Service Operations Manager
Sittingbourne: Predominantly office based with some travel to customers in London & South of England.
£36-45k (plus Overtime & Benefits Package) depending on skill set and experience.
VR/02644R

Our client is a market-leading IT solutions provider specialising in platform hosting, network infrastructure, data centre and business continuity services and supply chain management for small, medium and large enterprises, public sector and Education as well as other diverse market sectors.
The ideal candidate will have mature experience of running a Service Operation, encompassing Service Support, Service Delivery and a 24x7 operation. They will possess strong managerial and interpersonal skills, preferably with extensive experience of working in a managed service or corporate environment. While the candidate will have an understanding of IT Service Management, they ideally will be biased towards strategic thinking and on-going development of people, processes and systems, having the support of a Service Support Team Lead in managing and running the daily operations and ticket management system. They must be able to demonstrate proven abilities in leading and managing the team to support a wide variety of IT solutions as part of an end-to-end lifecycle implementation: preference will be given to any candidate who can also demonstrate that they are highly motivated, results focused and can manage a portfolio of tactical projects in delivering success.
The Service Operations Manager will be based at the Head Office in Sittingbourne, but may also be required to travel to customer premises where face-to-face engagement is necessary, including some of their larger London based clients; a full driving license, your own transportation and a willingness to travel are therefore pre-requisites. You will also be involved in supporting the Service Desk to resolve escalations across other departments.
As the Service Operations Manager, you will have a good understanding and practical experience of:
· Managing a team of 10-20 staff performing Service Support, Service Delivery and 24 x 7 Service Operations functions; the ability to manage learning and development of staff towards key objectives and alignment to the needs of the business.
· Continuously reviewing and adjusting the team’s activities/priorities to ensure the right people are on the right tasks, at the right time with the right decisions being made, increasing productivity whilst maximizing a positive customer service experience.
· Developing, documenting and implementing processes, procedures and reporting systems to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the Service Operation.
· Driving the Service Desk 2nd and 3rd level analysts to meet targets for ticket response, dwell time and age and focusing resources to meet customer expectations, especially at peak times when volumes are higher.
· Excellent problem solving skills, especially when it comes to directly addressing customer related issues and improving customer satisfaction.
· Ensuring that appropriate Golden KPIs are developed, implemented, managed and reported on a monthly basis.
· Coaching the Service Teams to deliver better performance and continuous improvement of customer service, along with regular 1-2-1s with individuals.
· Where required, be a conduit for client communication, helping engineers during busy times by building close relationships with clients and managing expectations.
· Involved with the on boarding and off boarding of clients.
· Following-up on Satisfaction Survey Responses with clients and staff, adding lessons learned to the Knowledge Base and ensuring that feedback is given to the staff on opportunities for improvement.
· Managing the development of the team by ensuring that daily tasks and activities are in line with the business needs and individuals career development.
· Managing the Service Desk training programs to refine the skills of the service desk team and keep the team’s skills matrix up-to-date.
· Ensuring procedures within Service Operations are consistently followed.
· Identifying areas for improvement, making constructive suggestions for change and seeking opportunities to increase customer satisfaction and deepen customer relationships.
· Reviewing IT publications and online materials to remain up-to-date with current and future technologies emerging in the industry.

Skills & Experience:
· Experience and success in managing a busy Service Operations function, ideally for a managed service provider
· Knowledge of ITIL 3 Service Desk processes and management software and the ability to quickly get up to speed with the firms chosen Service Desk Ticketing System.
· Strong team leadership and people management skills.
· Good understanding of process and the ability to apply it to improve service and reduce cost.
· Good level of documentation and communication skills.
· Knowledge and experience of service desk management methods and techniques.
· Passionate and committed to providing the very best service at all times.
· Good emotional intelligence, great with people and rapport building.
· Strong organisational and customer service skills.
· Skilled in leading people and getting results with a strong customer orientation.
· Interpersonal skills: such as telephony skills, communication skills, active listening and customer-care.
· Ability to multi-task and adapt to changes quickly.
· Ability to work in a team and communicate effectively across teams.
· Self-motivated with the ability to work in a fast-moving environment and virtual teams.
· Positive and passionate about customer services.

The Service Operations Manager may require occasional extended or unsocial hours. There is the potential to augment the basic salary with overtime payments and other defined benefits. The role may involve some manual handling from time to time including the movement of servers, hardware and racking of equipment.
Due to the nature of this role, candidates will be expected to pass security clearance.