We are pleased to announce a new senior manager position, Head of IT Services, in the Manchester Technology Services area. This role will report the IT Infrastructure and Services Director.

What does the role involve:

Leadership and Team Management:

• Lead, mentor, and motivate a diverse team of IT support professionals, including Service Desk Analysts, 2nd Line Analysts, Incident Managers, IT Service Managers in specialisms including Problem Management, Change Management, Service Transition, and Asset Management.
• Foster a collaborative and high-performance culture within the IT service teams, encouraging innovation, knowledge sharing, and professional development.
• Set clear objectives, provide regular feedback, and conduct performance evaluations to ensure team members meet their goals and contribute to organizational success.

Strategic Planning and Execution:

• Develop and execute strategic plans, in alignment with organisational objectives, to enhance IT service delivery capabilities and meet evolving business needs.
• Define service level agreements (SLAs), key performance indicators (KPIs), and operational metrics to monitor and measure the performance of IT services, ensuring adherence to quality standards and customer satisfaction.
• Identify emerging technologies, industry trends, and best practices to drive innovation and improve the efficiency of IT operations.

Service Management and Continuous Improvement:

• Establish and maintain IT service management processes and frameworks, such as ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), to standardise service delivery practices and improve service quality.
• Implement proactive monitoring and incident management procedures to minimize service disruptions and ensure timely resolution of IT issues.
• Lead root cause analysis efforts to identify underlying causes of recurring incidents and implement corrective actions to prevent future occurrences.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across IT service delivery processes, leveraging data-driven insights and feedback from stakeholders to optimize service performance and enhance user experience

Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Management:

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including business leaders, department heads, and external vendors, to understand IT requirements, prioritise initiatives, and ensure alignment with organizational objectives.
• Act as a primary point of contact for IT service-related inquiries, escalations, and strategic discussions, providing regular updates and reports to senior management on service performance, major incidents, and operational metrics.
• Cultivate strong relationships with key stakeholders, fostering a customer-centric approach to IT service delivery and promoting a culture of transparency, trust, and accountability.

Budgeting and Resource Allocation:

• Develop annual IT service budgets, forecasts, and resource plans, ensuring adequate staffing levels, training, and infrastructure investments to support current and future business needs.
• Monitor expenditure against budgetary targets, identify cost-saving opportunities, and optimise resource utilization to maximize ROI and cost-effectiveness.
• Transparency, trust, and accountability.

Risk and Audit:

• Own and facilitate internal and external audit reviews as required.
• Identify and implement any gaps or improvement areas to get back within risk appetite.

What you'll already have:

Credible and professional

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Able to challenge appropriately and present solutions to problems.

Self-starting and able to work on own initiative.

A high attention to detail

A great team worker

Ambitious and driven to exceed expectations.

An analytical mind-set and technical ability

Essential

Broad experience in technical Service Desk and support teams, with an enthusiastic interest in current and modern technologies e.g., automated user provision, modern delivery practices and how a modern infrastructure stack underpins these.

10+ years working within Technology with a mixture of hands on technical and IT Service Management responsibilities.

Strong understanding of ITIL framework and best practices for IT service delivery, incident management, Change Management, problem resolution and service transition.

In depth expertise in some underpinning technologies such as Active Directory, networking (LAN, WAN), Backup, Exchange, automated user provisioning.

Evidence of strong internal and external stakeholder relationships at all levels.

Experienced at managing Major Incidents at senior levels.

Able to evidence acting as the sponsor or project lead for some significant end user or Infrastructure type projects.

Experience of acting within mature ITIL and agile processes. A proven ability to implement and/or improve existing processes.

Line management experience of Service Desk, 2nd Line or Infrastructure support teams.

Proven track record of developing and implementing strategic IT initiatives to drive operational excellence and business value.

Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively with stakeholders at all levels of the organization.

Solid analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a focus on data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement.

Desirable

Experience working in a Financial Services role and/or responsibility for supporting a financially regulated platform.

Evidence of commercial ability in negotiation and partnership with suppliers to achieve the best service outcomes.

Certification in ITIL, PMP (Project Management Professional), or other relevant certifications is desirable.

Technical or related IT certification.

Experience of project management or suitable qualification.

Experience with creating formal process and service reporting documentation.

A good understanding of appropriate regulation to AJ Bell as a Financial Services business.

About us:

AJ Bell is one of the fastest-growing investment platform businesses in the UK offering an award-winning range of solutions that caters for everyone, from professional financial advisers, to DIY investors with little to no experience. We have over 503,000 customers using our award-winning platform propositions to manage assets totalling more than £80.3 billion. Our customers trust us with their investments, and by continuously striving to make investing easier, we aim to help even more people take control of their financial futures.

Having listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2018, AJ Bell is now a FTSE 250 company.

Headquartered in Manchester with offices in central London and Bristol, we now have over 1,400 employees and have been named one of the UK's 'Best 100 Companies to Work For’ for six consecutive years.

At AJ Bell you can expect a friendly working environment with a strong sense of teamwork, we have a great sense of pride in what we do, and this is reflected in our guiding principles.

Our perks and benefits:

Stating salary of £80,000 - £90,000 DOE

Starting holiday entitlement of 28 days, increasing up to 31 days with length of service

Holiday buy and sell scheme

A choice of pension schemes with matched contributions up to 8%

Discretionary bonus scheme

Annual free share awards scheme

Buy As You Earn (BAYE) Scheme

Health Cash Plan – provided by Medicash

Discounted private healthcare scheme and dental plan

Free gym membership, with an on-site gym providing a wide range of free classes

Employee Assistance Programme

Bike loan scheme

Sick pay+ pledge

Enhanced maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave

Discounted nursery fees at Kids Planet on Exchange Quay

Loans for travel season tickets

Death in service scheme

Paid time off for volunteer work

Charitable giving opportunities through salary sacrifice

Calendar of social events, including monthly payday drinks, annual Christmas party, summer party and much more

Parking at Exchange Quay

Personal development programmes built around you and your career goals, including access to personal skills workshops

Ongoing technical training

Professional qualification support

Talent management programmes

Peer recognition scheme, with rewards including restaurant and shopping vouchers or time off

Monthly leadership breakfasts and lunches

Casual dress code

Access to a range of benefits from our sponsorship deals

Hybrid working:

At AJ Bell, our people are the heart of our culture. We believe in building strong connections by working together. That's why we offer a hybrid working model, where you’ll spend a minimum of 50% of your working time per month in the office. For new team members, an initial period will be full-time in the office to help you immerse yourself in our business and build valuable relationships with your colleagues.

AJ Bell is committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and all employees are empowered to bring their whole self to work.

We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy, religion, physical and mental disability, marital status and any other characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010. All decisions to hire are based on qualifications, merit and business need.

If you like the sound of the above, or just want to know more about the company and the role, we'd love to speak to you.