IT Service Desk Team Leader

Focus Group; Shoreham-by-Sea; Hybrid; GBP 37,000 - 40,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday entitlement 24 days + bank / +

Hybrid working options

Enhanced parental leave

Volunteer day & corporate benefits

Job summary

Focus Group is seeking an experienced Service Desk Team Leader to captivate the Operations team and drive excellent customer outcomes. You will coach, develop and lead a team of engineers while ensuring service levels remain high and customer satisfaction improves.

Reporting to the Service Desk Manager, you will handle day-to-day leadership, escalations, and performance reviews in a hybrid Shoreham-by-Sea work setting, contributing to ongoing service improvements.

Qualifications

• Experience leading a service desk or helpdesk team.
• Proven ability to meet KPIs and SLAs.
• Strong ticket management knowledge.
• Excellent communication and coaching skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of Service Desk Engineers.
• Oversee day-to-day service desk operations and KPIs.
• Manage annual leave, shifts, and workload balancing.
• Monitor queues and distribute work effectively.
• Drive performance metrics like response and resolution times.
• Act as escalation point for customer issues.
• Collaborate with Senior Engineers on escalations.
• Conduct regular team meetings and performance reviews.
• Identify training opportunities from performance data.
• Promote continuous improvement and customer excellence.
• Maintain quality standards and adherence to processes.
• Build relationships with stakeholders across Operations.

Skills

Leadership

KPI driven

Ticket management

Escalations

Communication

Coaching

Change management

Analytical skills

Customer service

Job description

IT Service Desk Team Leader

Department: Service Operations

Employment Type: Permanent

Location: Shoreham-by-Sea

Compensation: £36,500 - £40,000 / year

Description

Location: Shoreham-by-Sea (Hybrid)
Salary: Competitive
Contract: Permanent

Focus Group is looking for an experienced Service Desk Team Leader to join our Operations team and play a key role in delivering an exceptional support experience for our customers.

This is an exciting opportunity for a people-focused leader who thrives in a fast-paced service environment and is passionate about coaching teams, driving performance, and continuously improving customer outcomes.

Reporting to the Service Desk Manager, you'll be responsible for the day-to-day leadership of a team of Service Desk Engineers, ensuring service levels are achieved, customer satisfaction remains high, and team members receive the support and development they need to succeed.

Key Responsibilities

As a Service Desk Team Leader, you'll oversee the operational performance of your team, ensuring tickets are managed effectively, workloads are balanced, and customers receive a consistently high standard of service.

You’ll act as a key escalation point, support team development, drive service improvements, and work closely with wider operational teams to ensure a seamless customer experience.

This role combines people leadership, operational management, customer service excellence, and performance improvement within a busy and rewarding environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, manage, and develop a team of Service Desk Engineers.
• Oversee day-to-day service desk operations, ensuring service levels and KPIs are consistently achieved.
• Manage annual leave, absence tracking, shift rotas, and workforce planning.
• Monitor ticket queues and ensure workloads are distributed effectively across the team.
• Drive performance against key metrics including response times, resolution times, customer updates, and call handling targets.
• Act as an escalation point for customer issues and service-related concerns.
• Work closely with Senior Engineers to ensure technical escalations are managed effectively.
• Ensure smooth handovers between day and night support teams.
• Review customer feedback and investigate negative CSAT responses, implementing improvement plans where required.
• Deliver regular team meetings, coaching sessions, and performance reviews.
• Identify training and development opportunities through ticket and performance analysis.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement and customer excellence.
• Monitor ticket quality and ensure adherence to documented processes and quality standards.
• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders across Operations and the wider business.
• Keep Service Desk Managers informed of major incidents, escalations, and support requirements.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

Essential Skills & Experience

• Previous experience in a Service Desk Team Leader, Helpdesk Team Leader, or similar support leadership role.
• Proven ability to lead, motivate, and develop customer support or technical support teams.
• Experience working within a KPI-driven service environment.
• Strong understanding of service desk operations and ticket management processes.
• Excellent organisational and workload management skills.
• Ability to delegate tasks effectively and fairly across a team.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Confidence in handling escalations and difficult customer situations.
• Ability to remain calm and composed under pressure.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to service quality.
• Adaptable and able to lead teams through change and process improvements.
• Customer-centric mindset with a passion for delivering exceptional service.

You’ll play a key role in driving performance against important service metrics, including:

Job Benefits

• Holiday Allowance - 24 days + bank holidays + birthday leave.
• Hybrid working options - performance depending.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
• Paid volunteering day * regular charity events.
• Wider company benefits across health, financial wellbeing, Pension etc.

Internal job reference: Specialist/Team Leader