer. And why we’re recognised as a ‘Carer Confident’ workplace. And it’s how you know you’re joining an inspiring, inclusive organisation.

Alternative positions

Candidates who are judged to be close to meeting the criteria may be considered for other positions in FCDO Services which may be at a lower grade, but have a potential skills match.