Senior IT Service Manager - Edinburgh Regional Centre - Queen Elizabeth House

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The Benefits & Credits Team within CDIO is part of the Child Services Regime. A core objective of this regime is to support parents through the delivery of Child Benefit. HMRC pays over 13 billion annually in Child Benefit to families, highlighting both the scale and sensitivity of the end-to-end Child Benefit Service.

This role sits within the Child Benefit Live Service team in Benefits and Credits and is responsible for ensuring stability and resilience across Child Benefit-related IT services. The team manages end-to-end service operations, including Incident, Change, Problem and Risk Management, to maintain availability and performance while proactively mitigating risk. We are closely aligned to ITIL practices in all that we do.

The team leads major incident resolution, service mapping and capacity planning to minimise business and customer impact. We also oversee service transition activities and the smooth onboarding of new services. This is a critical role managing complex IT services. Working with multiple IT suppliers, you will be responsible for service performance, customer and supplier relationships, and ensuring that the services provided to both internal and external customers continue to improve.

The Child Benefit System (CBS) is a distributed solution with technical dependencies across a complex IT landscape. In addition, CBS is undergoing a period of technical transformation to modernise the service. It is therefore vital that the Child Benefit Live Service team has the skills and capability to support both live operations and ongoing change.

A Senior IT Service Manager is responsible for service management across platforms, channels and services, ensuring service availability, performance and process maturity. The role provides end-to-end service ownership, ensuring live services are stable, secure, cost-effective and aligned with business needs. Working closely with internal delivery teams and multiple external suppliers, the Service Manager balances operational performance with the safe introduction of change and continual service improvement.

The role operates within an ITIL-aligned service management environment and requires strong practical experience of managing live IT services. Service Managers are expected to engage confidently with technical detail, understand service dependencies and risks, and take accountability for service outcomes.

The Service Manager acts as a key interface between technology and the business, building strong relationships with customers and stakeholders, influencing decisions, and ensuring services continue to deliver value. The role also contributes to wider organisational objectives by supporting CBP/DTO priorities and embedding HMRC culture, values and ways of working.

In addition, the Service Manager is expected to provide leadership within their area, supporting team capability, encouraging collaboration, and promoting a culture of professionalism, learning and continual improvement.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of technical services within defined service quality frameworks.
• Ensure service delivery aligns with agreed service quality standards and performance measures.
• Maintain accurate service data, models and service maps in line with Service Catalogue and Service Configuration Management standards.
• Work with multiple suppliers to ensure service changes are fully understood, impact-assessed and effectively coordinated.
• Maintain an up-to-date understanding of relevant practices, policies and processes, ensuring changes are understood and applied appropriately.
• Ensure service requirements are clearly defined and embedded within project and change initiatives.
• Ensure changes are delivered safely and successfully, minimising risk and avoiding adverse business impact.
• Be accountable for the management of IT assets within the service, prioritising technical health, lifecycle management and sustainability.
• Lead the resolution of major incidents and problems, ensuring timely recovery, effective communication and root cause resolution.
• Role-model HMRC's vision, purpose and ways of working.
• Manage vendor relationships and third-party service providers, driving continual service improvement through data and feedback.
• Develop and maintain Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Operational Level Agreements (OLAs).
• Line manage team members, demonstrating HMRC values and supporting staff development.

Person specification

The ideal candidate will have excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrable experience working closely with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior business leaders, IT teams and external suppliers. You will bring hands-on experience of operating and supporting live IT services, with the ability to understand technical detail, service dependencies and operational risk, and to influence decisions that deliver the right outcomes for customers.

You will be a credible and knowledgeable service professional with a strong working understanding of ITIL-aligned service management practices across the service lifecycle. This includes experience of change, incident, problem, configuration and asset management, and an understanding of how these practices work together to maintain service stability while enabling effective change.

You will be comfortable engaging in technical service discussions, challenging assumptions, and balancing service quality, risk and delivery priorities. The role requires a resilient self-starter who takes ownership of services and outcomes, uses initiative, and remains effective in high-pressure operational environments.

You will have experience managing risk, supporting the resolution of incidents and service issues, and working with multiple suppliers to ensure service changes are well understood, impact-assessed and safely implemented.

You will also be an enthusiastic and supportive leader with a genuine passion for developing people and building inclusive, high-performing teams. You will demonstrate strong communication and influencing skills, creating trusted relationships across organisational boundaries, encouraging collaboration, and fostering a culture of continual service improvement.

Essential Criteria

• Previous experience managing live IT services.
• Proven experience working with IT systems, platforms or integrations, supported by a strong technical understanding gained through previous roles and/or formal IT training.
• Ability to lead delivery activities involving senior stakeholders, both internally and across a complex supplier landscape.
• A resilient self-starter able to manage workload and balance competing priorities in a high-pressure environment.
• Experience managing stakeholders at all levels, including senior business and IT leaders.
• Strong risk management and operational problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify, assess and mitigate risks in an IT delivery environment.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build strong, collaborative relationships across organisational boundaries.
• Ability to constructively challenge stakeholders and suppliers to achieve agreed service performance and delivery outcomes.
• Demonstrable experience of line management or leadership responsibilities.