IT Service Management Manager

The Service Management Manager is a leadership role responsible for driving service excellence, operational maturity, and consistent delivery across the entire IT organisation. Acting as the Director’s deputy, the role provides strategic oversight of service operations, ensures alignment with governance and compliance frameworks, and leads the evolution of ITSM capabilities to support a scalable, resilient and customer- centric IT function. 

This role owns the IT service management roadmap, champions best practice (ITIL, ISO, NIS2), and ensures that processes, tooling, and behaviours across Infrastructure, Service Desk, Cyber Security and Applications are cohesive, measurable and continuously improving. The postholder will represent IT in cross-functional forums, lead incident, problem and change Governance and serve as the escalation point for service performance and operational risk.

Responsibilities

 Deputy Leadership
o Act as deputy to the Director of IT & Cyber Security, providing leadership 
coverage, decision-making support, and operational oversight when required.
o Able to represent and support IT & Cyber in senior leadership meetings, 
steering groups, and governance boards.
o Provide coaching and direction on Service Management to team leads across 
IT.

Service Management Ownership
o Own and evolve the IT Service Management strategy, ensuring alignment 
with organisational goals and compliance requirements.
o Lead the maturity uplift of ITSM processes including Incident, Request, 
Problem, Change, Release, Knowledge, Asset, and Configuration 
Management.
o Maintain and improve the ITSM framework, ensuring processes are 
documented, adopted, and continuously improved.

Operational Excellence
o Oversee service performance, SLAs, KPIs, and customer satisfaction metrics 
across all IT functions.
o Chair major incident reviews, problem management forums, and service 
review meetings and others in the service of Service Management.
o Ensure consistent root cause analysis, trend identification, and proactive 
service improvement initiatives

 Governance & Compliance
o Ensure ITSM processes support ISO27001, NIS2, GDPR/UK GDPR, and 
internal audit requirements.
o Maintain service-related risk registers, operational controls, and evidence for 
audits.
o Work closely with Cyber Security to ensure operational processes support 
secure-by-design principles.

Tooling & Automation
o Own the roadmap for ITSM tooling (e.g., Ivanti, ServiceNow, Jira Service 
Management), ensuring effective use, automation, and integration.
o Drive adoption of self-service, knowledge management, and workflow 
automation.

 Stakeholder & Customer Engagement
o Act as the senior point of contact for service performance, customer 
experience, and operational escalations.
o Build strong relationships with business stakeholders, ensuring IT services 
are aligned with business needs and expectations.

Continuous Improvement & Culture
o Champion a culture of accountability, transparency, and service excellence.
o Lead service improvement programmes, maturity assessments, and 
capability uplift across IT Foundations.
o Mentor team members and promote professional development in ITSM disciplines

Requirements

• Significant experience in IT Service Management leadership within a medium or large organisation.
• English is essential, both written and verbal. Fluency in both German is preferred. 

• Proven track record of maturing ITSM processes and driving operational excellence.
• Experience acting as a deputy or second-in-command to senior IT leadership.
• Strong background in incident, problem, change, and service performance 
management.
• Demonstrable experience leading cross-functional teams and influencing senior 
stakeholders.
• Experience working within regulated or compliance-driven environments (ISO27001, 
NIS2, GDPR).
• Hands-on experience with modern ITSM platforms (Ivanti, ServiceNow, Jira Service 
Management, Freshservice, etc.).
• Strong understanding of infrastructure, service desk operations, and cyber security 
interdependencies.
• ITIL v3/4/5 Managing Professional or Strategic Leader certification.
• ISO27001 Lead Implementer or Auditor (advantageous).
• Experience with NIS2-aligned operational governance.
• Project or programme management certification (PRINCE2, Agile PM, PMP).
• Experience implementing service automation, self-service portals, and workflow 
optimisation.
• Strong analytical skills with experience using service metrics, dashboards, and 
reporting tools.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and leadership capability.

Benefits

• Up to £85,000 salary per annum 
• 25 days annual leave rising to 28 days with length of service, plus bank holidays.
• Day off on your birthday.
• 2 paid volunteer days per year
• Additional holiday purchase scheme 
• Electric Car Lease Scheme 
• Cycle to work scheme 
• Life assurance of 4 x basic salary and group income protection from start date
• 5% employer matched pension contributions after 3 months service.
• Individual cover for private medical insurance and healthcare cash plan following successful completion of probationary period.
• Hybrid working arrangements and standard office working hours are 9am – 5.30pm 
• Employee assistance programme for practical and emotional support.
• Free parking and complimentary refreshments onsite.