Job Description

Head of IT Service Desk

Department: IT & Change

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Manchester, UK

Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end IT service delivery across six global sites (London, Manchester, White Plains, Luxembourg, Jersey, Dubai), ensuring consistent standards and a white-glove support experience for Executives and EAs.
• Lead and develop the London and Manchester IT teams, setting performance objectives, coaching direct and indirect reports, and driving a culture of ownership and customer focus.
• Drive continual service improvement — championing ticket quality, building self-service capability, and owning service management tooling to deliver meaningful KPIs and MI.
• Manage stakeholder relationships across all sites, acting as the primary escalation point for major incidents and representing IT Service at senior governance and leadership forums.
• Embed a security-first culture, supporting the cyber security agenda, overseeing compliance checks, and ensuring colleagues are well-supported on phishing, MFA, and security hygiene.
• Own the patch management schedule across devices and infrastructure, balancing security compliance with minimal business disruption.
• Manage the IT Service budget and vendor contracts, ensuring value for money, accurate asset/licence records, and well-evidenced investment cases.
• Lead the IT workstream for the upcoming London office move, partnering with Facilities to ensure a seamless day-one experience.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

• Proven experience in a senior IT service management or IT operations leadership role, ideally in a multi-site, international environment.
• Track record of leading and developing IT support teams, including remote or geographically dispersed staff.
• Strong knowledge of ITIL principles and experience applying them in a practical, pragmatic way.
• Demonstrable experience managing IT service budgets, vendor relationships, and commercial contracts.
• Experience implementing or improving self-service and knowledge management capabilities.
• Good working knowledge of cyber security fundamentals, patch management, and compliance requirements.
• Confident communicator with the ability to engage credibly from first-line staff to Board-level Executives.
• Experience supporting Executive-level users and understanding the heightened expectations this requires.