Second Line Support Team Leader in Northgate

Department: Ampa Group Services - Chief Information Office - Technology Operations - Service Delivery - 2nd Line - 9313

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Crawley

Reporting To: Emmeline Cane-Honeysett

Description Team: Second Line Support Team

Location: Office based in one or more of our UK client sites and hubs, within a geographical area. Ideally this role will be located in the Southern region, covering offices in Sussex & London.

Direct Reports: 6 x Second Line Support Analysts (based in various UK locations)

We are looking for an experienced Second Line Support Team Leader to join our multi-functional IT team within the Security & Technology Operations department in CIO. You will be a key POC in Support Operations, leading a technical team providing IT support and troubleshooting assistance for standard & bespoke software, and the provision & management of IT hardware to a user base of over 1500 staff across multiple UK locations. The role will be mainly office based, with flexible working opportunities where possible. The working pattern will be 37 hours weekly, covering core Business Support hours typically between 09:00 and 17:30 Monday to Friday, although flexibility for extended coverage between 07:00 and 19:00 and beyond, on a rotational basis, may be required.

Role Purpose: The Second Line Support Team perform an essential Support function, sitting between our Level 1 IT Service Desk and Level 3 technical teams. They work with both, as well as our 3rd party partners and suppliers, to provide hardware & software technical support for standard company applications & devices, as well as custom, bespoke and in-house applications. The Team Leader will manage a team of Support Analysts; providing technical, personnel & supervisory guidance, driving improvements to the area and supporting Management staff.

We are looking for a motivated, experienced & professional candidate who is able to thrive in a fast-paced environment and work well with customers, peers and suppliers to deliver a great quality of customer service, backed up by sound technology & processes knowledge, whilst also effectively leading, developing and directing a team and the individuals within it.

What you will be doing:

• Basic Technical Duties:
• Provision of Desktop hard & software support onsite including Walk‑ups & remotely.
• Carrying out varied Support duties, primarily L2 but also some L1, and potentially L3 tasks where the need arises, including as role & skill development opportunities.
• End to end ownership of Second Line Support Incidents, Requests and Ticket Tasks.
• Diagnosis, troubleshooting & technical resolution of Hardware & Software issues.
• Ticket management including triage, logging, monitoring, tracking and reassigning.
• Providing quality updates on tickets, including those passed to other resolver teams.
• Adherence to SLA & OLA targets, ensuring highly functioning Support Operations.
• Creation & maintenance of Knowledge Articles for team and First Line Service Desk.
• Tracking & managing Soft & Hardware Assets & Access, including devices & licenses.
• Identification of, and training for Shift Left activities, including L2 – L1, and L3 to L2.
• Enforcing robust JML fulfilment assuring reliable & timely onboarding experience.
• Contribute to the ongoing improvement of associated ITIL processes & practices – Asset, Access, JML, Request Fulfilment, Service Catalogue, Incident & Problem etc.
• Identify and escalate support inefficiencies, process challenges & related solutions.
• Supervisory Duties:
• Team leadership – management of rotas including site coverage, resource requests, pastoral matters, performance management including objectives, 121s, T&D.
• Provision of technical guidance to Second Line Support & Service Desk teams; including upskilling, owning KBAs & SOPs, and performing tool capability reviews.
• Workload, resource, ticket queue and end‑to‑end team ticket & SLA Management.
• Input into improvement of ITIL practices; primarily Access, Asset, JML, Request.
• Coordination of proactive team activities such as site audits & ticket trend analysis.
• Regular review of work & data to identify Shift Left, KBA & Problem opportunities.
• Provision of reports & Management Information for team‑related decision making.
• Representation of team in Major Incidents, Problem Investigations, Working Parties, Task Forces, Project Delivery, Audits, Transformation and other initiatives.
• Ownership of Service Improvement Plans related to the Second Line Support area.
• Contribution to the ongoing Continual Service Improvement of ITSM & DEX tools.
• Management of escalations and Incidents, including MIM duties & Communications.
• Deputisation for Management on occasion, including with operating other ITIL practices, for example relating to Problem, Knowledge and Change Enablement.
• Direct peer‑to‑peer interface with Service Desk Team Leader and other colleagues.

What you will need:

• A minimum of 5 years’ history of working in an IT Support role & environment.
• Demonstrable recent experience acting in a senior or team leadership capacity.
• Great organisational skills in terms of own time, team, rota & workload management.
• Confident in owning action plans, delivering improvements and representing area.
• Sound understanding of ITIL practices & processes that relate to Technical Support.
• Can perform basic ITSM tool administration including report & dashboard creation.
• Excellent working knowledge of Windows 10-11, M365 & supporting Windows OS.
• The ability to provide user account management across multiple systems & services.
• Varied technical skills across a broad range of standard Business applications.
• Expertise in laptop, mobile, printer, AV & other device setup and troubleshooting.
• Good understanding of general office, VPN, networking and connectivity principles.
• Appreciation of support provision across bespoke & in‑house applications.
• Adept at building relationships within & between IT teams and with end users.
• Excellent communication skills, committed to delivering great client service.
• Able to minimise escalations and safeguard the customer experience.
• Understanding of technologies used within the Legal sector or similar industry.

About You:

• Motivated to lead a team, developing individuals, self & processes along the way.
• Capable of managing staff performance Objectives in line with department strategy.
• Well organised; a skilled planner, also able to react flexibly to changing demands.
• Able to oversee & control the team’s flow of work including for Incidents & Requests.
• Can maintain strong operational pulse across all support activities comms channels.
• Adept in devising reports & MI to monitor and track team performance & workload.
• Comfortable deputising for Management, representing the area in various situations.
• Self‑driven leader who takes ownership of responsibilities & operates independently.
• Highly enthusiastic, willing to go the extra mile and beyond the job description.
• Respectful towards others, and able to communicate with stakeholders at all levels.
• A positive and ‘can do’ attitude – suggesting solutions where challenges are faced.
• Keen to learn, ambitious in driving your own development & career progression.
• Proactive in taking ownership of issues and juggling a variety of work activities.

Equal opportunities: Ampa Group is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.