IT Service Manager

Job summary

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales.

We have an opportunity for an IT Service Delivery Manager to join ourIT Team within our Corporate Enablers Directorate.

The water sector is entering a new chapter. Following the Independent Water Commission’s final report, the UK government has set out a bold new direction - one that brings together expertise from across the sector to deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment.

Ofwat will be working in collaboration with the government and other regulators to help establish a new body for England, combining our strengths with those of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency, and Natural England. We’re also continuing to engage with the Welsh Government to support future decisions for Wales.

While these changes take shape, our mission remains the same: to hold water companies to account, drive performance, and ensure the sector delivers real value for customers, communities, and the environment. If you’re passionate about making a difference, this is a unique moment to join us and help shape the future of water, and together we can continue to make a positive impact.

You can find out more about why you should join Ofwat, our strategy, values and our framework for success in the attached Information for Candidates Pack.

Job description

Reporting directly to the Head of Service Management, you will be responsible for ensuring IT Service Management policies and processes offered to Ofwat operations are consistent in approach, aligned to industry best practice standards and support Ofwat's operational strategic goals. You will represent Service Management in up to 3 specific Ofwat Directorates and their sub-teams, guiding and advising on all things related to IT Service delivery.

This role allows for the opportunity to influence and shape how we deliver IT Services to our end users, improving efficiencies to our operational processes.

Key deliverables:

In this role you will be responsible for:

• Service Catalogue Management – Assume responsibility for the development and management of our Service Catalogue (Application and Request). This should include development of the existing offering, alignment with other supporting data sources and, wherever possible, the drive the introduction of integrations to automate our SCM capability.
• SACM – This role will be accountable for the development of the Ofwat SACM capability. While our asset management processes are in a strong position the successful candidate will be expected to support the following work:

Ensuring all hardware items are tracked and managed effectively

Assist with day-to-day IT asset management

Collaborate with third-party suppliers to coordinate procurement processes and oversee the financial management of software and hardware assets throughout their lifecycle

Ensure quality standards are maintained through regular audits of our estate to identify gaps and initiate appropriate remedial action

Contribute to processes, procedures, and controls to support service asset and configuration management activity

Identify and drive service improvements through to completion, through proactive customer liaison and monitoring

Perform and support appropriate data cleanse activities within the software license management and asset management toolsets

Support the introduction of a CMDB toolset.

• Business Relationship Mgt. – Act as BRM to up to 3 specific Ofwat Directorates acting as initial point of contact for all IT related issues. An important element of the BRM role will be the production and delivery of monthly reporting on services consumed by each Directorate.
• Continual Service Improvement – Support and drive forward CSI across the Ofwat estate, ensuring that benefits to business are measured, captured
• Service Management Framework Support – Identifying underlying trends within existing processes for improvement and generating proposals for the introduction of new processes where they don't already exist.
• Change Evaluation and Change Management activities to ensure impact of change requests are fully understood and planned for accordingly.
• Supplier Management – Diarising and managing relevant and appropriate governance levels to all suppliers commensurate with their Business Classification within Ofwat.
• Risk Identification & Management – Through the Business Impact Assessment process, identify a classification against each solution within your directorates, ensuring all service activities and artefacts are in place and maintained.
• Service Transition – introducing new or changed digital technology services into live operations. This includes Transition Planning & Support, Asset and Configuration
• Knowledge Management – ensuring all knowledge articles are maintained and accurate at all times. Working with key stakeholders to ensure roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and understood.
• This role, while not at the onset, may also require line management of the Service Management Analyst.
• Acting on behalf of the Head of Service Management as and when required.

Person specification

Experience, skills and knowledge

1. Lead criterion: Extensive IT Service Management experience in a high pressured, customer facing IT service delivery environment, working to tight timelines as agreed with operational partners. Significant experience within SACM and wider asset and configuration management experience is essential.
2. Knowledge and experience of core Service Management work areas including but not limited to, Service Catalogue management, SACM, BRM, service design and transition aspects of the IT Service Management lifecycle in an operational facing role.
3. Knowledge of IT best practice as stipulated by the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL – V3.0 as a minimum).
4. Experience of presenting complex and potentially contentious information to a technical and/or non-technical audience.
5. Experience of working with colleagues at a Senior Leadership Team level. Comfortable working directly with our users to ensure the optimal service experience.
6. Experience working with ServiceNow (or similar) as the ITSM toolset would be highly advantageous.

Attributes

• Builds Trust
• Adaptable Thinker
• Delivers Outcomes

Attributes as per Ofwat's Framework for Success for the relevant salary grade. You can read more about Attributes here.

Benefits

Why You Should Join Us:

Our people are at the heart of Ofwat, and our People Strategy defines the goals that keep this focus at the centre of everything that we do. In our annual People Survey 2024, we outperformed the Civil Service (CS) People Survey benchmarks in all 10 areas.

Almost four in five of our people would recommend Ofwat as a great place to work. Nine in ten say that they are treated with respect and that Ofwat respects individual differences. Nine in ten also say that the work they do is interesting and that they decide how they do their work. That’s great but it’s important to us to build an environment that is not only fair, inclusive and empowering but also collaborative. Here, nine in ten of our people say that their team works together to find ways to improve what we do, and that their manager is open to their ideas.

You will also benefit from:

• Excellent employer pension contributions. You can find further details about pension schemes under Terms and Conditions in the Candidate Pack.
• 25 days’ annual leave (increasing to 30 with each year of service) plus bank holidays and an extra 2.5 days of privilege leave
• Access to exclusive discounts on a variety of goods and services, including retail outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance, and a gym membership
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year
• Recognition vouchers scheme
• Generous shared parental leave and pay
• Enhanced sick pay
• Regular development opportunities
• Health and wellbeing initiatives
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users

Moving to Ofwat from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Find out more at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

How to apply

Apply through the Civil Service Jobs website where you’ll be asked to create an account and complete an application form (CV and personal statement). If you’re unable to make an electronic application, please contact recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk and we will support you in completing your application.

Please see the candidate guidance on our website for more detail and tips on how to best make your application and prepare for interview.

Please ensure you have submitted your application in full ahead of the deadline listed below. Unfortunately, we won't be able to consider late applications.

Selection timetable

• Closing date: 23.55 on 18 January 2026
• Sifting: Week commencing19 January 2026
• Interview date(s): Week commencing 26 January 2026. These will be in person at our Birmingham office.

Assessment process

Sift Stage - Blind Sifting

We operate a blind sifting model to eliminate bias. All candidate identifying information will be removed from applications.

At sift stage we assess your application (CV and personal statement) against essential criteria 1, 2, 3, 4, & 6 listed above. Please ensure you provide enough evidence in your application form to demonstrate how you meet the criteria.

Use your personal statement to address the criteria below and tell us how your skills, knowledge, and experience meet this.

• Lead criterion: Extensive IT Service Management experience in a high pressured, customer facing IT service delivery environment, working to tight timelines as agreed with operational partners. Significant experience within SACM and wider asset and configuration management experience is essential.
• Knowledge and experience of core Service Management work areas including but not limited to, Service Catalogue management, SACM, BRM, service design and transition aspects of the IT Service Management lifecycle in an operational facing role.
• Knowledge of IT best practice as stipulated by the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL – V3.0 as a minimum).
• Experience of working with colleagues at a Senior Leadership Team level. Comfortable working directly with our users to ensure the optimal service experience.
• Experience working with ServiceNow (or similar) as the ITSM toolset would be highly advantageous.

*In the event of receiving a large number of applications, a pre-sift may take place on just the lead criteria.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see Civil Service candidate guidance on use of AI for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. . This guidance refers to ' Civil Service Success Profiles' framework, Ofwat do not use this in our assessments, for our assessment framework, please refer to our Framework for Success.

** Please note that if a high volume of candidates meet the minimum pass mark at sift stage, we will only progress the highest scoring candidates to interview. Candidates not invited to interview, who have achieved the minimum pass mark, will be placed 'on hold' until the final stage of the assessment process is completed. Should the role/s remain unfilled, candidates placed 'on hold' may be invited to interview in merit order.

Interview Stage - Transparent Interviews and Presentation

At interview stage we will test against essential skills, experience, knowledge and attributes set out above.

Our transparent interview process involves candidates receiving a list of attribute-based questions in advance. This has been proven to help neurodiverse candidates and others to perform better at interview and is part of our inclusive culture.

You can read more about attributes and our Framework for success here.

Please ensure anything you present in your interview answers is factually accurate, and you are not presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by AI, as your own. You may expect follow up questions.

Please note that the interviews will be conducted in person at our Birmingham office.

It may be necessary for a second stage interview, which will be communicated to the successful candidates, if required.

If the assessment process identifies more appointable candidates than roles available, a reserve list will be created for 12 months from which further appointments in merit order can be made.

If you have any queries about any aspect of this role, selection process, or you require any reasonable adjustments please email recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk
• Email : recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk

Further information

Complaints procedure - The process of recruitment and assessment embraces the principles of fair and open competition and best practice. The first is to maintain the principle of selection for appointment to the Civil Service on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. The second is to promote an understanding of the https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-code/the-civil… which sets out the constitutional framework in which all civil servants work and the values they are expected to uphold, and to hear and determine appeals made under it. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from us, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk

Attachments

BC1071 IT Service Manager, Senior Associate Candidate Pack Oct25 Opens in new window (pdf, 705kB)