Lead IT Service Delivery Manager

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Service Delivery Managers, fostering a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement
• Set objectives, monitor performance, and support professional development
• Manage major incidents, P1 and P2 events through to restoration and root-cause resolution
• Act as an escalation point and participate in a 24/7 out-of-hours rota
• Provide timely, clear communications to impacted users
• Own service performance metrics including SLAs, OLAs and KPIs
• Produce accurate MI reports to demonstrate service performance and trends
• Communicate risks, incidents, and improvements effectively to stakeholders
• Build strong, collaborative relationships across engineering, operational, digital, and business teams
• Run regular service reviews with internal teams and suppliers
• Represent Service Delivery in governance meetings, operational reviews, and leadership forums
• Lead service reviews with suppliers to ensure contractual compliance
• Provide performance feedback to the Commercial team
• Drive supplier improvements and escalate service issues impacting stability or resilience
• Lead the development and optimisation of ITIL-aligned processes (Incident, Problem, Change, Release, Request)
• Deliver continual service improvement initiatives that enhance stability, reduce risk, and improve user experience
• Ensure service governance aligns with regulatory expectations within the water sector, including operational resilience and cybersecurity
• Identify and manage risks related to service delivery and critical national infrastructure
• Promote best practice in business continuity, disaster recovery, and asset integrity

Technologies:

• Cloud
• Support
• ITIL
• ITSM
• ServiceNow, We are recruiting an experienced Lead IT Service Delivery Manager on behalf of our leading utilities client based in Worthing, West Sussex. This role is an initial 6-month contract with a day rate of £600-£800 per day (Inside IR35). Our team is dedicated to ensuring the delivery, performance, and continual improvement of IT services across a complex, regulated organisation. We believe in fostering a culture of growth and providing support for our employees while they safeguard essential services that support water quality, environmental compliance, and customer operations.

• Strong people leadership with experience coaching, mentoring and driving high performance
• Ability to build trust and influence senior stakeholders and technical teams
• Experience managing teams through change and fostering continuous improvement
• Deep understanding of ITIL frameworks and Service Management disciplines (Incident, Problem, Change, SACM etc)
• Good working knowledge of IT operations, cloud services, infrastructure, networking and applications
• Ability to interpret technical detail and communicate it in a business-focused way
• Understanding of how IT services underpin operational performance and regulatory compliance in utility or similarly regulated industries
• Ability to balance cost, risk and service quality
• Proven experience leading IT Service Delivery teams in a 24/7 or operationally critical environment
• Strong supplier and third-party contract management experience
• Experience within a regulated or complex industry (utility sector preferred)
• ITIL Foundation (v3 or v4)
• Experience working with ServiceNow ITSM/CSM