Service Manager - Payments

Co-op Group; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Generous holiday

Pension up to 10%

Onsite gym discount

Cycle-to-work

Virtual healthcare

Career development

Early pay access

Job summary

Co-op Group in Manchester is seeking a Service Manager to own and continuously improve payment services across our technology platforms. You will collaborate with technical teams and suppliers to ensure stability, security and optimal user experience for colleagues, members and customers.

You will drive service improvements, manage operational risk, and play a pivotal role in supporting the payment technology that underpins in-store and online transactions.

Qualifications

• Experience managing or supporting business-critical technology services in a service management, operations or service delivery environment.
• Experience working with payment services or high-availability customer-facing platforms.
• Strong stakeholder management skills across technical and business teams.
• Ability to investigate service issues and drive improvements for customers or colleagues.
• Experience working with suppliers and monitoring service performance against SLAs.
• Good analytical and problem-solving skills to inform decisions.
• Knowledge of ITIL or ITSM principles and best practices.

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day performance, stability and continual improvement of payment services.
• Monitor performance, risks and trends to improve reliability and user experience.
• Act as escalation point for incidents, problems and changes affecting services.
• Lead service recovery during major incidents and coordinate with suppliers and technical teams.
• Build strong relationships with technical teams, stakeholders and third-party suppliers.
• Lead or contribute to service reviews and shape improvement priorities.
• Support operational readiness for new products and changes in live service.
• Manage service risks, compliance and continuity to align with payment security requirements.

Skills

Service management

Payments services

Stakeholder management

Incident management

Supplier management

ITIL / ITSM

Tools

ITIL

Job description

£50,000 to £60,000 per year, plus excellent benefits

Contract Type:

Permanent

Hours:

Full time

Disability Confident:

No

Closing Date:

06/11/2026

About this job

Service Manager

• Payments £50,000 - £60,000 plus private healthcare, pension with up to 10% employer contributions and many more great benefits (Work Level 5) Manchester city centre
• in this role you'll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home and the office twice a week as required (find out more about our hybrid working policy at https://jobs.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy). We're open to applications from people who may require flexible working arrangements.

There'll be an opportunity to discuss your flexible working requirements during the interview process, and at offer stage.

We're reshaping our Digital, Technology and Data function for the future, creating new opportunities, strengthening our capability, and building clearer, more resilient ways of working so we can deliver even better services for our Co-op, our colleagues, members and customers.

We're looking for a Service Manager to join our Technology team and help us deliver reliable, high-performing payment services that support colleagues, customers and members across our Co-op.

You’ll take ownership of one or more payment services, ensuring they remain stable, secure and fit for purpose, while working closely with technical teams, suppliers and stakeholders to continuously improve service performance.

You’ll play an important role in supporting the payment technology that enables transactions across our stores and digital channels, helping us deliver a seamless experience for our customers.

Why this role matters This is a great opportunity to take ownership of services that have a real impact across our business.

You’ll play an important role in maintaining service health, managing operational risk and driving continuous improvement, helping to ensure colleagues and customers can rely on the technology they use every day.

As the service owner for critical payment platforms, you’ll help ensure millions of customer transactions are processed securely and reliably, while supporting business growth and enhancing the customer payment experience across our Co-op.

What you’ll do

• Own the day-to-day performance, stability and continual improvement of one or more payment services
• Monitor service performance, risks and trends, identifying opportunities to improve reliability, resilience and user experience
• Act as an escalation point for incidents, problems and changes affecting your services, ensuring issues are resolved and improvement actions are delivered
• Lead service recovery activities during major incidents and work with suppliers and technical teams to minimise customer impact
• Build strong relationships with technical teams, business stakeholders and third-party suppliers
• Lead or contribute to service reviews, using insight and feedback to help shape improvement priorities
• Support operational readiness activities, ensuring new products, changes and enhancements are ready to be supported in live service
• Manage service risks, compliance requirements and continuity activities, helping keep services secure, resilient and aligned to payment security requirements What you will bring We’re committed to making our roles as accessible as possible, so we only ask for the minimum criteria.

To thrive here, you’ll need to bring:

• Experience managing or supporting business-critical technology services in a service management, operations or service delivery environment
• Experience working with payment services, financial transaction processing platforms, or other high-availability customer-facing services
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build effective relationships across technical and business teams
• Experience investigating service issues, identifying improvements and driving positive outcomes for customers or colleagues
• Experience working with suppliers and supporting service performance against agreed service levels and expectations
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to use data and insight to support decision-making
• A good understanding of service management frameworks, principles and best practice (such as ITIL, ITIL 4 or equivalent) We know some people may hesitate to apply if they don't meet every requirement.

At Co-op, we’re committed to building diverse and inclusive teams, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly, we still encourage you to apply.

Why Co-op?

At Co-op, we’re owned by our members.

And because we’re owned by you, we can do right by you.

So when you join us, you’re not just taking a job, you’re joining a movement.

We’re an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we’re powered by purpose.

We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you’ll also receive:

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance) - 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ) - 30% discount on Co-op products and 10% off other brands
• Stream
• early access to a percentage of your pay as you earn it
• Virtual healthcare including GP appointments, mental health support, nutrition and fitness advice - 24/7 colleague support service
• Training and support for your development and career progression
• Cycle-to-work scheme A place you’ll belong We’re building diverse and inclusive teams that reflect the communities we serve.

We welcome applications from everyone and are committed to creating a workplace where colleagues can feel like they belong, supported by our inclusive policies and the ways we work.

We’re proud to be part of the Disability Confident scheme and offer interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for a job.

If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, we’ll support you.

Learn more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process and our inclusion commitments at jobs.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion

Jobs are provided by the Find a Job Service from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).