Service Desk Lead

Places for People; Preston; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension with matched contributions up 

Bonus scheme for colleagues

35 days holiday including bank hols

Healthcare cashback plan

Wellbeing support including EAP

Place Rewards discounts

Ongoing training and career progress

Recognition programmes

Inclusion and wellbeing focus

Free Places Gyms membership

Life Assurance

Job summary

Places for People is seeking a Service Desk Lead to manage the day-to-day operation of the IT Service Desk in Preston. You will guide a team of engineers, ensure priority handling, SLA compliance and ongoing improvements to service delivery.

You will lead by example, coach staff, manage workloads and contribute to knowledge management while collaborating with Incident, Problem and second-/third-line teams to resolve complex issues.

Qualifications

• Leadership experience in technical support or IT service desk.
• Strong understanding of IT service management including incident, request and problem management.
• Experience managing support demand while meeting SLAs and performance targets.
• Ability to lead, coach and develop technical support colleagues.
• Experience using ITSM tools to oversee incidents, workloads and service performance.
• Experience coordinating with multiple business functions and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operation and performance of the Service Desk.
• Guide and support a team of IT Service Desk Engineers to deliver a customer-focused service.
• Maintain queue health, allocate workloads and manage the backlog.
• Oversee incidents and requests, prioritise, triage and resolve within targets.
• Analyse performance against KPIs and drive improvements in processes and quality.
• Provide leadership, coaching and performance reviews; support recruitment and onboarding.

Skills

Leadership

IT Service Management

Incident/Request/Problem management

Team coaching

Stakeholder management

Service desk operations

ITIL knowledge

Education

ITIL Foundation (advantageous)

Tools

ITSM tools

Job description

As the UK's leading Social Enterprise, we move lives forward every day by building, managing and supporting thriving Communities. From new homes, social housing and student accommodation to leisure, education and Community initiatives, our work makes a positive difference to millions of People across the UK. And that takes People who care about doing the right thing. People who are ambitious, ready to grow and motivated to make a difference through the work they do.

We're looking for Colleagues who bring energy, curiosity and ownership. People who enjoy being challenged, support those around them and want to keep raising the bar. Because when we perform at our best, we create more opportunities to invest in our Customers, our Communities and each other.

Experience matters, but it's only part of the story. If you share our values and want to build a career where your work has real impact, we'd love to hear from you.

More about your role

As Service Desk Lead, you will lead the day-to-day operation and performance of the Service Desk, guiding and supporting a team of IT Service Desk Engineers to deliver an efficient, customer-focused service. You will maintain queue health, allocate workloads, manage the backlog, monitor service quality and coordinate escalations. You will also oversee incidents and requests, ensuring they are correctly prioritised, triaged to agreed standards and resolved within service level targets.

You will analyse Service Desk performance against key performance indicators, identify trends and risks, and use these insights to drive measurable improvements in processes, quality and efficiency. As the operational escalation point for complex technical issues, you will support the team in resolving difficult problems and work with our Incident Lead, Problem Lead, and second- and third-line teams to achieve timely resolutions.

You will contribute to effective knowledge management by keeping service documentation and knowledge articles accurate and up to date, sharing changes with Service Desk Engineers and promoting continuous learning across the team. You will provide day-to-day leadership by allocating workloads, setting clear expectations, completing quality assurance checks and supporting colleagues through regular coaching and feedback. You will also contribute to recruitment and onboarding and support colleague development through structured performance reviews.

You will contribute to IT policies, procedures and best practices to ensure consistent service delivery and a positive user experience.
This role is based on site 5 days a week in Preston.

At Places for People, we are committed

Essential criteria

• Leadership or supervisory experience in technical support or an IT service desk environment.
• Strong understanding of IT service management, including incident, request and problem management.
• Experience managing support demand while meeting agreed service levels and performance targets.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, coach and develop technical support colleagues.
• Experience using IT service management tools to oversee incidents, workloads and service performance.
• Experience supporting a range of business functions and stakeholders, including leading service review meetings.

More about you

You are an experienced IT support leader who can balance competing priorities and is committed to helping colleagues resolve technical issues through a straightforward, user-focused service.

You recognise how effective incident and problem management underpin reliable service delivery, and you use performance data to make practical improvements that reduce disruption.

You work effectively across IT teams, keep documentation accurate and foster an environment where colleagues can grow and provide excellent support.

An ITIL Foundation qualification is advantageous but not required, although a strong working knowledge of ITIL processes is preferred.

What you'll get

We know rewarding work deserves rewarding benefits. That's why, alongside a competitive salary, you'll have access to a package designed to support you at work and beyond.

You'll receive:

• Pension with matched contributions up to 7%
• Bonus scheme for colleagues at 2%
• 35 days holiday (including bank holidays) with the option to buy or sell days
• Healthcare cashback plan for everyday medical costs, with private GP and health support services available
• Comprehensive wellbeing support including counselling, flu jabs, our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and access to our Wellbeing Hub, supporting your mental, physical and financial wellbeing
• Access to Our Place Rewards, offering discounts and savings on groceries, travel, shopping, home products and other lifestyle purchases
• Ongoing training, professional qualifications, internal development programmes and career progression opportunities
• Recognition programmes including Star Awards and Colleague Awards, celebrating achievements and recognising great work
• Strong focus on inclusion, wellbeing and colleague engagement
• Free membership to Places Gyms
• Life Assurance to provide financial security for your loved ones, alongside access to will writing services to help you plan for the future with confidence