Lead IT Service Manager

Job summary

Are you ready to lead a critical digital service that supports thousands of colleagues every day?

Can you shape how a high profile service is delivered, improved and trusted across the organisation?

Do you enjoy using data and insight to drive performance and continuous improvement at scale?

If so, come and join us at DWP Mobile Services as a Lead IT Service Manager.

DWP Mobile Services enables colleagues to work securely and effectively wherever they are, supporting more than 18,000 users across the organisation. This role offers the opportunity to lead service management for a vital, high volume service at the heart of that capability.

As Lead IT Service Manager, you will set the strategic direction for how the service is supported, maintained and enhanced, ensuring it remains reliable, resilient and easy to use. Working closely within a multidisciplinary product team and alongside external suppliers, you will oversee service performance, risk and demand, using data and insight to drive continuous improvement across incident, problem, change and release management.

A key focus of the role is ensuring new and enhanced features transition seamlessly into live service, maintaining a strong and consistent user experience. You will also provide clear governance, build strong stakeholder relationships and act as a senior escalation point where needed.

This is a senior leadership role with real impact, where your expertise will help ensure colleagues can access secure, effective mobile services and support DWP in delivering essential public services.

Job description

In this role you will lead service management for DWP Mobile Services, making sure colleagues receive a reliable, resilient and high-quality service. You will set direction, provide assurance and drive continuous improvement across the service lifecycle, working closely with product teams and suppliers.

• Set the strategy and direction for service management and service delivery, ensuring clear ownership and effective governance.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team, planning capacity and resources to meet service demand.
• Design and maintain the support model (people, process, policy and technology) in line with ITSM standards and DWP ways of working.
• Be accountable for service performance against SLAs/OLAs/XLAs, using data, insight and reporting to improve reliability and user experience.
• Embed and assure ITSM practices across incident, problem, change and release management, including test and service assurance.
• Support the Product Team to introduce new and improved features, ensuring services transition smoothly into business as usual.
• Build effective relationships with senior stakeholders and suppliers, acting as an escalation point and driving continuous service improvement.

It would be beneficial to hold an ITIL v4 Managing Professional qualification when starting the role, although this is not essential.

Person specification

When completing your employment history and personal statement, please demonstrate your extensive experience against the essential criteria outlined below:

• Experience of managing IT products and services in live in a large and complex IT Service Management landscape within a product-based digital organisation/team.
• Experience in utilising a Service Management framework (e.g. ITIL) to establish, develop, implement, manage and maintain Service Management process objectives, policies, strategies, standards, plans, processes, procedures and guidelines with stakeholders.
• Experience of managing end to end services and leading the design and implementation of a strategy and a scalable operating model to provide resilient high quality service across a multi supplier landscape.
• Experience and knowledge of a range of technologies and solutions across the service lifecycle.
• Experience in utilising strong leadership skills to manage and continuously improve the effectiveness of teams and developing capability.
• Experience in using strong stakeholder management and influencing skills with proven track record of implementation, negotiation and delivery with stakeholders at all levels.

If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact sushant.pandey@dwp.gov.uk.

Qualifications

A Foundation Certification in ITIL Service Management is a mandatory requirement for this role (ITIL4) and evidence of this will be requested.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,026, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £21,735 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We also have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Generous annual leave – at least 25 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
• Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
• Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
• Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
• Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

Hybrid Working

This role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work.

If a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for the role and for you, you will normally be required to spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted working hours from your DWP office.

If you have a disability, caring responsibilities, or other circumstances that may affect your ability to meet the minimum office attendance requirement, please discuss this with us using the contact details in this advert.

Salary Information

New entrants to the Civil Service will join on band minimum.

Existing Civil Servants who secure a new role on lateral transfer will maintain their current substantive salary.

Existing Civil Servants who gain promotion will move to the bottom of the grade pay scale or receive a 10% increase applied to their current substantive salary, whichever is greater.

Any temporary allowances that you are currently in receipt of will not form part of the calculation to determine your pay. Any allowances that are in payment will cease when you move into your new role.

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

Stage 1: Application

Your application will consist of three parts:

1. A Personal Details application form.

2. Employment history - this should contain your work experience and any skills, qualifications and accomplishments relevant to the jobs you have completed based on the essential criteria.

3. Personal statement - up to 1000 words. This statement should be used to provide examples of how you meet the essential criteria listed in the Person specification.

Ensure that all examples provided in your statement are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. If you choose to use gen-AI to support your statement, you must follow the guidelines outlined in the Artificial intelligence and recruitment guide.

The sift panel will use the information in your employment history and personal statement to assess your experience, skills and knowledge against the essential criteria.

You will be provided with one combined overall assessment score for both your CV and Personal Statement.

For Hints and Tips on completing your application visit Applying for jobs at DWP Digital.

Important Information

• You will be asked to complete your employment history. Any information that you would customarily share on a CV should therefore be entered onto the application form.
• Personal details that could be used to identify you including your name, contact details and address must be removed for your application to be considered.
• If your employment history/personal statement contains any personal details your application will be withdrawn.

Stage 2: Face-to-Face Interview

If you’re successful at sift stage you will be invited to a face-to-face interview at either the Blackpool or Manchester Corporate Hub, depending on your preference. There, you will be assessed against the experiences listed in the essential criteria.

You will be asked to do a 5 minute presentation to further assess your experience. Your presentation should focus on the following:

• From a Service perspective, how do you balance the drive for constant change against the need to ensure a stable service.

Interviews will take place from late July 2026. Interview dates to be confirmed.

Other information:

If high application volumes are received, the benchmark for candidates to proceed to the next stage may be raised. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to advance all candidates applying under the DCS who meet the minimum standard. However, we may only progress those candidates who best meet the required standards.

All successful candidates and those placed on reserve will be posted in merit list order by location.

For these vacancies, we strongly recommend that applicants consult with an immigration specialist or qualified advisor to assess their eligibility for Visa Sponsorship before deciding to apply. Please note that while we consider sponsorship requests in accordance with current DWP guidance and Home Office policy, sponsorship cannot be guaranteed.

Reasonable Adjustment

At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.

We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via DigitalRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Reasonable Adjustments” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

For further information on reasonable adjustments, terms and conditions and how we recruit visit the How we recruit page.

Find out more about Working for DWP

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Reserve list candidates will be posted in merit order by location.

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Applications will be screened and if evidence of plagiarism or copying examples/answers from other sources is found, your application will be withdrawn. Internal DWP candidates may also face disciplinary action.

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 : Sushant Pandey
• Email : sushant.pandey@dwp.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DigitalRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles. If you wish to make a complaint, please find further details here: https://careers.dwp.gov.uk/how-we-recruit/.

Attachments

DWP Terms and Conditions January 2024 Opens in new window (docx, 17kB)Success-Profiles-Candidate-Overview Opens in new window (pdf, 635kB)