Service Desk Manager

Job summary

Across government, effective IT service management is critical to delivering reliable, secure and user-focused digital services. A high-performing service desk ensures that colleagues can work productively, systems remain available, and technical issues are resolved quickly and effectively. As organisations continue to adopt modern, hybrid working models, strong operational leadership and service excellence are essential.

Ofgem plays a vital role in the UK’s energy system, protecting consumers and enabling a more secure, fair and sustainable energy future. Ensuring the resilience and performance of our internal IT services is key to supporting our people and delivering on this mission.

Ofgem is on an ambitious transformation journey. Within the Digital, Data and Security Services (DDSS) directorate, we are strengthening our IT service management capability to support a modern digital organisation. This includes improving service performance, enhancing user experience, and integrating IT and estates support to create seamless services across our offices and technology platforms.

As a Service Desk Manager, you will lead the delivery of first- and second-line IT support across Ofgem. You will manage a team supporting end users, applications, devices and on-site technology, ensuring high-quality service delivery aligned to business needs. You will drive service improvement, embed ITIL best practice and ensure services evolve to meet current and future demands.

This is a key leadership role within a fast-paced operational environment, requiring strong service management expertise, excellent stakeholder engagement and a focus on delivering outstanding user outcomes.

Job description

You will be responsible for:

• Leading the delivery of Service Desk operations, ensuring effective first- and second-line support across all sites
• Managing and developing a team of Service Desk analysts, fostering an inclusive and high-performing culture
• Monitoring and improving service performance against SLAs and KPIs
• Embedding ITIL best practice across Incident, Request and Problem Management
• Using service data, user feedback and performance metrics to drive continual service improvement
• Overseeing rota planning and resource scheduling to support hybrid and on-site working requirements
• Maintaining knowledge bases and documented processes to ensure consistent service delivery
• Providing technical advice to project teams on service readiness and ongoing support
• Building strong relationships with internal stakeholders and external suppliers to enable joined-up service delivery
• Supporting the integration of IT and estates services, including sustainability and workplace initiatives
• Managing supplier performance and ensuring alignment with service expectations

We are looking for:

An experienced IT Service Desk Manager or Service Management professional with a strong track record of leading operational teams in complex environments. You will be a confident leader with a passion for delivering excellent customer service and driving continuous improvement.

You may come from a service desk, IT operations or service management background, but you will demonstrate:

• Proven experience managing IT service desk operations
• Strong leadership capability, with experience developing and motivating teams
• Experience managing service performance against SLAs and KPIs
• Sound understanding of ITIL frameworks and service management best practice
• Ability to analyse data and identify opportunities to improve service delivery
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills
• Experience working with third-party suppliers and service providers

An ITIL qualification (e.g. ITIL v4 Foundation) is expected, or a willingness to achieve this within 6 months.

Experience of service improvement initiatives, estates integration, or working in a public sector or regulated environment would be beneficial.

This is an opportunity to play a key role in enabling Ofgem’s digital services by ensuring reliable, high-quality IT support across the organisation. You will help create a service desk function that is responsive, efficient and continuously improving, supporting colleagues to deliver on Ofgem’s mission at a critical time of change.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Professional Expertise - Demonstrated capability in leading an enterprise-wide team in IT service operations, with a track record of high performance and delivery in previous roles (Lead Criteria)
• ITIL Knowledge & Application - Strong working knowledge of ITIL processes with a requirement to hold currently or to obtain a minimum of ITIL v4 Foundation within 6 months of role acceptance (Lead Criteria)
• Service Delivery Management - Experience managing end-to-end IT service delivery, with accountability for performance against KPIs and service expectations.
• Stakeholder Engagement - Proven ability to build and manage effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including influencing service reporting and improvement discussions
• Problem Resolution Leadership - Experience leading teams in diagnosing and resolving technical issues, with a focus on improving service desk performance and user outcomes.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience in Service Improvement Initiatives - Exposure to or involvement in continuous improvement activities, including identifying and implementing changes to enhance service desk performance or user experience.
• Understanding of Public Sector Digital Standards - Awareness of government digital service standards, accessibility requirements, or experience working within a regulated or policy-driven environment.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Developing Self and Others
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

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

• You will also be asked to prepare a presentation. Full details of the presentation will be included in the invitation to interview.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £49,452, OFGEM contributes £14,326 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).Ofgem can offer you a comprehensive and competitive benefits package which includes; 30 days annual leave after 2 years; Excellent training and development opportunities; The opportunity to join the generous Civil Service pension which also includes a valuable range of benefits; hybrid working (currently 1 day a week in the office but this is kept under review), flexible working hours and family friendly policies. Plus lots of other benefits including clean and bright offices based centrally, engaged networks and teams and an opportunity to contribute to our ambitious and important targets of establishing a Net Zero energy system by 2050. This exciting blend of professional challenge and personal reward identifies career opportunities at Ofgem as something to get excited about.

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.

When you press the ‘Apply now’ button, you will be asked to complete personal details (not seen by the sift panel), your career history and qualifications.

You will then be asked to provide a 1250 word ‘personal statement’ evidencing how you meet the essential and desirable skills and capabilities listed in the role profile. Please ensure you demonstrate clearly, within your supporting statement, how you meet each of the criteria listed in the role profile. In the event of receiving a large number of applications, an initial sift may take place on just the lead criteria indicated in the essential criteria.

The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found by [https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn].

At Ofgem, we expect our staff to carry out their roles with honesty, fairness and openness. They should follow the Civil Service code and be free from any influence or bias. We are committed to making sure interests are recognised, declared and managed appropriately so that we can fulfil our duties as an energy regulator. Our Conflicts of Interest policy outlines the types of interests Ofgem staff must declare before onboarding, and the rules they must follow throughout employment so that we can clearly demonstrate that our decisions are not influenced by private interests.

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

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.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 : Amber Shankland
• Email : amber.shankland@ofgem.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ofgem.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel there has been a breach of these Recruitment Principles.

In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly via recruitment@ofgem.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission, please visit their website.

Attachments

DDSS Role Profile Service Desk Manager (L2B) Opens in new window (pdf, 133kB)DDSS Candidate Pack, Service Desk Manager Opens in new window (pdf, 3013kB)Terms and Conditions Opens in new window (pdf, 335kB)