Service Desk Analyst

OCU; Preston; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

OCU seeks a customer-focused Service Desk Analyst to join its Digital Technology team in Preston. As the first point of contact for IT support, you will resolve incidents, fulfil service requests, and provide clear, professional guidance to colleagues.

You will work in a fast-paced, multi-site environment, drive first-contact resolution, contribute to knowledge base, and collaborate with specialist teams to improve services and meet SLAs.

Qualifications

• Experience in a busy Service Desk or IT support environment.
• Strong troubleshooting and diagnostic skills with high first-contact resolution.
• Proficient in Microsoft 365 (Outlook/Teams/OneDrive/SharePoint) and Windows/macOS support.
• Experience with user accounts, permissions, MFA, password resets and access management.
• Familiarity with ITSM platforms such as Freshservice or ServiceNow.
• Knowledge of incident and request management in an ITIL-aligned environment.
• Excellent communication and customer service with clear technical explanations.
• Ability to handle multiple priorities while maintaining ticket quality.

Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for IT incidents and service requests, providing responsive and professional support.
• Drive high levels of first-contact resolution through effective troubleshooting and knowledge articles.
• Log, prioritise, investigate and resolve tickets within agreed service levels.
• Perform high-quality triage of issues, gathering diagnostics before escalation.
• Monitor ticket trends, identify recurring issues and contribute to problem management.
• Communicate with users throughout the support lifecycle, providing updates and managing expectations.
• Escalate incidents to specialist teams with clear documentation and technical insight.
• Contribute to knowledge articles, processes and support documentation.

Skills

First contact support

Troubleshooting

Microsoft 365

Windows/macOS support

Identity & access management

ITIL

Customer service

Tools

Freshservice

ServiceNow

Job description

Department: OCU Digital

Location: Preston

Description

We are looking for a customer-focused and proactive Service Desk Analyst to join our Digital Technology team and deliver a first-class support experience across the business. As the first point of contact for IT support, you will play a key role in ensuring colleagues can work effectively by resolving incidents, fulfilling service requests, and providing clear, professional support.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Service Desk professional who enjoys troubleshooting technical issues, delivering outstanding customer service, and contributing to continuous service improvement within a fast-paced, multi-site environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for IT incidents and service requests, providing responsive and professional support.
• Drive high levels of first-contact resolution through effective troubleshooting and use of knowledge articles and runbooks.
• Accurately log, prioritise, investigate and resolve support tickets within agreed service levels.
• Perform high-quality triage of issues, gathering diagnostics and relevant information before escalation.
• Monitor ticket trends, identify recurring issues, and contribute to problem management and service improvement initiatives.
• Communicate effectively with users throughout the support lifecycle, providing regular updates and managing expectations.
• Escalate incidents to specialist teams with clear documentation and technical insight.
• Contribute to the creation and maintenance of knowledge articles, processes and support documentation.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

• Experience within a busy Service Desk or IT support environment, ideally supporting a multi-site or enterprise organisation.
• Strong troubleshooting and diagnostic skills with a proven ability to achieve high first-contact resolution rates.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft 365, including Outlook, Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint, together with Windows and macOS support.
• Experience supporting user accounts, permissions, MFA, password resets and access management processes.
• Familiarity with ITSM platforms such as Freshservice, ServiceNow or similar.
• Strong understanding of incident and request management processes within an ITIL-aligned environment.
• Excellent communication and customer service skills, with the ability to explain technical information in a clear and accessible way.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining high standards of ticket quality and user experience.

Desirable

• Experience working to SLAs and prioritising support activities based on business impact.
• Knowledge of remote support tools, connectivity troubleshooting and support for mobile or field-based users.
• Experience supporting major incidents and following defined escalation processes.
• Exposure to knowledge management and continuous improvement activities.
• Understanding of identity, access management and IT security best practices.
• Experience identifying recurring issues and contributing to service improvement initiatives.

To ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to join our team, please inform us if you require any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment and interview process is, by emailing [e-mail].