IT Service Desk Manager

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

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary based on experience

Travel allowance

Bonus

Enhanced holiday allowance (25 days +

Pension - Employer contribution 7.5%

Life Assurance

Income Protection

Private Medical Insurance (you & dep.)

Employee discounts

Electric car scheme

Nursery Salary Sacrifice

Cycle to Work Scheme

Family Planning

Neurodiversity support

Coaching & Therapy services

Job summary

The Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford is seeking a proactive IT Service Desk Manager to lead and continually improve the IT Service Desk, delivering a responsive, professional, high‑quality support experience for a fast‑moving research environment.

Working with the Head of IT Services, you will drive ITIL‑based practices, manage incidents and changes, develop people, and build robust processes, data quality, automation and knowledge management across the Institute.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience leading and developing an IT Service Desk within a complex organisation.
• Proven track record of improving Service Desk performance, maturity and customer experience.
• Strong ITIL and ITSM knowledge, ideally ITIL v4 certified.
• Experience across Incident, Request, Knowledge, Problem and Change Management.
• Strong understanding of SLAs, OLAs, KPIs, and service reporting.
• Experience with ITSM platforms such as Jira Service Management or equivalent.
• Strong leadership, coaching, analytical, communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Decision-making in complex, high-pressure situations.
• Advanced ITIL qualifications or Service Desk transformation experience (advantage).

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

Leadership & people mgmt

ITIL / ITSM expertise

Incident & Change mgmt

SLA / KPI mgmt

Stakeholder mgmt

Analytical / communication

ITIL v4 cert

Decision making under pressure

Service Desk transformation

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
• 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

Requirements

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

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%
• Life Assurance.
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance as standard for you, your partner and any dependents. Including hospital Cash Plan
• Employee discounts
• Electric car scheme
• Nursery Salary Sacrifice scheme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Family Planning
• Neurodiversity support including advise and assessments
• Coaching & Therapy services

Working Together - What It Involves:

• You must have the right to work permanently in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary.
• You will live in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford (or be willing to relocate) and can commit to working 5 days per working week in the office.