IT Operations & Service Management Lead

Veterinary Medicines Directorate; Addlestone; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate in Addlestone, Surrey, invites applications for an IT Operations & Service Management Lead within its IT Operations team. This hands-on leadership role focuses on reliable day-to-day IT services, service desk operations, end-user support and live service delivery.

You will oversee incident, request, change and problem handling, provide senior technical judgement, and coordinate with suppliers and SOC teams to drive service improvements while ensuring

Qualifications

• Experience in IT operations, service desk or live service support.
• Experience with ticketing and service management tools (e.g., Jira Service Management).
• Experience supporting workplace tech: laptops, Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, Outlook.

Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on operational IT tasks and service management.
• Coordinate incident, request, change and problem handling.
• Support live service delivery and end-user services.
• Escalate using suppliers, technicians or SOC as needed.

Skills

IT operations

Service desk

Incident management

Ticketing system

End-user support

Tools

Jira Service Management

Microsoft 365

Intune

Autopilot

SharePoint

Teams

Job description

Location: VMD, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3LS

The closing date for applications is 5th October 2026

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and is responsible for ensuring the safety, quality, and efficacy of veterinary medicines in the UK.

We have an IT Operations & Service Management Lead vacancy

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate is looking for an IT Operations and Service Management Lead to join its IT Operations team.

This is a hands‑on operational role with service management responsibility. The post holder will support the reliable day-to-day running of IT services that underpin VMD’s regulatory, scientific and business activities, with a particular focus on modern computing, end user services, service desk operations and live service support.

The role provides HEO‑level capacity within the IT Operations team, ensuring that operational work is not only delivered but also coordinated, prioritised and managed effectively. The post holder will be actively involved in operational activity, including incident, request, change and problem handling, service desk support, user support, technical triage and escalation of live service issues.

The post holder will work closely with EO IT Operations Support colleagues, providing senior technical judgement, day‑to‑day prioritisation and escalation support, while also directly contributing to hands‑on operational tasks. This ensures routine operational work is delivered efficiently, while more complex decisions, risks and service management responsibilities are handled at the appropriate level.

We require someone that has experience:

• Of working in an IT operations, service desk, technical support or live service support environment.
• Of using a ticketing or service management tool, such as Jira Service Management or similar, to record, manage, prioritise, progress and report on operational work.
• Of supporting users with workplace technology, including laptops, Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, user accounts, access requests, mobile devices, laptop builds, device provisioning, Autopilot, Intune or similar end‑user services.
• Of working with colleagues, suppliers and technical teams to support reliable day‑to‑day IT service delivery, including effective handover, documentation, knowledge sharing and continuous service improvement.
• Of monitoring operational service information, including ticket trends, service desk performance, recurring incidents, operational metrics, alerts and security‑related issues, using this information to identify risks, support proactive service improvement and coordinate appropriate escalation, including to suppliers, technical specialists or SOC/security monitoring functions where required.

We require someone that:

• Has a good understanding of IT service management practices, including incident, request, change and problem management, using ITIL‑based or equivalent service management approaches.
• Has the ability to assess the impact and urgency of IT issues, prioritise work effectively, identify trends or recurring issues, and escalation risks, service issues or complex technical matters when needed.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate is an Equal Opportunity employer