Senior Service Operations Manager

A bit about the role

A passionate and driven individual, accountable for developing and managing IT Service Operations including IT Service Desk capabilities across the Selfridges IT landscape as the ‘shop front’ of IT services

You will be accountable for the delivery of a world class IT Service Desk, incident management, problem management, FoH support and service operations capability in support of Selfridges production IT, supporting the business ambitions of significant growth over the coming years, with IT being the key driver to underpin the growth plans. Working in partnership with the SD&T function you will control and support the introduction of new operational services to the Service Desk and Service Operations function.

The role has direct line management responsibility for the Service Desk, Level 2 Support, Service Improvement, and Service Operations including NOC and SOC teams.

As the Senior Service Operations Manager, You Will:

• Accountable for leading and managing the IT Service Operations function which includes Service Desk, Service Improvement and NOC/SOC capabilities, in accordance with service levels and hours of coverage
• You are accountable for leading the team in providing IT Service Desk facilities to designated Selfridges team members
• Responsible for the ITIL-based delivery of the following services to colleagues:
  • Service Desk services including call logging, triage and call routing, first time fix, 2^nd line support, access control, etc
  • Event Management
  • Incident Management
  • Request Management
  • Problem Management
  • FoH Support
  • Service Reporting
  • Service Operations through provision of a NOC and SOC
• Accountable for ensuring the IT Service Desk resolves all reported incidents to the customer’s satisfaction, using approved methods, tools and procedures and in accordance with published KPI’s and internal SLA’s
• Accountable for ensuring that all IT Service Operations and supporting processes are delivered to the appropriate quality in accordance with the business needs identified through SD&T processes in project lifecycle
• Lead the team as the “front door into IT” - the first point of contact for matters relating to the escalation of incidents
• Accountable for the implementation and maintenance of a robust knowledge database that includes escalation paths, temporary fixes, solutions and workarounds for known errors or problems
• Accountable for Operational Risk Management across IT Central Operations, for consolidating, reviewing and managing the risk profile of the department and for ensuring risk owners have remediation plans in place and/or feed remediation investment requests into annual budgeting cycle.
• Accountable for Technical Debt Management across IT Central Operations, for consolidating, reviewing and managing the Technical Debt register for the department, and for ensuring debt owners have treatment plans in place and/or feed tech debt remediation investment requests into annual budgeting cycle.
• Accountable for ensuring the team define, enable and analyse performance KPIs to support regular reporting on service quality and improvement recommendations
• Accountable for leveraging all aspects of the defined support model and resolver groups to rapidly remediate incidents and problems
• Ensure the team leads the post incident review process, establishing root cause for all major incidents and ensure corrective actions are captured, tracked, reported and managed to an evidenced conclusion through immediate changes or through a progressive set of SIP actions.
• Responsible for ensuring that Incident and Problem processes are integrated with Change Management to drive planning and reduce service restoration times.
• Responsible for the definition and analysis of data from Service Management tools drive service improvement and reporting accuracy.
• Define the requirements of the IT Service Management tool to ensure that it remains fit for purpose, is optimized to support the delivery of Services and provides timely visibility of performance and issues.
• Responsible for ensuring that ‘known error’ tracking and associated work-arounds are regularly reviewed and remain appropriate.
• Responsible for identifying, processing and tracking of IT Service Operations risk items ensuring the ownership of risks and mitigation are communicated and progressed.
• Responsible for the delivery of regular service operations meetings with customers and supply partners to review service performance and understand ongoing and changing service experience
• Responsible for the provision of IT service performance reports to demonstrate the effectiveness of the delivery of IT services and drive performance improvement.  
• Responsible for ensuring that service acceptance criteria are defined and implemented within the project lifecycle by the appropriate project teams and service designers
• Pursue continuous improvement of services provided by the IT Service Operations team, promoting adoption and participation by the wider support organisation and business and by introducing new ideas, concepts and standards from outside the business
• Actively manage and drive innovation and quality through a robust IT Service Operations function, to ensure new services are received into production seamlessly and expectations are exceeded in the support of existing services
• In addition to being a member of the Selfridges IT Central Operations leadership team, to contribute to the Selfridges strategy, play an active role within the wider IT Department, supporting the continued development of the IT service strategy
• Lead, coach and develop direct reports in regards to their own people management skills, including developing, engaging and communicating with their teams.
• Play a leading role in the IT Service Operations People Plan, working with HR partner to discuss and respond to feedback from the team through opinion surveys, exit interviews and any other relevant concerns
• Create an environment that encourages positive communication and a sense of community to drive team work and collaboration across all teams.
• Manage recruitment to the team and provide all related personnel with the operating environment, knowledge management, personal development, and training and career planning they require.
• Establish, maintain, improve and maximise working relationships with key external partners/suppliers that provide support services. Work collaboratively with these parties on joint programmes where appropriate, optimising their activities and ensuring that they are aware of and comply with established best practice.
• Add value to vendor selection processes (tendering, SLAs, warranty, outsourcing etc.).
• Coach peers and other roles, teaching where required, on methodologies and programme management tools and coach/mentor on leadership.

A bit about you

• A proven track record derived from previous senior positions, in IT Service Operations, and change/release management
• Experience of working in a senior management position within in a large complex and dynamic retail environment
• Managing multiple partners and suppliers in the delivery
• Ability to draw from broad industry experience to bring ‘best in class’ service capability to Selfridges IT Central Operations
• Broad range and understanding of delivery of diverse technical capabilities
• Demonstrable experience of customer and stakeholder management to board/exec level
• ITIL Accreditation (Manager or Expert) business & service operational management
• Proven experience balancing multiple priorities and dealing with ambiguity, applying pragmatism and direction when appropriate.
• Proven experience receiving into Service Operation solutions that are delivered through bi-modal delivery channels
• Sound understanding of traditional and digital service landscapes, and their delivery mechanisms
• You will have worked for a retailer with a strong digital and physical presence and you will understand what the customer experience needs to look like across channels
• You know what it means to be the conscience of the customer and consider the customer in all of your decisions and interactions.
• You have a track record of building strong relationships across senior stakeholders and of positively influencing senior management and leadership teams.
• A leader, you will balance delivering extraordinary service with the development of your teams, ensuring that we live the Selfridges values.
• Your retail experience will be strong, with exposure across the value chain and channels.
• You will have excellent communication skills, be a confident presenter and able to work in a fast paced ever changing environment
• You will have excellent analytical, negotiation and stakeholder skills
• Experience managing and leading a team

A bit about us

Our Creative Spirit 

We are more than a shop. We are a social space where culture and commerce collide to release an energy that we call the Selfridges spirit. We are here to make our world brighter, and everyone is welcome. 

Our Awards Cabinet 

We’re not ones to brag, but since you asked...Selfridges has won the award for The World’s Best Department Store an unprecedented four times at the IGDS awards, with an additional award for the Best Sustainability Campaign.  

Our Future 

Since 1909 we have been at the forefront of retail and today our stores in London, Manchester and Birmingham – alongside selfridges.com and the Selfridges App – continue to redefine the way we shop and socialise. As a Selfridges team member, you will learn what it takes to consistently drive innovation, success and amazing customer experiences. 

Everyone is welcome

We are committed to a diverse and inclusive working culture, and we see this as key to our success and our working culture. Here at Selfridges, everyone is welcome - irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age or disability, we stand by equal opportunities for all. We are diverse, we are inclusive, we are Selfridges.

The Fun Stuff  

There are lots of reasons to be excited about joining Team Selfridges – from our fantastic team member communities to volunteer days and behind-the-scenes Selfridges experiences throughout the year. 

Other benefits and rewards include:

• Generous bonus and/or commission scheme 
• Discounted gym memberships 
• Pension contributions  
• Annual travel pass and cycle to work schemes 
• A volunteer day for all team members 
• Access to a wide range of training programmes to help your career development