Service Desk Manager

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 prioritising, allocating and resolving all service-related tickets to our other OSCAR suppliers for resolution. This service desk is currently provided by an external service provider, and the post holder would lead the successful transition of that incumbent service to a new in-house team.

This role directs day-to-day functions, making sure users and business teams receive the support required. They deliver excellent customer service and promote user happiness. The role reports to a Senior IT Service Manager and will have line management responsibility of the service desk analysts.

On a typical day you will…

Customer Support and Service Delivery

• Lead the delivery of Service Desk operations, ensuring incidents, service requests and changes are managed effectively in line with agreed service management processes and standards.
• Take overall accountability for the Service Desk's performance, ensuring services meet established service level agreements (SLAs), critical metrics, and business requirements.
• Coordinate the management of major incidents, ensuring seamless collaboration among resolver groups and timely communication with collaborators.
• Ensure effective incident, problem, request, and change management procedures are established, embedding consistent and repeatable processes across the service.
• Maintain operational stability and service continuity by proactively identifying risks, trends and improvement opportunities across the service landscape.

Stakeholder and Customer Relationship Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders, customers, suppliers and delivery teams to ensure a high-quality, user-focused service.
• Act as the primary escalation point for high-impact issues, ensuring stakeholders are appropriately engaged and informed throughout.
• Promote a user-centred approach, using feedback and service insights to shape service delivery and prioritise improvements.
• Represent the Service Desk in governance forums and senior collaborator discussions, providing clear updates on operational efficiency and issues.
• Ensure effective coordination across internal teams and external suppliers to deliver a seamless end-to-end service.

Reporting, Records and Knowledge Management

• Own and ensure the integrity of service management data, including incidents, requests, assets and performance information.
• Define, track and report on service performance metrics, consolidating management information into meaningful insights to support decision-making.
• Ensure effective knowledge management practices are in place, including the creation, maintenance and ongoing improvement of knowledge articles and documentation.
• Use customer feedback, performance data and operational insights to identify service gaps and opportunities for improvement.
• Ensure audit, governance and compliance requirements are met across all Service Desk processes and records.

Leadership, Resourcing and Continuous Improvement

• Provide overall leadership and management of the Service Desk team, including line management responsibility for Service Desk Analysts.
• Set direction, priorities and objectives for the team, ensuring alignment to wider organisational goals and service requirements.
• Handle workforce planning, rota design and resource allocation to ensure effective service coverage and resilience.
• Establish team capability through coaching, mentoring and development, fostering a high-performing and user focused culture.
• Drive continuous service improvement, identifying, prioritising and implementing efficiencies and improvements across processes, tools and methods of operation.
• Lead the design, transition or evolution of Service Desk services, including defining processes, policies and operating models where required.

Service Strategy, Governance and Supplier Management

• Handle relationships with third-party suppliers and vendors, ensuring services are integrated effectively and deliver value for money.
• Ensure alignment to IT operations frameworks (e.g. ITIL), embedding guideline across incident, problem, change and service management areas.
• Stay informed of industry developments and emerging technologies, finding opportunities to enhance service capability and efficiency.

The role will require technical ability:

• Demonstrable understanding of ITIL practices, including incident, problem, change and service level management
• Strong understanding of IT service delivery frameworks and operating models
• Experience using ITSM tools (e.g. Jira Service Management or similar) to handle service performance and operations
• Ability to analyse service data, KPIs and trends to drive performance and inform decision making
• Understanding of supplier management and multi-team service delivery environments

Qualifications:

SIAM Foundation

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

ITIL v4 (or v5) Foundation (Mandatory)

In your application form, you’ll be asked to confirm that you hold this qualification. You will need to provide evidence of this qualification if you are invited to interview.

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 may be required to cover the core rota from time to time. There is a requirement to work flexibly as part of the rota.

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

Required Qualifications

ITIL v4 (or v5) Foundation

In your application form, you’ll be asked to confirm that you hold this qualification. You will need to provide evidence of this qualification if you are invited to interview.

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 deliver a high-quality IT support service by setting clear standards, ensuring accurate prioritisation of working and driving consistent outcomes that meet user and business needs.
• Changing and Improving: Ability to pro-actively identify opportunities to improve service delivery, using evidence, insight, and user feedback to challenge inefficiencies and reduce repeat issues.
• Leadership: Demonstrate leadership by setting clear direction and standards for service delivery, supporting colleagues to understand priorities and contribute to share objectives. .
• Experience: Experience of leading an IT Service Desk team to deliver a user centric service, focussed on quality and continuous improvement.

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, Leadership

Qualifications

ITIL v4 (or v5) Foundation
In your application form, you’ll be asked to confirm that you hold this qualification. You will need to provide evidence of this qualification if you are invited to interview.

Behaviours

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

• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving
• Leadership

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 – User Focus
• Capability Skill 4 – Continual Service Improvement

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,090, HM Treasury contributes £12,483 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 - Service Desk Manager 466431 Opens in new window (pdf, 183kB)