Senior Service Desk Analyst

Job summary

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth.

Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more.

We are part of the Darlington Economic Campus, a cross-government hub bringing people together to tackle key national issues while working closer to the communities we serve.

Job description

OSCAR is His Majesty’s Online System for Central Accounting and Reporting. It has ~1800 end-users, and they require a proficient service desk facility responsible for triaging, allocating and resolving all service-related tickets to our other OSCAR suppliers for resolution. This service desk is currently run by an external provider. The post holder will support the service desk manager during the transition to the new in-house team. They will also provide day-to-day supervision.

The Senior Service Desk Analyst provides senior operational support to the Service Desk, combining hands-on delivery with day-to-day coordination, quality assurance, and mentoring responsibilities. The role ensures issues are resolved efficiently, brought up appropriately, and owned through to resolution following agreed service levels. The Senior Service Desk Analyst position sits within the FACT team and reports to the Service Desk Manager.

On a typical day you will…

Customer Support and Service Delivery

• Act as a critical contact for complex IT incidents, service requests and changes, ensuring issues are effectively assessed, prioritised and resolved in line with agreed processes.
• Provide advanced technical support and guidance to colleagues, supporting resolution at the first point of contact where possible and ensuring appropriate escalation where required.
• Coordinate incident, request and task queues to ensure effective management, timely progression and resolution according to service level agreements and performance standards.
• Identify and lead major, high-impact or recurring incidents, ensuring accurate records are maintained and communications are clear, timely and appropriate.
• Support service continuity and operational stability by proactively identifying trends, reducing repeat issues and contributing to effective incident resolution and root cause analysis.

Stakeholder and Customer Relationship Management

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with stakeholders, customers and support teams to ensure a responsive, high-quality and customer-focused service.
• Assume responsibility for complex or high-priority incidents and requests, managing them through to resolution and ensuring clear, consistent communication with collaborators.
• Develop a deep understanding of business systems, services and processes to enable effective support, informed decision-making and improved service outcomes.
• Act as a point of coordination between the Service Desk, resolver groups and third parties to ensure joined-up delivery and effective issue resolution.
• Promote a culture of user focus, collaboration and continuous improvement across the Service Desk and wider support teams.

Reporting, Records and Knowledge Management

• Ensure the accuracy and quality of incident, request, asset and activity records according to organisational standards, audit requirements and guideline.
• Support the production and analysis of service performance data, identifying trends, risks and areas for improvement.
• Own and drive the development, review and maintenance of knowledge articles, work instructions and documentation to support consistent and efficient service delivery.
• Ensure knowledge is effectively captured and shared across the team, improving capability, reducing resolution times and enhancing service quality.
• Use service data, customer feedback and operational insights to inform continual service improvement activities.

Team Leadership and Ongoing Improvement

• Provide day-to-day leadership, guidance and support to Service Desk Analysts, acting as a senior point of escalation and decision-making within the team.
• Support onboarding, mentoring and development of team members, building capability, consistency and technical competence across the Service Desk.
• Contribute to workforce planning, shift coordination and workload distribution to ensure effective service coverage and performance.
• Lead or contribute to service improvement initiatives, operational changes and projects relating to IT services, tools and processes.
• Take ownership of defined workstreams or improvement activities, managing progress, risks and dependencies to ensure successful delivery.
• Find opportunities to improve service quality, user experience, processes and tooling, raising where strategic decisions or investment are required.

This role will require technical ability:

• Demonstrable understanding of ITIL practices, including incident, request and problem management
• Practical experience using Jira Service Management or a similar IT service management system
• Working knowledge of IT ticketing systems, including triage, prioritisation, escalation and resolution processes
• Ability to analyse service performance, trends or data to support improved service delivery
• A practical understanding of Microsoft 365 products, including Teams.

Qualifications

ITIL v4 (or v5) Foundation

SIAM Foundation

If you do not hold the qualification, you should be willing to achieve it within 12 months of joining if successful.

Roles will be recruited using a combination of Government Digital and Data (GDD) Profession Capability Framework and Success Profile Frameworks. Using GDD, we will then determine if you will be paid an additional allowance on top of your basic salary.

Additional Information

Our operational hours are Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00. The successful candidate will be required to work within a shift pattern and team rota. Current planned shift patterns are 07:30 to 15:30, 08:30 to 16:30 and 10:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday.

There is a requirement to work flexibly as part of the rota. The rota will be reviewed regularly in line with service need by the Service Desk Manager.

If you would like to speak to the hiring manager informally prior to the closing date, please contact Martin Beale: Martin.beale@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Person specification

Application Stage

Application Form

Applications should consist of a CV including your employment history, and a 250-word statement demonstrating evidence of each of the below shortlisting criteria. Your CV and employment history won’t be scored. It’s used to give context to your application and support discussions at interview.

The panel will review applications and invite those that best demonstrate evidence of the shortlisting criteria below for interview. Please keep this in mind when writing your application.

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

• Managing a Quality Service: Ability to take ownership of complex or escalated issues, coordinating resolution across teams and keeping customers and stakeholders informed of progress, risks and outcomes.
• Changing and Improving: Proactively reviewing service delivery, processes and performance data to identify opportunities to simplify ways of working, reduce repeat incidents, and improve user experience.
• Developing Self and Others: Support the development of colleagues by sharing knowledge, coaching others and contributing to a culture of learning and continuous improvement within the team.
• Experience: Experience of working in a customer facing service desk, triaging service tickets and responding to customer incidents.

The lead criterion is: Managing a Quality Service

If we receive a high volume of applications, we’ll first sift using the lead criterion only. Those meeting the minimum score will then be assessed against all remaining criteria.

Interview Stage

If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Technical Skills: Answers should be aligned with the GDD framework:
  • Capability Skill 1 – Customer Service Management
  • Capability Skill 2 – IT service reporting
  • Capability Skill 3 – Service Focus
  • Capability Skill 4 – Continual Service Improvement

• Behaviours: Managing a Quality Service, Changing and Improving, Developing Self and Others

Behaviours

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

• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving
• Developing Self and Others

Technical skills

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

• Capability Skill 1 – Customer Service Management
• Capability Skill 2 – IT service reporting
• Capability Skill 3 – Service Focus
• Capability Skill 4 – Continual Service Improvement

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,820, HM Treasury contributes £10,087 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Generous Annual Leave - 25 days (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus public holidays and the King’s birthday.
• Outstanding Pension Scheme - Defined Benefit pension with employer contributions of 28.97%
• Parental Leave Packages - Including 6 months’ occupational pay for maternity/adoption, shared parental leave options.
• Flexible & Hybrid Working - Options include part-time, job-share, compressed hours, flexitime, and hybrid working (where business needs allow).
• Advance Schemes & Discounts - Rental deposit, cycle-to-work, SmartTech, season ticket loans, and access to HM Treasury’s benefits portal for a wide range of discount codes.

You can review HM Treasury’s full offer here.

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 Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Candidate Guidance

Please review the candidate guidance for an overview of the Success Profiles and STAR approach, along with top tips for applications and interviews.

Recruitment Timeline

• Closing date: 12th July 2026 before 23:55
• Shortlisting: w/c 13th July 2026
• Interviews: w/c 27th July 2026

This timeline is indicative and may be subject to change. We will inform you if there is a substantial change to the recruitment timeline.

If your contact details change at any time during the selection process, please ensure you update your Civil Service Jobs Profile.

Reserve Lists

You will be placed on a reserve list if your application is successful, but we cannot offer you a role immediately. Where more than one location has been advertised, candidates will be posted in merit order by location. You will be asked to provide your location preference on your application form. Please note that a place on the reserve list does not guarantee an offer.

If you are offered a role in your first preferred location and you decline the offer or are unable to take up the post within a reasonable timeframe, you will be removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances.

Those on the reserve list may also be approached for similar roles at a lower grade. If you are offered a role at a lower grade and choose to decline, you can remain on the reserve list.

Internal Fraud Database Check

Candidates cannot apply to roles in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Successful candidates will be subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database. This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This also applies to those who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the database will be refused employment.

National Security Vetting

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. Additionally, successful candidates will be subject to National Security Vetting. The level of security vetting required for this role is Security Check (SC).

To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants will need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. You will be asked to provide residency information within your application form, and eligibility for national security vetting will be checked once the advert closing date has passed. In certain circumstances, for example if you have been working abroad on a government posting, a lack of residency would not be a bar to security clearance however the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case-by-case basis once the advert closing date has passed.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).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 : Martin Beale
• Email : Martin.beale@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Further information

Complaints Process: Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment based on fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact HMT by email at: hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.

Attachments

Role Profile 466413 Senior Service Desk Analyst HEO Opens in new window (pdf, 182kB)