Major Incident Commander (IT Incident Response)

Kingfisher; Southampton; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

Kingfisher is seeking a Major Incident Manager to lead the response to high‑impact IT incidents from initial assessment to service restoration. Based at the B&Q Head Office near Southampton, the role requires regular in‑office presence (about 12 days a month) and on‑call duties every one week in five.

You will coordinate cross‑functional teams and third‑party suppliers, run incident bridges, communicate with stakeholders and senior leaders, and drive fixes and preventative actions.

Qualifications

• Experience in a Major Incident Manager role in a large IT organisation.
• Proven ability to lead incident response and make prioritised decisions in high-impact situations.
• Experience using IT service management tools such as ServiceNow or Jira.
• Experience of on-call working, ideally including Duty Management responsibilities.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, including reporting for senior leaders and stakeholders.
• ITIL certification and ITIL-aligned service management practices.

Responsibilities

• Take end-to-end ownership of major incidents, driving rapid assessment, prioritisation, escalation and service restoration.
• Lead cross-functional technical teams and third-party suppliers through high-impact incidents.
• Establish and manage incident bridges or war rooms, maintaining control, pace and accountability.
• Act as the single point of communication for stakeholders, customers and senior leaders, providing clear and timely updates.
• Drive workarounds or permanent fixes, assessing emergency changes needed to restore or protect services.
• Identify and progress actions that reduce the risk of major incidents happening again.
• Chair Major Incident Reviews and track actions to completion.
• Perform the Duty Manager role outside office hours, handling escalations from the Service Desk and other teams.

Skills

Major incident management

Decision making under pressure

Communication skills

On-call / Duty Management

IT service management

Stakeholder communication

Education

ITIL certification

Tools

ServiceNow

Jira

Job description

Kingfisher is seeking a Major Incident Manager to lead the response to high‑impact IT incidents from initial assessment to service restoration. Based at the B&Q Head Office near Southampton, the role requires regular in‑office presence (about 12 days a month) and on‑call duties every one week in five.

You will coordinate cross‑functional teams and third‑party suppliers, run incident bridges, communicate with stakeholders and senior leaders, and drive fixes and preventative actions.