IT Service Desk Manager

Ellison Institute of Technology; Oxford; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel allowance

Bonus

Pension 7.5% employer contribution

Job summary

Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) in Oxford seeks a proactive IT Service Desk Manager to lead and continually improve the IT Service Desk, delivering a responsive and high-quality support experience. You will own day-to-day operations, management processes, and drive continual improvement in a fast-moving research environment.

The role requires strong ITIL/ITSM knowledge, a track record of people development, and the ability to align service delivery with organisational needs.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience leading IT Service Desk in a complex organisation.
• Proven success improving Service Desk performance, maturity, processes and customer experience.
• Strong practical knowledge of ITIL and IT Service Management, ideally ITIL v4 certified.
• Experience across Incident, Request, Knowledge, Problem and Change Management.
• Strong understanding of SLAs, OLAs, KPIs, service reporting, escalation and continual improvement.
• Significant experience with ITSM platforms such as Jira Service Management or equivalent.
• Strong people leadership, coaching, analytical, communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the IT Service Desk team, promoting ownership, accountability, professionalism and excellent customer service.
• Own day-to-day Service Desk performance, including ticket prioritisation, workload management, escalation, communication and resolution.
• Maintain strong standards across SLA/OLA performance, first-contact resolution, ticket quality and effective hand‑offs between teams.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex or sensitive issues and identify recurring demand, bottlenecks and service improvement opportunities.
• Apply practical ITIL and Service Management principles, ensuring processes are proportionate, effective and consistently followed.
• Improve ITSM data quality, workflows, automation, self‑service and knowledge management.
• Support Incident, Major Incident, Problem and Change Management activities, including communications and operational readiness.
• Define and review Service Desk KPIs, using performance data and customer feedback to drive continual improvement.
• Build strong relationships across EIT and ensure the Service Desk continues to meet evolving scientific, technical and operational needs.

Skills

IT Service Desk leadership

ITIL v4

Service Management

Incident/Request/Knowledge/Problem/</w

Change Management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Jira Service Management

Education

ITIL v4 certification

Tools

Jira Service Management

Job description

Join us at EIT: At the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), we're on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity's greatest challenges in four transformative areas: Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture Climate Change & Managing CO₂ Artificial Intelligence & Robotics. This is ambitious work - work that demands curiosity, courage, and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you'll join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust, and collaboration, where bold ideas become real-world breakthroughs. Together, we push boundaries, embrace complexity, and create solutions to scale ideas from lab to society.

Explore more at www.eit.org.

Your Role:

At EIT we are seeking a proactive, process driven IT Service Desk Manager. The IT Service Desk Manager is responsible for leading and continually improving EIT Oxford's IT Service Desk, ensuring a responsive, professional and high-quality support experience. As the primary entry point into IT, the Service Desk handles incidents, requests, support and guidance, with this role accountable for maintaining operational excellence and a white-glove user experience. This operational role requires strong Service Desk leadership experience, practical knowledge of ITIL and IT Service Management, and the ability to develop people, processes and capabilities within a complex, fast-moving organisation. Working closely with the Head of IT Services and wider IT teams, the role will own day-to-day Service Desk performance and drive continual improvement across IT service delivery.

Your Responsibilities:

• Lead and develop the IT Service Desk team, promoting ownership, accountability, professionalism and excellent customer service.
• Own day-to-day Service Desk performance, including ticket prioritisation, workload management, escalation, communication and resolution.
• Maintain strong standards across SLA/OLA performance, first-contact resolution, ticket quality and effective hand‑offs between teams.
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex or sensitive issues and identify recurring demand, bottlenecks and service improvement opportunities.
• Apply practical ITIL and Service Management principles, ensuring processes are proportionate, effective and consistently followed.
• Improve ITSM data quality, workflows, automation, self‑service and knowledge management.
• Support Incident, Major Incident, Problem and Change Management activities, including communications and operational readiness.
• Define and review Service Desk KPIs, using performance data and customer feedback to drive continual improvement.
• Build strong relationships across EIT and ensure the Service Desk continues to meet evolving scientific, technical and operational needs.

What Success Looks Like:

• A capable, engaged and accountable Service Desk team with clear ownership and performance standards.
• Consistently high‑quality support, strong customer satisfaction and a trusted reputation across EIT.
• Measurable and well‑managed service performance, with reduced backlog, aged tickets, escalations and repeat incidents.
• Consistent application of ITIL and Service Management practices, supported by effective knowledge, automation and self‑service.
• Strong participation in Incident, Problem and Change Management, with effective collaboration across IT and the wider Institute.
• A clear culture of continual improvement driven by service data and customer feedback.

Essential Skills, Qualifications & Experience:

• Extensive experience leading and developing an IT Service Desk or technical support function within a complex organisation.
• Proven success improving Service Desk performance, maturity, processes and customer experience.
• Strong practical knowledge of ITIL and IT Service Management, ideally supported by ITIL v4 certification.
• Experience across Incident, Request, Knowledge, Problem and Change Management.
• Strong understanding of SLAs, OLAs, KPIs, service reporting, escalation and continual improvement.
• Significant experience with ITSM platforms such as Jira Service Management or equivalent.
• Strong people leadership, coaching, analytical, communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Sound judgement and decision‑making in complex, sensitive or high‑pressure situations.
• Advanced ITIL qualifications, Service Desk transformation experience, or experience in scientific, research or technology environments would be advantageous.

We offer the following benefits:

• Competitive salary (based on experience) + travel allowance + bonus
• Enhanced holiday. Our annual leave allowance is 25 days plus 8 bank holidays and an additional 3 days between Christmas and New Year. You will also have the opportunity to purchase an additional 5 days annual leave in January and July.
• Pension - Employer contribution 7.5%, minimum employee contribution 5%