Service Desk Manager - Security Cleared (SC)

We are seeking an experienced Service Desk Manager who holds current Security Clearance (SC) on a contract basis to lead the operational support and service management of a live data product supporting a central government client.

You will be accountable for the end-to-end delivery of Service Desk operations, working with a team of Service Desk Analysts and acting as the primary point of escalation for incidents, service requests, access management, and operational issues. You will ensure the stability, availability, and performance of the service, driving high-quality support outcomes while maintaining compliance with ITIL best practices and government security standards.

Working closely with cross-functional technical teams including data engineers, developers, platform teams, and third-party suppliers, you will coordinate incident resolution, problem management, change enablement, and continual service improvement initiatives to ensure service levels are consistently achieved.

A key aspect of the role is proactive stakeholder management. You will build and maintain strong relationships with business stakeholders, client representatives, delivery teams, and senior leadership. You will provide regular service reporting, communicating operational risks and performance, managing expectations, and ensuring support services remain aligned with business priorities and contractual obligations.

The successful candidate will bring strong operational leadership, experience managing service performance against SLAs and KPIs, and the ability to foster a customer-focused, collaborative support function within a secure, ITIL-aligned service management environment. They will bring experience of owning and managing live services end-to-end, including operational governance, service performance, risk management, stakeholder engagement, supplier management, and continual service improvement., * Lead the day-to-day operation of the Service Desk, ensuring the delivery of high-quality support services in line with agreed SLAs and KPIs.

• Oversee the effective management of incidents, service requests, problems, and access management, ensuring timely resolution and appropriate prioritisation.
• Act as the primary operational escalation point for major incidents, coordinating cross-functional technical teams to restore service and minimise business impact.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with client stakeholders, business users, delivery teams, and third-party suppliers, providing clear communication on service performance, operational risks, and issue resolution.
• Drive continual service improvement initiatives through trend analysis, root cause identification, and the implementation of process and service enhancements.
• Ensure Service Desk operations are delivered in accordance with ITIL best practices, government security standards, and organisational policies.
• Oversee access management processes, ensuring appropriate governance, compliance, and adherence to role-based access controls.
• Monitor service performance, producing and presenting regular operational reports, service metrics, and management information to stakeholders.
• Collaborate with engineering, platform, and delivery teams to support change, release, and deployment activities while minimising service disruption.
• Maintain and continuously improve service documentation, knowledge management, operational procedures, and support processes.
• Identify, manage, and mitigate operational risks, ensuring appropriate escalation and governance throughout the service lifecycle. Mentor and support Service Desk analysts, fostering a culture of customer service excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Proven experience leading Service Desk or IT Service Management functions within complex technical or data-focused environments.
• Demonstrable experience managing IT services in accordance with ITIL best practices, including Incident, Problem, Change, Request, and Major Incident Management.
• Experience managing the operational support of cloud-hosted platforms and services, ensuring high availability, resilience, and service performance.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build effective relationships across business, technical, supplier, and client organisations, including senior stakeholders.
• Experience managing service performance against SLAs, OLAs, and KPIs, with a track record of driving continual service improvement.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional technical teams to resolve complex operational issues and major incidents.
• Knowledge of access management processes, identity and access governance, and role-based access control within secure environments.
• Experience using IT Service Management (ITSM) tools (e.g. ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, BMC Remedy, or equivalent) to manage service delivery and reporting.
• Strong analytical and reporting skills, with experience producing service metrics, trend analysis, and operational reporting to support decision-making.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced operational environment.
• Experience working within highly regulated or public sector environments, with an understanding of government security and service delivery standards., * Good understanding of AWS cloud services, including technologies such as Redshift, Lambda, Athena, CloudWatch, and S3, with experience managing the operational support of cloud-based services.
• Ability to interpret technical information and data to support service management, incident oversight, trend analysis, and informed decision-making.
• Experience overseeing the support of data platforms, data pipelines, ETL/ELT processes, and cloud-based reporting solutions, working collaboratively with engineering and platform teams.
• Experience using service monitoring and observability tools, such as Grafana, Kibana, CloudWatch, or equivalent, to monitor service health, identify trends, and drive proactive service improvements.
• Ability to work effectively with technical specialists to coordinate the resolution of complex incidents, manage operational risk, and improve service resilience.
• Service Transition & Operational Readiness - experience managing handover from delivery teams into live service, including operational acceptance, support readiness, and knowledge transfer.
• Service Availability, Resilience & Continuity - responsibility for service availability, capacity management, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning.
• Security Incident & Risk Management - experience managing security incidents, vulnerabilities, and operational risk within secure government environments., * Experience supporting data platforms or analytics products
• Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Ability to prioritise workload and meet SLAs in a live service environment
• Must hold valid UK Security Clearance (SC) (essential)
• Ability to work independently in a remote environment

We are a technology solutions provider specialising in the public sector. Our mission is to help government organisations become truly data-driven by transforming their digital services, streamlining operational processes, improving citizen outcomes, and enhancing transparency across public services.

We work closely with government bodies to design and deliver modern, secure, and scalable digital solutions that have real-world impact.