Hybrid IT Operations Lead in Wakefield

We are looking for an IT Operations Manager to oversee the day-to-day delivery of IT services across the Group and its offices. This position will guarantee dependable IT support, seamless onboarding and offboarding processes, robust IT service management practices, and a high-quality end-user experience throughout the organisation. The role will also provide operational support for the Wakefield office, including end-user desktop support and supervision of the local server room. We anticipate office presence will be required 3 days per week. This is a hands-on player/coach role. You will lead a small IT support team, manage relationships with external suppliers and support partners, and personally handle escalations and operational improvements where necessary. The role works closely with HR, Finance, Legal, game development teams, and the wider Group IT teams to ensure IT services are delivered effectively, securely, and aligned with business needs. This role suits someone currently acting as a Senior Service Desk Manager, IT Support Manager, or Service Delivery Lead who is prepared to expand their responsibilities into IT operations management.

Requirements

• Key Responsibilities

• IT Operations & Service Delivery

• Oversee the day-to-day delivery of IT support and operational services across the organisation.
• Ensure responsive and professional support for employees across studios and departments.
• Act as the primary escalation point for complex support issues and operational incidents.
• Maintain clear prioritisation and coordination of work across the support team.
• Drive improvements that reduce repeat issues and improve service reliability.

• Incident & Service Management

• Coordinate response to major incidents or service disruptions, ensuring appropriate communication and escalation.
• Maintain operational processes for incident, request, problem and change management aligned to ITSM best practices.
• Track and report service performance metrics, including response times, resolution times, backlog and user satisfaction.
• Conduct service reviews and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.

• Team Leadership

• Lead and develop the IT support team, including IT Technician and Senior IT Technician roles.
• Provide mentorship and training with clear expectations and feedback for team members.
• Support the team during escalations or high-priority incidents.
• Foster a collaborative and customer-focused support culture.

• End-User Technology & Workplace Services

• Maintain operational standards for end-user computing, including laptops, desktops, builds, patching and peripheral devices.
• Manage the lifecycle of user devices, including provisioning, refresh cycles and asset tracking.
• Support workplace technologies, such as meeting-room AV and collaboration tools.
• Provide administrative support across corporate platforms, including Microsoft 365 and collaboration tools, as required.

• Identity & Access Management

• Support operational management of identity and access using Microsoft Entra ID.
• Maintain a group-based access model to support secure and scalable access management.
• Ensure joiner, mover and leaver processes are consistently applied and appropriately documented.
• Support periodic access reviews and ensure appropriate controls are maintained.

• Joiners, Movers & Leavers (JML)

• Partner with the People & Culture team to deliver smooth and secure onboarding and offboarding processes.
• Manage workflows for account creation, access provisioning and employee departures.
• Ensure employees receive a smooth Day-1 experience, with devices and system access ready when they start.
• Maintain appropriate records for access provisioning and removal.

• Operational Readiness & Reliability

• Support operational readiness across core workplace technologies and user platforms.
• Assist with activities related to backup validation, recovery testing and operational documentation where required.
• Identify operational risks and work with internal teams to reduce potential service disruption.

• Security & Compliance Support

• Support operational security practices, including MFA adoption, patching and endpoint standards.
• Maintain operational records required for audits or compliance activities.
• Assist internal teams in preparing information for audits or assurance activities when required.
• Support disaster recovery and business continuity planning.

Required Experience

• Strong experience in IT operations, service delivery and IT support management.
• Experience using ITSM platforms, such as Jira Service Management.
• Proven experience implementing or improving IT service management processes.
• Experience leading, mentoring and developing IT support teams.
• Hands-on experience supporting corporate IT environments, including end-user devices, identity, SaaS platforms and workplace technology.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively across technical and non-technical teams.
• Experience supporting PC and Mac environments, including device standards, builds and rollout programmes.
• Experience supporting on-premise infrastructure, including in-house servers, networking and disaster recovery services.
• Experience administering Microsoft 365 and Entra ID environments.

Preferred / Nice to Have

• Experience in games, digital entertainment or creative studio environments.
• Experience supporting distributed teams across multiple locations.
• Familiarity with cloud environments such as AWS, Azure or GCP.
• Awareness of development tooling concepts such as Perforce, Git, or build systems.