Reports to: IT Operations Director
Location: London, UK (global remit across the UK, US and international operations)
Office attendance: Minimum three days per week in the Central London office. Applicants must live within a practical and sustainable commuting distance.
Role Purpose
The Service Delivery Manager is responsible for the operational management, governance and continual improvement of IT support services delivered through the organisation’s outsourced global helpdesk managed services partner.
The role owns service performance, supplier accountability, customer experience and service integration across IT Operations and third-party partners. Working closely with Infrastructure, InfoSec, Enterprise Services, CRM, Product & Technology and business stakeholders, the Service Delivery Manager will ensure services meet business needs and continue to mature through clear governance, insight-led improvement and strong operational leadership.
The role will develop the IT Operations Service Delivery capability, embed effective ways of working and improve service quality across people, processes, technology and customer experience.
Service Delivery, Supplier Management & Integration
- Own the operational performance of the outsourced global Helpdesk and supporting service partners, ensuring delivery against agreed SLAs, KPIs and customer experience measures.
- Act as the primary IT Operations owner and senior escalation point for end-user support services, including incidents, requests, problems and major incidents.
- Lead supplier service reviews, hold partners accountable for contractual commitments and improvement actions, and validate performance measures and service credits where appropriate.
- Coordinate delivery across Infrastructure, Information Security, Enterprise Services, CRM, Product & Technology and third-party suppliers.
- Define clear service ownership, responsibilities, escalation paths and effective hand-offs across incident, request, problem and change processes.
- Drive stable, resilient and consistent service delivery across all supported regions.
Service Improvement, Customer Experience & Knowledge
- Develop and maintain the IT Service Delivery roadmap and lead a structured Continual Service Improvement programme.
- Improve service processes, ways of working, automation, self-service, knowledge reuse and operational efficiency.
- Identify and address recurring issues, avoidable demand, service friction and opportunities to improve customer outcomes while reducing avoidable cost.
- Champion a customer-focused approach, using feedback, complaints, service data and support journeys to shape improvement priorities.
- Develop a scalable knowledge management capability, with clear standards for knowledge quality, ownership, review and maintenance.
- Promote a service-focused culture across IT Operations and supplier teams.
Governance, Reporting & Stakeholder Management
- Establish and maintain governance forums, service standards, operational policies and performance measures.
- Produce dashboards, executive reports and service performance packs, analysing trends, demand, risks, customer feedback and supplier performance.
- Present service performance, risks, incidents and improvement recommendations clearly to senior leadership and governance forums.
- Build trusted relationships with senior business stakeholders, IT leadership and supplier teams.
- Act as the voice of the customer within IT Operations and influence service priorities through evidence, insight and effective stakeholder engagement.
Service Introduction & Operational Readiness
- Ensure new services, applications and technologies meet defined service acceptance and operational readiness criteria before entering live support.
- Work with project and technical teams to ensure support models, documentation, knowledge and training are in place before go-live.
- Capture lessons learned from service introductions and embed improvements into future delivery.
Operational Risk & Resilience
- Identify service risks, dependencies and potential points of failure.
- Maintain appropriate mitigation plans and support business continuity, disaster recovery and operational resilience activities.
Experience
- Significant experience in IT Service Delivery or Service Management environments.
- Proven experience managing outsourced Helpdesks and holding suppliers accountable for performance.
- Experience improving service performance through governance, reporting, supplier management and continual improvement.
- Experience developing service management capability, operational processes and performance frameworks.
- Experience working with global teams, multiple time zones and senior stakeholders.
Knowledge & Expertise
- Strong knowledge of ITIL 4 or 5 service management principles and practical application.
- Understanding of the SDI Service Desk Best Practice Standard.
- Experience defining KPIs, SLAs, OLAs and customer experience measures.
- Practical knowledge of service introduction, operational readiness, knowledge management and continual improvement.
- Experience using ITSM platforms, service reporting and performance analytics.
Leadership & Behavioural Skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build trust across business, technical and supplier teams.
- Customer and service focused, with a clear understanding of how IT support affects user productivity and business performance.
- Calm, structured and decisive when managing service issues, escalations and competing priorities.
- Highly organised, proactive and comfortable working in a fast-paced global environment.
Preferred Certifications
- ITIL 4 Foundation (essential)
- ITIL 4 Managing Professional or Strategic Leader (essential)
- Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt or Green Belt (desirable)
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