Digital Services Senior Manager in HEAD OF SERVICE in Leeds

This role offers an exciting opportunity to lead and strengthen service resilience across the Bank. You will be responsible for overseeing major incident recovery and problem management, governing technology change, managing BAU engagement with stakeholders across the Bank, and driving continual service improvement across the Service Stability domain. The role also leads the governance of new services, ensuring effective introduction and operational readiness, while identifying opportunities to improve service performance and efficiency.

Reporting to the Head of Service, you will manage 3 direct reports and lead a wider team of around 20 colleagues, and you will be a member of the Service Division Leadership Team.

Flexible Working Options

This role is open to flexible working patterns, these may include:

• Job share
• Flexible start and end time to each day
• Part time
• Ability to adapt calendar as needed, this could be to fit in the school run, gym, or appointments
• A 50% in-office attendance requirement can be spread across the month to accommodate diverse working patterns, such as the flexibility to purchase a weekly train ticket for certain weeks
• Working from abroad policy (subject to approval and policy within the team)

Opportunities in Leeds

We’re excited to be growing our presence in Leeds, a city we’ve been connected to for nearly 200 years! Our modern, accessible office in the City Centre offers a supportive, flexible working environment. The majority of roles, including this one, are now available in Leeds, giving you the chance to build a meaningful career outside of London while contributing to our mission from a dynamic and growing location. You’ll work collaboratively with London-based colleagues in a hybrid model, with regular opportunities to travel into the London office to meet and connect together in person.

A Day in the Role

Your day will typically begin with a review of the 8am service health checks, ensuring you have a clear view of any active or emerging high-priority incidents with potential business impact. You will make sure the Head of Service is briefed on issues that may require escalation or reporting to senior Bank stakeholders. You will join the daily Service Division Leadership Team stand-up to discuss current incidents, operational feedback, and any ongoing or emerging concerns. Throughout the day, you may hold one-to-one meetings with direct reports, review progress against personal and team objectives, or attend project and programme governance boards, providing oversight and challenge to ensure services are operationally ready for delivery. Where major incidents are in progress, you will remain closely engaged—ensuring you are fully briefed on status, risks and recovery plans—and provide advice, guidance and leadership as needed.

On a weekly basis, you will review upcoming technology change activity, challenging where appropriate ahead of the forward change briefing to the Technology Leadership Team. You will also attend weekly service review meetings, holding Technology BAU managers to account for service performance and outcomes delivered in the previous week, while using service data, trend analysis and stakeholder feedback to identify priorities for continual improvement, simplification and greater operational efficiency.

As a member of the Service Leadership Team, your responsibilities will also include contributing to divisional leadership activities such as budget oversight, monitoring progress against people development objectives, reviewing monthly performance KPIs, and assessing the division’s risk register.

Role Requirements

Service Management senior leadership experience, with a strong strategic vision for driving change, continual service improvement and operational efficiency. A focus on maximising the value of tooling, including the effective use of AI, automation and data-led insight, to deliver measurable improvements in service performance, resilience, efficiency and user experience.

Minimum Criteria

We’re looking for someone who has the following key skills and experience:

• Proven experience in a senior operational leadership position, including shaping and delivery against a strategic plan, with a clear track record of driving continual service improvement and improving operational efficiency
• Strong business focus and an excellent ability to manage strategic relationships; understand requirements and expectations, and translate these into transformational deliverables with defined success criteria.
• Broad and in-depth knowledge of best practice service management, including the effective application of ITIL-based processes.
• A positive and inclusive leadership style, with a demonstrable ability to motivate, engage and develop your team.
• Excellent stakeholder communication skills, with experience of engaging confidently at all levels - from senior executive and director-level briefings to wider, domain-level communications and engagement events.
• Experience of building effective and collaborative working relationships, with the confidence to provide appropriate challenge where required.

Essential Criteria

We are interested in hearing from candidates who have the following capabilities:

• Strong attention to detail, with the ability to produce clear, accurate and well-structured informational reports
• High levels of integrity, organisation and self-motivation, alongside a commitment to continuous learning and personal development.
• Ability to create and embed a culture of continual improvement, ensuring teams focus not only on maintaining service stability but also on simplifying processes, removing inefficiencies and delivering measurable service enhancements.
• High levels of integrity, organisation and self-motivation, alongside a commitment to continuous learning and the ability to apply new knowledge, insight and approaches to improve service performance, team capability and operational outcomes.

Desirable Criteria

It would also be beneficial, but not necessary, to have some of the following:

• Experience of managing risk, compliance, audit and cyber-security obligations within an operational environment.
• Experience of the BMC Helix IT Service Management platform
• Experience of contributing to budget planning, forecasting and financial oversight within an operational or technology environment.

Don't hesitate to apply if you don't meet all the essential criteria. We value diverse perspectives and believe that different backgrounds can contribute to our team's success.

How This Role Fits into the Wider Bank

The Service Division is part of the Technology Directorate. This role sits within the Service Division Leadership Team, leading the Service Stability domain. The domain is responsible for ensuring service availability for all key Bank IT services through effective incident resolution, problem management, change governance, and service operational readiness for new services being introduced, alongside BAU operational engagement with stakeholders across the Bank. The Service Division owns the end-to-end operation of the IT services and devices used by Bank colleagues. It brings together the Bank’s foundational Technology teams to provide clear service accountability, enabling colleagues across the organisation to deliver and protect the Bank’s mission. We ensure that services perform at the appropriate level to meet business needs, with all systems underpinning business processes actively monitored to ensure availability and performance. As the Bank continues its journey to deliver greater efficiency and value, this role is critical in helping achieve those outcomes, particularly through making the best use of tooling (including AI) to drive efficiency and the continued modernisation of operational practices.

This is a people management role. You will be responsible for day to day management of the team and for defining roles and responsibilities. You will develop your team through sharing information effectively, coaching and communicating a clear vision to ensure that your staff are productive, engaged and motivated to deliver the area's aims. This will include setting clear goals and smart stretching objectives that are aligned to those of the team, division and directorate. You will also be responsible for managing all staff-related matters that may arise including performance, absence and sickness.

Our Approach to Inclusion

The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve. At the Bank of England, we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public. We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed. For most roles where work can be carried out at home, we aim for colleagues to spend half of their time in the office, with a minimum of 40% per month. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them, their team and stakeholders. Finally, we're proud to be a member of the Disability Confident Scheme. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.

Salary and Benefits Information

We encourage flexible working, part time working and job share arrangements. Part time salary and benefits will be on a pro-rated basis as appropriate. This role offers a Leeds salary of £81,600 - £91,800. In addition, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below:

• Currently a non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/80th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/65th) or decrease (to 1/105th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year.
• The Bank has the discretion to vary standard accrual rates and dial up and dial down rates at any time and to withdraw dial up and dial down options at any time.
• A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
• An 8% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits.
• 26 days’ annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits.
• Private medical insurance and income protection.

National Security Vetting Process

Employment in this role will be subject to the National Security Vetting clearance process (and typically can take between 6 to 12 weeks post offer) and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with the Bank policy. Further information regarding the vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant, and information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in the Bank's Privacy Notice.

The Bank of England welcomes applications from all candidates, but as a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approved sponsor, we have a responsibility to comply with the Immigration Rules and guidance. As such, our ability to employ individuals who require sponsorship for immigration purposes is limited. The Bank cannot guarantee that you and/or the role you are applying for will be eligible for sponsorship and that any application made to UKVI will be successful. Eligibility will therefore be considered on a case by case basis.

The Application Process

Important: Please ensure that you complete the ‘work history’ section and answer ALL the application questions fully. All candidate applications are anonymised to ensure that our hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information, including your CV, when reviewing your application details at the screening stage. It’s therefore really important that you fill out the work history and application form questions, as your answers will form a critical part of the initial selection process. The assessment process will comprise of two interview stages. This role closes on 19 June 2026. Please apply online, ensuring that you complete your work history and answer ALL the application questions fully and in detail as your application will not be considered if all mandatory questions are not fully completed.