Service Desk Team Lead

Southern Water; Durrington; Hybrid; GBP 39,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

Southern Water is seeking a Service Desk Team Lead to steer a team delivering high-quality support for thousands of users across the organisation. You will lead daily operations, manage workloads, and drive improvements while coordinating with the Service Desk Manager to maintain excellent customer experience.

Hybrid role with two office days per week, shift-based patterns and an on-call rota. ITIL/ITSM expertise and ServiceNow experience are essential for success in this role.

Qualifications

• Experience leading a Service Desk team in an in-house IT environment.
• Experience working within an IT Service Management (ITSM) environment and knowledge of ITIL practices.
• Strong understanding of Service Desk performance metrics, SLAs and KPIs.
• Excellent customer service and communication skills with the ability to engage effectively across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience using ServiceNow ITSM.
• ITIL Foundation qualification, ideally ITIL 4 or above.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day Service Desk operations, ensuring services remain efficient, customer-focused and aligned to business needs.
• Managing team schedules and resource planning to ensure effective service coverage
• Acting as an escalation point for complex incidents and service issues.
• Leading Service Desk involvement during major incidents and ensuring clear communication throughout.
• Monitoring performance against service level targets, producing reports and identifying trends.
• Driving continuous improvement initiatives, knowledge management and process enhancements.
• Coaching, mentoring and developing Service Desk Analysts through regular feedback and development planning.
• Contributing to Service Desk strategy and roadmap.
• Deputising for the Service Desk Manager when required.

Skills

People leadership

ITSM

SLA/KPI management

Customer service

ServiceNow

Decision making

Stakeholder management

Education

ITIL Foundation

Tools

ServiceNow

TalkDesk

Job description

Closing Date

02/11/2026

Job Title: Service Desk Team Lead

Location: Durrington / Hybrid Working
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: 37 hours per week

Salary: c.£43,000

About the role

Southern Water is undergoing a significant transformation, investing in technology and digital services to improve outcomes for our customers and the environment. The Digital Service Desk plays a vital role in supporting colleagues and business operations across the organisation.

As a Service Desk Team Lead, you will help deliver a high-quality support service for over 5,000 internal and external users. You will lead a team of Service Desk Analysts, ensuring incidents and requests are managed efficiently while maintaining an excellent customer experience. Working closely with the Service Desk Manager and fellow Team Lead, you will drive performance, service improvement and operational excellence. The role is hybrid with a minimum of two days per week in the office and includes shift-based working and an out-of-hours on-call rota.

What you will be responsible for:

You will lead day-to-day Service Desk operations, ensuring services remain efficient, customer-focused and aligned to business needs.

• Managing team schedules and resource planning to ensure effective service coverage
• Setting workloads and priorities for Service Desk Analysts.
• Acting as an escalation point for complex incidents and service issues.
• Leading Service Desk involvement during major incidents and ensuring clear communication throughout.
• Monitoring performance against service level targets, producing reports and identifying trends.
• Driving continuous improvement initiatives, knowledge management and process enhancements.
• Coaching, mentoring and developing Service Desk Analysts through regular feedback and development planning. Supporting KPI and SLA target development.
• Contributing to Service Desk strategy and roadmap.
• Deputising for the Service Desk Manager when required.

Additional requirements specific to the role

• Hybrid working with a minimum of two days per week in the office.
• Shift-based working pattern.
• Participation in an out-of-hours on-call rota.

What you'll bring to the role

Essential

• Experience leading a Service Desk team, ideally within an in-house IT environment.
• Experience working within an IT Service Management (ITSM) environment and knowledge of ITIL practices.
• Strong understanding of Service Desk performance metrics, service level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Excellent customer service and communication skills with the ability to engage effectively across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience using ServiceNow ITSM.
• ITIL Foundation qualification, ideally ITIL 4 or above.
• Strong decision-making skills as well as sttrong stakeholder management capabilities.

Desirable

• Experience with Service Desk telephony platforms, particularly TalkDesk.
• ServiceNow training or certification.
• Customer service qualification.
• Information security or cyber awareness training.

About Southern Water

Southern Water is at the forefront of transforming Britain’s water industry, investing significantly to enhance resilience, sustainability, and service excellence. With £7.8bn planned investment for 2025-30, this is an unparalleled opportunity to join a business committed to delivering a generational shift in the way water services are managed.

You will be joining at a time of significant change, working alongside a highly skilled leadership team with a clear vision for the future. We offer an environment where you can make a meaningful impact, influence important decisions and help shape the future of our services.

Inclusion Statement

"We understand that great talent comes in many forms. If this role excites you and you share our commitment to delivering sustainable solutions for our communities, please apply, even if your experience doesn't perfectly match every requirement. We'll support your growth and development."

Our Commitment to Diversity

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, identities and experiences. We do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion or any other protected characteristic. If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.

Additional Information

In line with Southern Water's security requirements, successful candidates will be required to provide evidence of their identity, eligibility to work in the UK, criminal record check (DBS) and verification of their employment and/or education history for the past three years. Appointment to this role is subject to the successful completion of all pre-employment checks, including security vetting.