IT Support Manager

Ultima; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 200,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading IT services provider in South Africa is seeking an IT Support Manager to oversee their Service Desk teams in Cape Town. The role focuses on managing ticket resolutions, team development, and ensuring compliance with service levels. Ideal candidates have strong people leadership skills, proven service desk experience, and familiarity with ITIL processes. This position offers an opportunity to make a significant impact in a supportive environment, fostering growth and customer satisfaction.

Benefits

Equal opportunity employer

Commitment to diversity and inclusion

Qualifications

• Must have good computer hardware and software knowledge.
• Previous experience in a service desk/support leadership role supporting multiple locations/customers.
• Must be commercially minded with the ability to work independently.

Responsibilities

• Manage the 1st Line Service Desk team and Deskside Teams.
• Ensure all tickets are logged and resolved within agreed service levels.
• Develop and mentor team members to enhance skills and performance.

Skills

People leadership skills

Written and verbal communication

Organizational skills

Problem-solving skills

Computer hardware and software knowledge

Service desk/support leadership experience

Ability to work under pressure

Relationship building

Attention to detail

Ticket Management Software familiarity

ITIL V3 certification

Education

ITIL certification

Tools

Ticket Management Software

Job description

IT Support Manager

Location - Onsite Cape Town

The Support Manager is responsible & accountable for the Services 1st line Service Desk teams, 24/7 and Deskside Teams, this includes the relationship and interaction with Ultima internal and external customers ensuring that all tickets are logged and driven to a successful resolution in the agreed timescales.

The Support Manager plays a pivotal role in the services Ultima provide and controls the majority of interaction with supported users. This role is accountable for the development, mentoring and management of Teams within their responsibility including the delivery of contracted SLA’s internal KPI’s and service improvement initiatives. This role will play a key part in supporting the Services Leadership Team in shaping the Managed Services strategy and decision-making, while ensuring the South Africa office operates efficiently, maintains the right culture, and is effectively managed operationally.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

Line Management of the shared services 1st Line Team leaders to ensure:

• Proactive monitoring & governance of tickets to ensure that all known issues are acted upon, knowledge documented and distributed to ensure swift resolution
• All tickets are responded to and resolved within agreed service levels. All tickets will be handled within the agreed process with specific attention being provided to the Incident management processes including Major incident escalation.
• Team Development - Lead, Develop, Motivate, Support, Advise, Coach and Appraise. Team meetings will be organised as well as regular one to ones.
• Consistent Recruitment and induction processes are followed in line with Ultima’s Values.
• Relationship Management and Service Improvement Process - Steer, motivate and develop strong relationships.
• Efficiency - Optimise the efficiency of the Team by identifying areas for improvement and streamlining processes.
• Ensure ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 process and procedures are adhered to and audited as required.
• Work with relevant functions to support Quality and help reduce Escalations.
• Review and act upon results of Customer Satisfaction Surveys to ensure continuous service improvement
• Own and provide weekly and monthly statistics on Service performance.
• Continually update the Service Procedures to ensure the latest information is available to support personnel at all times.
• Play an active role within Service’s Leadership Team, remaining flexible to support others in areas outside of direct remit.
• To ensure the transition of new contracts and services are onboarded ready for service in a timely fashion.
• Act as Service’s on-Call Duty manager as needed on a rota basis.
• Ensure decisions are made with consideration of both engineering and business requirements to meet operational needs.

South Africa Office & Operations Management

• Manage and resolve employee grievances effectively.
• Oversee office operations, including decision-making and supporting growth and development.
• Foster and promote a positive company culture.
• Collaborate with the HR team to ensure smooth operations.
• Provide support to UK leadership and management on South African operations and requirements.
• Ensure compliance with South African employment law and oversee its enforcement.

Essential Knowledge, skills and experience:

• Excellent Levels of People leadership skills, specifically the understanding and ability to identify core behavioural strengths and weaknesses and develop them in others.
• Excellent levels of both written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to organise and plan to ensure all deadlines are met.
• Possess excellent problem-solving skills.
• Must have good computer hardware and software knowledge
• Previous experience in a service desk/support leadership role supporting multiple location/customers
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Proven ability to build effective relationships with colleagues and customers, and within a team
• Must be able to contribute to individual, team and company targets and objectives
• Must be commercially minded with ability to work independently
• Must be conscientious with an attention to detail
• Preferred experience using a Ticket Management Software, creating/updating & logging tickets
• ITIL V3 or similar Foundation certified
• Required to apply for DBS clearance

Desired Knowledge, skills and experience:

• Proven track record in Support Services
• Experience managing Service desk transitions
• Excellent understanding and awareness of ITIL processes and tools
• Previous experience in effectively managing multiple relationships with customers and providers
• Business Acumen coupled with good technology understanding and awareness
• Strong familiarity with quality management concepts
• South African employment law knowledge and experience
• Process Focused
• Negotiation and influence skills

Key Competencies for the role:

Adaptable – able to change tact or approach to ever changing circumstances with a proven ability to prioritise and plan

An Influencer – you will drive behaviours and results in others at all levels and across the organisation regardless of reporting lines behind our ‘customer obsession’ approach.

Commercially focused – you understand the nuances of revenue retention and growth, without compromising our margins.

Collaborative – you don’t operate in silos; you break them down and make connections. Empire-building is not your thing.

A Listener – you listen to your customers and to the Ultima people working with those customers – you’re always on the lookout for opportunities to enhance the experience of our customers or for ways to help them.

Creative – you’ll be flexible in your thinking – sometimes following the right process is the answer, and sometimes there just isn’t a process for the scenario.

Empathetic – you can see the Customer’s perspective and Ultima’s perspective and find the middle ground.

Challenging – sometimes the customer is right, and sometimes they are not – and you can spot the difference.

Our Commitment to You

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity, Disability Confident employer. At Ultima, we celebrate our differences and strive to build an environment where everyone feels respected, valued, and able to succeed.

Not sure you meet every single requirement?

People from underrepresented groups may be less likely to apply unless they meet every qualification. At Ultima, we’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so even if your experience doesn’t align perfectly, we encourage you to apply. You might be exactly who we’re looking for.

Apply now, or reach out to our Talent team if you have any questions. We’re always happy to chat about how we can make work, work for you.