IT Service Manager

Southwark Council; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Southwark Council is recruiting an IT Service Manager to own the service management framework for Digital and Resident Experience and to drive performance across the Service Desk, technical teams and suppliers. You will set standards, monitor delivery, and hold partners to account to ensure high-quality services for staff and residents.

You will lead the ITSM Lead and align cross-service teams in a politically aware environment, shaping continuous improvement and governance across the division.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading IT service management in a large, complex organisation.
• Strong ITIL understanding and incident/problem/change management.
• Proven ability to define service levels and manage suppliers to meet them.

Responsibilities

• Set service levels reflecting resident needs and ensure timely restoration of resident-facing services.
• Build and nurture a high-performing team culture with clear expectations.
• Own the IT service management framework for Digital and Resident Experience with defined standards.
• Hold services and suppliers to account using regular performance reporting and action plans.
• Lead governance and assurance, chairing reviews and advising on risk and improvement.
• Direct the ITSM Lead and manage the service monitoring platform and improvement priorities.
• Own service levels of supplier and managed-service performance in collaboration with Commercial functions.
• Line manage the ITSM Lead and foster cross-service relationships without direct authority.

Skills

IT service management

ITIL

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Job description

Why Southwark?

This is a rare opportunity to shape how technology serves one of London's most ambitious boroughs. Southwark is building a brand new Digital and Resident Experience, and as IT Service Manager, you will be the single point of ownership for how service quality is defined, held to account and improved across it, setting the standards that the Service Desk, technical teams and suppliers work to. You'll join at a genuinely exciting time for the council, as we invest in our people and technology to better serve more than 300,000 residents across Southwark's diverse communities. You'll build the service management framework from the ground up, manage and develop the ITSM Lead and use your credibility and influence to secure consistent practice across teams you don't directly manage. If you're a service management leader who wants to set the standard for how a council delivers technology to its residents, we'd love to hear from you.

What You'll Be Doing

The IT Service Manager is responsible for how well the council's technology services perform for staff and, through them, for residents. You'll set the standards teams and suppliers work to and hold them to account.

In This Role, You Will

• Make sure service levels and supplier commitments reflect what matters to residents, including how quickly resident-facing services are restored.
• Build a team culture where people know what's expected of them, get credit for good work and learn from mistakes.
• Own the IT service management framework for Digital and Resident Experience, defining the standards, policies and service levels within which the Service Desk, technical teams and suppliers operate.
• Hold accountability for service performance across the division, using service reporting to assess performance, hold services and suppliers to account, and direct corrective action where service levels are not being met.
• Own service governance and assurance, chairing service performance and review meetings and advising the Head of Operations on service performance, risk and improvement.
• Direct the ITSM Lead in operating the service management processes and the ITSM and Service Monitoring platform and own the framework and priorities for continual service improvement.
• Own the service level and service management dimension of supplier and managed-service performance, working with the Commercial function to secure the outcomes the council needs.
• Line manage and develop the ITSM Lead and build the cross-service relationships needed to embed consistent practice without direct line authority.

What We're Looking For

We're Seeking a Credible Service Management Professional Who Brings:

• Significant experience of owning or leading IT service management practice and service performance within a large, complex organisation, ideally local government or the public sector.
• A strong understanding of ITIL or an equivalent service management framework, and of how incident, problem, change, request and configuration management interlock.
• A track record of defining service levels and standards, and of holding services and suppliers to account against them.
• Experience of leading service management improvement and embedding consistent practice across multiple teams, including through influence rather than direct authority.
• Sound judgement and integrity, with the resilience to operate effectively in a politically aware and complex environment.
• A genuine commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and to using technology to improve outcomes for Southwark's residents and communities.

To be considered for interview, you will be asked to submit your CV and a supporting statement (no more than two sides of A4) demonstrating how you meet the key criteria outlined in the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

Contact Information

• Internal Staff: For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Naseem Golamgouse via email at [e-mail]
• External Candidates: For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Chris Hatcher via email at [e-mail]

Additional Information

• Working Hours: 36 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
• Location: 160 Tooley Street, London SE1 2QH
• Type of contract: Permanent

Benefits And More Information

https://jobs.southwark.gov.uk/why-us/

Recruitment Timeline

• Advert close date: 11:59pm on Friday 16 th October 2026
• Shortlisting date/s: week commencing 19 th October 2026
• Interview date/s: week commencing 2 nd November 2026

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative . We particularly welcome applications from members of the black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

Attachments

• Job Description and Person Specification - IT Service Manager