Head of Service Management

Betfred Group; Manchester; On-site; GBP 75,000 - GBP 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading betting and gaming company in the UK is seeking a Head of Service Management to lead IT service management strategies and operations. This role involves overseeing service delivery, ensuring efficiency, and driving continuous improvement in IT service practices. Applicants should possess senior IT experience, ITIL certification, and familiarity with ITSM platforms. The position offers a competitive salary ranging from £75,000 to £85,000 and various employee benefits, including bonuses and wellbeing support.

Benefits

Competitive rate of pay and pension contribution

Generous discretionary bonus schemes

Annual leave entitlement increasing with service

24/7 online GP access

Employee wellbeing support

Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Pay

Long Service Recognition

Financial coaching and pay day savings scheme

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a senior IT service management role.
• Experience with ITSM platforms and observability tools.
• Strong knowledge of ITIL framework (v4 preferred).

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic direction of IT service management.
• Oversee end-to-end delivery of IT services.
• Establish and monitor KPIs, SLAs, and OLAs.

Skills

Senior IT service management experience

Experience with ITSM platforms

Knowledge of ITIL framework

Strong communication skills

Experience in driving service transformation

Education

ITIL certification (v4 Managing Professional or Strategic Leader)

Tools

ServiceNow

Jira Service Management

Grafana

Splunk

Prometheus

Job description

Our mission is to dominate the betting and gaming industry on a global scale and we need the very best Tech talent to help us achieve this.

We recently migrated all of our customers onto our very own proprietary platform - so it's an exciting time to join us. With the help of our new platform, we're able to pioneer new products and drive more advanced, creative technologies. The result? Unrivalled experiences for millions of customers worldwide.

Betfred's Technology department is driven by innovation, and you'll be at the heart of unlocking our new platform's potential. So, if you want to help shape the future of betting and gaming, then it\'s to time to join us.

Job Purpose

The Head of Service Management is responsible for leading the strategic direction, development, and delivery of IT service management (ITSM) capabilities and tooling across the organisation. This role ensures that IT services are aligned with business needs, are delivered efficiently, and continuously improved to meet evolving expectations for incident and problem management, change control, and service performance.

Job Duties:

Strategic Leadership

Define and implement the IT Service Management strategy aligned with business goals.

Champion a service-oriented culture across the technology function.

Lead the development and maturity of ITIL-based processes and practices evolving practices to suit agile, product led delivery.

Accountable for the implementation of a new ITSM tool taking into consideration, product and platform ways of working.

Working closely with SRE, implement a comprehensive monitoring operating model aligned with business objectives and technology strategy including monitoring tools and platforms.

Service Operations

Oversee the end-to-end delivery of IT services, ensuring high availability, performance, and user satisfaction.

Working closely with the Head of Digital Operations own the service/product catalogue and ensure services are clearly defined, measured, and reported.

Lead the Major Incident Management process and ensure timely resolution and communication.

Lead the Problem Management process and drive ownership and accountability to fix known issues across the Technology Organisation.

Lead the change management process, review and develop agile change management practices.

Governance & Continuous Improvement

Establish and monitor KPIs, SLAs, and OLAs to ensure service quality and compliance.

Drive continual service improvement initiatives based on data, feedback, and root cause analysis.

Ensure robust change, release, and configuration management practices are in place aligned with our product operating model.

Stakeholder Engagement

Act as the primary point of contact for senior stakeholders regarding service performance and escalations.

Collaborate with business units, project teams, and third-party vendors to ensure seamless service integration.

Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing service management team.

Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and customer focus.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Proven experience in a senior IT service management role, ideally within a complex or regulated environment.

Experience with ITSM platforms (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira Service Management) and observability tools (e.g., Grafana, Splunk, Prometheus)

Strong knowledge of ITIL framework (v4 preferred) and service management tools (e.g., ServiceNow, Halo, BMC).

Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage third-party suppliers.

Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.

Experience in driving service transformation and continuous improvement.

Qualifications:

ITIL certification (v4 Managing Professional or Strategic Leader).

Experience with Agile and DevOps environments.

Familiarity with ISO/IEC 20000 or other service quality standards.

What’s in it for you?

• A competitive rate of pay and pension contribution (£75,000 -£85,000)
• Generous discretionary bonus schemes, incentives and competitions
• An annual leave entitlement that increases with length of service
• Access to an online GP 24/7, 365 days a year for you and your immediate family.
• Employee wellbeing support through our Employee Assistance Programme
• Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Pay
• Long Service Recognition
• Access to a pay day savings scheme, financial coach and up to 40% of your earned wage ahead of payday, through Wagestream.