At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead and evolve the IT support function, ensuring high-quality service delivery.
- Company: A well-established and growing organisation with a focus on customer-first culture.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, hybrid working, and opportunities for professional development.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a dynamic environment while leading a talented team.
- Qualifications: Experience managing a Service Desk and strong leadership skills required.
- Other info: Join a fast-paced team with excellent career growth opportunities.
The predicted salary is between 70000 - 70000 £ per year.
A well-established and growing organisation is seeking an experienced Service Desk Manager to lead and evolve its IT support function within a complex, multi-site environment. Supporting a diverse user base across office, remote and site locations, you will play a pivotal role in delivering a high-quality, customer-focused IT service, ensuring stability, performance and continuous improvement across the service desk and field support teams.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead and manage the Service Desk and Field Support teams, driving performance, development and a customer-first culture.
- Act as the senior escalation point for major incidents and complex technical issues.
- Own end-to-end incident, request, problem and change management aligned to ITIL best practice.
- Oversee ticket queues, workload distribution, SLA/OLA adherence and ticket quality.
- Produce regular service reporting (SLAs, backlog, ticket ageing, trends, first-time fix rates) and provide insights to leadership.
- Drive continuous improvement through root cause analysis, gap analysis and service optimisation initiatives.
- Coordinate service desk involvement in projects, rollouts, migrations and onboarding/offboarding activities.
- Work closely with infrastructure, security, applications teams and third-party suppliers to ensure effective service delivery.
- Maintain and improve knowledge management, documentation and standard operating procedures.
- Ensure alignment with governance frameworks (ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus) and internal controls.
- Manage supplier relationships and support vendor performance and accountability.
Requirements:
- Proven experience managing a Service Desk in a multi-site, complex environment.
- Strong leadership experience managing and developing support teams.
- Excellent stakeholder engagement and customer service skills.
- Strong experience with ITSM tools (ServiceNow essential).
- Solid understanding of ITIL practices (Incident, Problem, Change Management).
- Experience with Microsoft environments (M365, Azure AD / Entra ID, Intune, Windows 10/11, Teams, SharePoint).
- Knowledge of IT asset & service management (ITAM/SAM) principles.
- Experience managing third-party suppliers and service performance.
- Strong reporting, analytical and service improvement capability.
- Ability to operate in a fast-paced, high-demand environment.
Service Desk Leader | Hybrid London | ITIL & ServiceNow employer: Context Recruitment
Contact Detail:
Context Recruitment Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Service Desk Leader | Hybrid London | ITIL & ServiceNow
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the industry, attend relevant meetups, and engage with professionals on LinkedIn. We all know that sometimes it’s not just what you know, but who you know that can help you land that Service Desk Leader role.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for those interviews by practising common questions related to ITIL and ServiceNow. We recommend doing mock interviews with friends or using online platforms. The more comfortable you are discussing your experience managing service desks, the better your chances of impressing the hiring team.
✨Tip Number 3
Showcase your leadership skills! When you get the chance to speak about your previous roles, highlight how you’ve driven performance and fostered a customer-first culture. We want to see how you’ve made a difference in your teams and how you can bring that to the new role.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to follow up after your interviews! A simple thank-you email can go a long way in keeping you top of mind. We suggest mentioning something specific from your conversation to show your genuine interest in the position and the company.
We think you need these skills to ace Service Desk Leader | Hybrid London | ITIL & ServiceNow
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV is tailored to the Service Desk Leader role. Highlight your experience in managing service desks, especially in multi-site environments, and showcase your leadership skills. We want to see how you’ve driven performance and developed teams!
Showcase Your ITIL Knowledge: Since ITIL practices are key for this role, don’t forget to mention your experience with incident, problem, and change management. We love seeing candidates who can demonstrate a solid understanding of these principles and how they’ve applied them in real-world scenarios.
Highlight Customer Service Skills: This role is all about delivering a high-quality, customer-focused IT service. Make sure to include examples of how you've engaged with stakeholders and improved customer satisfaction in your previous roles. We’re looking for that customer-first mindset!
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply through our website for the best chance of getting noticed. It’s super easy, and you’ll be able to attach your tailored CV and cover letter directly. Let’s get your application in!
How to prepare for a job interview at Context Recruitment
✨Know Your ITIL Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your ITIL knowledge before the interview. Be ready to discuss how you've applied ITIL practices in your previous roles, especially in incident, problem, and change management. This will show that you understand the framework and can lead a service desk effectively.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
Prepare examples of how you've successfully managed and developed support teams in the past. Highlight specific instances where you drove performance or fostered a customer-first culture. This will demonstrate your capability to lead the Service Desk and Field Support teams.
✨Familiarise Yourself with ServiceNow
Since experience with ITSM tools like ServiceNow is essential, make sure you can talk about your hands-on experience with it. Be ready to discuss how you've used it to improve ticket management and reporting, as well as any customisations you've implemented.
✨Prepare for Scenario-Based Questions
Expect to face scenario-based questions that assess your problem-solving skills and ability to handle major incidents. Think through potential challenges you might encounter in a multi-site environment and how you'd address them, showcasing your analytical and service improvement capabilities.