Product Service Lead - 12M FTC

The Football Association; Wembley; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical cover

Contributory pension scheme

25 days annual leave

Hybrid working model

Job summary

The Football Association (FA) is seeking a Service Product Lead to drive IT service management across product teams. You will align ITIL processes with business needs, govern core ITSM activities, and build strong relationships across technical and business units.

The role involves coordinating offshore support, delivering governance, and ensuring high-quality service transitions within a hybrid UK-based team.

Qualifications

• ITIL 4 Foundation certification and strong ITIL knowledge.
• Experience implementing problem management in ITIL environments.
• Ability to communicate across technical and business teams.
• Experience with offshore support teams and third-party suppliers is a plus.
• Strong organizational and planning skills.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the delivery and continual improvement of IT services.
• Partner with business units and customers to understand needs and monitor SLAs.
• Implement and govern incident, problem, change, and configuration management.
• Own and improve Problem Management within Product Management.
• Build relationships with project teams, service owners, suppliers, and support teams.
• Coordinate delivery between delivery and operations teams and ensure smooth service transitions.
• Provide governance, reporting and demonstrate value of PM practices across the organisation.

Skills

ITIL 4 Foundation

Product Service Management

Problem Management

Stakeholder Management

ITSM Tools

Offshore Teamwork

Education

ITIL Certification

Tools

ITSM platforms

Job description

Shape smarter, more resilient technology services at the heart of English football!

The Football Association is looking for a Service Product Lead to join our Technology team and play a pivotal role in shaping product service management across all our Product Teams.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is passionate about investigating root causes and preventing disruptions to our service across our product lines within a complex and evolving environment encompassing our cloud and SaaS estates. Our current Product Service Management capability is still developing, so we are looking for an experienced professional who can bring clarity, governance, and best practice while building strong relationships across both technical and business teams.

You will focus on aligning our ITIL processes with business needs, embedding best practice and strengthening governance.

With the majority of our support teams operating offshore and many stakeholders based within the UK, this role requires someone highly organised, collaborative, and confident communicating across multiple teams and levels of the organisation.

This is a fantastic opportunity to make a visible impact within one of the world's most recognised sporting organisations.

What will you be doing?

IT Service Management:

• Oversee the delivery and continual improvement of the FA's IT services, ensuring they remain aligned with organisational priorities.
• Partner with business units and customers to understand their needs, set and monitor Service Level Agreements to maintain high-quality support
• Implement and govern core ITSM processes, including incident, problem, change, and configuration management.
• Own, manage, and continuously improve Problem Management within our Product Management functions.

Stakeholder Management:

• Build strong relationships with project teams, service owners, suppliers, and operational support teams.
• Act as the key point of coordination between delivery and operational teams.
• Facilitate effective communication to ensure smooth and seamless service transitions.

Governance & Reporting:

• Manage and monitor service operations across our products – primarily within problem management.
• Provide regular reporting to demonstrate value in the Problem Management practice.
• Support the ongoing development and maturity of Problem Management practices across the organisation.

Other:

• Execute additional tasks as required to meet the FA's changing priorities.
• Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure that the highest standards of health, safety, and well-being can be maintained.
• As part of the FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.

What are we looking for?

• A proactive and solutions-focused mindset.
• Strong organisational and planning skills with excellent attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• The confidence to challenge existing ways of working and drive positive change.
• The ability to operate effectively within a fast-paced and evolving environment.
• A collaborative approach with the ability to build credibility across technical and non-technical teams.
• ITIL 4 Foundation certification.
• Strong knowledge of ITIL Product Service Management processes and best practices.
• Proven experience in implementing problem management.
• Experience working within ITIL-based service management environments.
• Ability to produce high-quality service documentation, operational models, and metrics to deliver value.
• Knowledge of ITSM tools and service delivery frameworks.
• Experience working with offshore support teams and third-party suppliers would be advantageous.

What's in it for you?

We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles. To achieve this, we have unique office spaces under the arch of the iconic Wembley National Stadium, which is the home of English Football. We are also delighted to offer a world-class Elite Performance Centre, St. George's Park in Staffordshire, which is an exceptional setting to develop and inspire high-performing England teams and leaders.

We pride ourselves on offering a competitive salary as well as great opportunities to develop and grow in your role. But that is not all; we also have a range of exciting benefits, some of which can be found below:

• Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season, encourages you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and well-being.
• Free, nutritious lunches at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
• Private medical cover funded by The FA.
• A contributory pension scheme.
• An additional 'Thank You' day's leave, volunteering days, as well as 25 days of annual leave (based on a full-time, permanent contract)
• A hybrid working model which offers greater flexibility.

For more information on what it is like to work at The FA, please visit our FA Careers page, https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/careers

Currently, we are working within a hybrid working model whereby the expectation is to work from your contractual location for part of the week, and as and when required by the team. The remaining days can be worked remotely. We will continue to monitor this model, and it may be adjusted in future if deemed necessary. The contractual location of this role can be found on the FA Careers page.

We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work.

We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.

As part of the FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.