Head of Service Operations and Assurance

Head of Service Operations and Assurance Department for Business and Trade Location: Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Manchester About the job Job summary The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) helps businesses invest, innovate, export and grow across the UK. The Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) directorate helps to deliver this by designing, building and running the services, platforms and technology that businesses and colleagues rely on every day.

Our teams work on a wide range of services and technologies, including:  digital services that help businesses access government support, guidance and opportunities  data and AI products that support decision making and enable innovation  internal tools and services that help colleagues work more effectively  secure technology and platforms that support critical government services  cyber security services that protect systems, data and users  By joining DDaT, you'll work on services used by businesses, colleagues and citizens across the UK.

You'll be part of multidisciplinary teams focused on improving services, solving complex problems and delivering better outcomes for users. We are committed to creating an inclusive and supportive workplace. In recognition of this, we were named Best Public Sector Employer at the  Women in Tech Employer Awards 2025 ! Job description The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) relies on secure, stable and effective technology services to deliver its objectives in the UK and internationally.

As  Head of Service Operations and Assurance , you will be responsible for the leadership, strategy and performance of the department’s core IT service management and operational support capabilities. This is a senior operational leadership role requiring  significant experience gained in a complex, large-scale technology environment  and a strong record of successfully improving live IT services.

You will establish the strategy, operating model, standards and roadmap for the function, while remaining sufficiently close to operational delivery to intervene when services, changes or incidents require senior leadership. The successful candidate will know what excellent IT service management looks like in practice. You will have led mature service operations, improved user experience, strengthened service controls and used technology and automation to improve efficiency and service performance.

You will :  set the strategic direction, operating model and associated resourcing, to deliver priorities for the department’s core IT service operational support capabilities  provide senior accountability for Service Desk and operational support outcomes, improving user experience, first-contact resolution and coordination across internal teams and suppliers  strengthen incident, major incident, problem and change management practices, ensuring effective governance, escalation and senior response to high-impact service disruption  work with Infrastructure, Network, Cyber Security, End User Computing and other Technology leaders to assure stable, secure and resilient services  set expectations for service ownership, configuration, monitoring, documentation, capacity, continuity and acceptance standards across live services  use operational data, service levels and user insight to drive improvement, manage risk and provide assurance to senior leaders  lead teams, stakeholders and suppliers through clear direction, effective governance and accountability for measurable service outcomes ServiceNow and ITSM platform ownership   You will:  act as senior business owner for ServiceNow and the wider ITSM platform strategy, roadmap and governance  own the service catalogue, workflows, automation and development priorities  oversee platform administration, configuration, integration, testing and controlled release of changes  drive adoption of self-service, automation, Microsoft Teams integ