IT service desk and support manager in Harlow

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) is proud to care for the communities of West Essex, delivering safe, compassionate, and high-quality services. We are part of the Neighbourhood Wave—a national programme that’s changing how care is delivered by focusing on prevention, early support, and more joined-up services across health, social care, and the voluntary sector.

This means we’re working more closely with local partners to bring care closer to home and support people to live healthier, more independent lives.

We’re a supportive and inclusive organisation that values its people. We offer development opportunities, flexible working, and a strong focus on wellbeing. As a Disability Confident and equal opportunities employer, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experiences.

Join us and help shape the future of care in West Essex.

Job overview

This role supports the delivery of high-quality ICT service management to all our staff at Princess Alexandra Hospital. The post holder will manage a team to resolve issues both pro-actively and reactively, to maintain a smooth and efficient ICT operations.

Main duties of the job

Lead and manage the Desktop Engineers (2nd line support) and support the ICT Head of Service Delivery to lead and manage the Support Officers (1st line support).

Develop customer service and the customer experience within the team.

Support the development and maintenance of ITIL based process to improve the delivery of IT services to the Trust and will be the owner for Incident, Problem Management and the Major Incident manager

First escalation point for tickets, issues and problems

Co-ordinate larger scale implementations or cross functional teams

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Responsible for the day to day operation of the Desktop Team (2nd line support).
• Responsible for all IT and specific telecoms incidents and requests logged via the Service Desk via Telephone or Self-Service.
• Responsible for the management, support and maintenance of the ITSM and its upgrade and development.
• Management of the ICT Support team.
• Responsible for the management of all incidents, requests and problems logged with the Service Desk to ensure they are dealt with in a timely manner to meet the SLA.
• Manage the day to day relationship with the users of the IT & Telecoms systems within the Trust.
• Be the first escalation point for all 1st & 2nd line support staff issues.
• Develop and maintain contacts outside of the Trust to ensure awareness of the latest Service Management trends (e.g. IT Service Desk institute).
• The provision of coaching, performance, management, appraisals and supervision to the 2nd line support team to ensure professional development of their role to continuously improve service to the Trust.
• Be the first escalation point for all Service Desk issues to stakeholders.
• Be able to understand the underlying issues and provide solutions to users
• Take on the role of incident resolver where co-ordination of more than one team is required to fix a problem.
• Manage and maintain the Service Desk disaster recovery and business continuity plan.
• Provide key Service Desk statistical information for management and continued service improvement.
• Ensure that the ICT Support Teams are correctly resourced at all times to provide the required level of support to the Trust.
• Ensure all staff the team are trained to the correct level to provide the required level of support to the Trust.
• Implement, document and review procedures and processes to improve the Service Desk functionality and store in a central repository
• Promote and champion the use of industry best practices in the fields of Service Desk support and customer service.
• Development, maintenance and support of the ITSM and portal.
• Responsible for the asset management including developing and ensuring the CMBD is up to date and equipment is securely and properly disposed of.
• Reporting on printer usage and working with the relevant stakeholders to reduce printing within the Trust.
• Developing and maintaining a Service Catalogue
• Development and maintaining the Trusts IT Knowledgebase including creating and updating self-help guides
• Be part of the Change Advisory Board
• Engage with the Project Team to ensure systems are successfully deployed and transitioned into BAU and supported accordingly.
• Obtaining quotations and ordering of IT equipment and consumables
• Attend meetings as and when required
• Work with the Trust on moves, changes and IT requirements
• Provide 1st class customer service to meet our aims of being within the top 10% of Trusts in England.
• Good knowledge of DR and BCPs including DRaaS
• Responsible for updating and maintaining IT Knowledgebase in the ITSM Tool.
• Participate in out of hours work including on call services as required
• There is a requirement for flexible working to ensure cover is maintained throughout the times set by the Trust for on premises support within the Service Level Agreement.
• To build relationships within the IM&T teams, as well as within the finance and information directorate, breaking down silos and participating in change initiatives.
• Manage staff within the 2nd line team. Manage annual/sick leave and taking appropriate action where required
• Ensure all managed staff receive corporate, mandatory and the appropriate training for the job, including departmental induction and refresher training
• Be responsible for the recruitment and selection of managed staff in accordance with the Trust’s and departmental personnel policies
• Ensure and undertake annual performance, planning and reviews for all managed staff
• Evaluate and plan utilisation of staff to provide an agile and responsive testing resource