IT Support Specialist

West Midlands Police is the second largest police force in the country, covering an area of 348 square miles and serving a population of almost 2.8 million.

The region sits at the very heart of the country and covers the three major centres of Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton. It also includes the busy and thriving districts of Sandwell, Walsall, Solihull and Dudley. Leisure, retail and conference amenities, together with Premiership and Championship football teams, attract millions of visitors annually.

The West Midlands is an area rich in diversity, with 18 per cent of its population from ethnic minority backgrounds.

An average of 170,000 motorists travel through the region daily, making its motorways some of the busiest in Europe.

Against this backdrop, the force deals with more than 2,000 emergency calls for help every day, as well as patrolling the streets and responding to incidents 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week.

Prospective officers and staff must be held to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability than members of the public, and that therefore their right to privacy can be fettered in certain circumstances. This is to ensure that members of the police are fully aware and accountable for the unique powers entrusted to them and the standards of professional behaviour they swear to uphold.

Job Description

The IT & Digital department is responsible for the force's adoption and use of information and digital technology.

The department consists of three core functions as follows:

• Architecture Management (responsible for identifying and selecting the right technologies for the force)
• Delivery Management (responsible for delivering and implementing the right technologies for the force)
• Service Management (responsible for managing and maintaining all live, operational technology for the force)

The Service Management function within IT & Digital is responsible for the effective operation, support and maintenance of existing, operational technology systems, including but not limited to all Force applications, technology infrastructure (e.g. servers, databases, networks) and end-user devices (e.g. desktop PCs, smartphones, tablets, Airwave terminals).

The IT Support Specialist Team (ITS) is part of the Service Management function and provides IT support for over 5000 desktops, 10,000 laptops, 10,000 smartphones and tablets and associated peripheral devices located across all force locations.

The successful applicant will be required to work across the West Midlands Police region and provide the IT support requirements for all police sites.

• Providing desktop/laptop/mobility fault resolution
• Completion of desktop/laptop/mobility software service requests
• Implementing all end user IT changes, moves and installations across the force estate
• Maintaining and developing existing IT systems in compliance with force policy
• Use deployment tools to rebuild laptops, desktops and mobility devices (SCCM/Intune/Workspace ONE)
• Providing timely accurate management information for the ITS Team Manager
• Work in partnership with outside organisations including planning, organising activities and resources to meet objectives, fix incidents and solve problem records.
• Maintain inventories and asset management of IT-related equipment.

• Excellent customer service skills, including a professional and helpful manner
• Face to face customer service in various types of police environments
• Log / troubleshoot / classify / prioritise / resolve or escalate faults/service requests
• Escalate to management, where appropriate
• Manage calls with 3rd party suppliers and manage the life-cycle of the ticket
• Ability to contribute to and work well within a team
• Be able to meet deadlines and manage a high-pressure reactive workload
• Have a good understanding and working knowledge of ITIL Problem and Incident management procedures
• Maintain standards for security of information

• You must have supervisory experience, be Microsoft certified or studying for Microsoft certification or equivalent and already have experience within the end user environment to include deployment, support and maintenance of Windows operating systems, M365 products, Mobile technology (Android), printers, data and VOIP telephony and all associated hardware.
• Strong verbal and written communication/interpersonal skills are essential. You must have a proactive approach to work and good attention to detail, together with an understanding of the importance of accuracy when undertaking tasks.

NB: You will be required to be on a standby rota and as the role is mobile, expected to travel force wide (expenses paid) and hold a full valid UK driving license.

Under the Probation Policy, if you are currently in your probation period, during your probationary period you will not be permitted to apply for alternative police staff roles within the Force unless there are exceptional circumstances. In such cases, you would require the support of your line manager prior to applying for alternative roles, and if successful, your probationary period will start over.

Successful applicants will be required to pass Recruitment Vetting and Counter Terrorism Clearance scrutiny prior to commencing their role, this will include a full background & financial disclosure as part of the vetting process.

Appointment to this role will be dependent upon successfully medical checks, which may include a drugs test and if required a fitness test.

It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the essential criteria for the job. For example: in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. In these circumstances, the employer could select the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job, as they would do for non-disabled applicants.