Operations Technical Service Manager

Job summary

Do you have hands on experience in live operations and a strong background in Service Management, particularly handling Major Incidents?

As an Operations Technical Service Manager, you are responsible for the protection of live services, which involves co-ordinating preventative measures and/or the restoration of services and live product support, as well as resolving incidents impacting day to day operations. You would understand the evolving nature of risks affecting services and product support in line with our overall Disaster Recovery and Digital Service Management processes and policies.

• This role is full time only. You will be on Call 24/7 on a rota. 1 week as primary contact, 1 week as backup, in approximately a 7 week cycle.
• Early starts (07:00) and late finishes (18:00) are also an occasional requirement. Only 1 person is required at each end of the day Monday – Friday, shared amongst a team of 9.
• If based in Blackpool, regular travel will be required to Manchester Hub (one day a week).

If this sounds like you, apply today!

Job description

An Operations Technical Service Manager is responsible for protecting live service, has knowledge of the status of live service and can work across the 24/7 Command Centre and the Operational Area’s/Service Managers/Service Desk at any given time. They facilitate and manage the Major Incident Management discipline following a service failure, restoring live service as quickly and safely as possible with the smallest possible business impact and ensuring communications are issued as appropriate. The Operations Technical Service Manager is expected to be on call to ensure appropriate cover is maintained.

Key activities relevant to every Operations Technical Service Managers are:

• Assess the impact of current issues affecting live service operation and the consequential effects it may have on the wider estate. This would involve application of contracts, finance, technology and complexity, service support arrangements, current performance of the service, future change to the service and other aspects impacting on the service including production operational service risks and issues.
• Review the performance of the production operation service, associated risks and issues with Technical and Business Service Owners.
• Understand and focus on customer business objectives, quality, service excellence, customer satisfaction and zero tolerance to production outages.
• Facilitate and manage service related incidents and its communications through tracking, prioritising problems and operating between the Command Centre and other Digital services (e.g. Operational Areas, Service Management, Service Desk), to ensure services are quickly and safely restored with the smallest possible business impact.
• This role is full time only, only apply if you can commit to this.
• On Call 24/7 on a rota. 1 week as primary contact, 1 week as backup, in approximately a 7 week cycle.
• Early starts (07:00) and late finishes (18:00) are also an occasional requirement. Only 1 person is required at each end of the day Monday – Friday, shared amongst a team of 9.
• If based in Blackpool, regular travel will be required to Manchester Hub (one day a week).

Person specification

See selection process for further details.

If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact Oliver.canham1@dwp.gov.uk.

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Understanding of Service Management Framework

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,447, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £12,876 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:

• 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

Salary for this role is £44,447- £46,547

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

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

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

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.

Stage 1: Application

Your application will consist of four 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.

3. Personal statement - up to 1000 words. This statement should be used to provide examples of how you meet the essential criteria below:

• Previous knowledge, background and experience of working in live operations areas environment.
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience of Problem Management, with a focus on risk analysis & mitigation and root cause analysis.
• Working knowledge and experience of Change Management, with a focus on the analysis of change and the possible impacts on complex application and technical infrastructure.
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience of working in a complex IT Infrastructure environment e.g. Networks, Servers (Wintel, Unix, Linux), Storage, Databases.
• Proven track record of working with a strong focus on creating a positive User / Service experience, excelling in collaboration and communication with Key Stakeholders across the Digital landscape.

4. Technical statement (up to 250 words). The following statement is aligned to the required technical skill of: Understanding of Service Management Framework. This statement should be used to provide example(s) of how you meet the criteria below:

• Experience of working within a proactive Service Management team, specialising in leading and managing Major Incidents from identification through to resolution, including coordination of technical teams, stakeholder communication, and post incident review.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

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

An initial sift will be conducted using the technical statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift will be progressed to a full sift.

If you do progress to a full sift, you will be provided with one combined overall assessment score for both your employment history and Personal Statement.

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

Applications will be sifted at regular intervals from the date the posts are advertised. Please apply as soon as you can, do not wait until the end of the campaign.

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 or technical statement contain any personal details your application will be withdrawn.

Stage 2: Interview

If you’re successful at the sift stage, you’ll be invited to a video interview via Microsoft Teams. During the interview, you’ll be assessed against the experience criteria listed under both the essential and technical skill.

Interviews will take place from late February 2026. Sift and Interview dates to be confirmed.

Further Information

Find out more about Working for DWP

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.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

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.

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.

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.

Feedback

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 : Oliver Canham
• Email : Oliver.Canham1@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)