Head of IT Service Delivery

Join us on the Journey...

National Express are recruiting an experienced Head of IT Service Delivery to join our team, based at our Head Office in Digbeth, Birmingham. The successful candidate will ensures the seamless, cost effective and efficient delivery of IT services to meet business needs, driving operational excellence and user satisfaction.  The Head of IT Service Delivery will lead a team of IT professionals,  augmented teams off shore and managed service providers and will drive operational excellence, enhance user experience and proactively implement service improvements. Manage key supplier relationships, ensuring contracts deliver value and performance.  This role requires a deep understanding of ITIL best practices and a proven track record of successfully implementing and managing IT service management frameworks.

What you'll do:

• Develop and manage strategic relationships with key IT suppliers. Negotiate and manage contracts, ensuring service level agreements (SLAs) are met and value for money is achieved. Monitor supplier performance and address any performance issues. Conduct regular supplier reviews and ensure compliance with contractual obligations. Ensure contracts are renewed in a timely manner and managed within budget whilst  proactively managing vendor risks
• Contribute to the overall IT strategy, ensuring alignment with business objectives. Oversee the design and development of IT services, considering user needs, cost-effectiveness, supportability and scalability. Act as an evangelist to promote that best practice is implemented during service design to ensure correct alerting & monitoring, maximum service availability, graceful service failure processes, minimise risk of introducing new bugs and optimal supportability. Champion the adoption of new technologies and service delivery models
• Manage the transition of new or changed IT services into the operational environment, ensuring minimal disruption and optimal performance. Ensure service transitions are business-aligned by conducting (PIRs) and integrating business impact assessments. Oversee change management, release management, and knowledge management processes
• Lead the day-to-day operations of IT services, ensuring high availability, performance, and service levels in line with SLA expectation. Manage incident management, problem management, request fulfillment, change management, risk management and asset management processes. Drive continuous improvement in service delivery performance
• Act as a point of escalation for all Business as Usual (BAU) incidents and problems to ensure service disruption is minimised and communication between all parties is managed
• Act as a Major Incident & Cyber Manager and be responsible for the co-ordination and communication of major incidents to reduce business impact and communicate progress to your stakeholders. This will involve rostered out of hours ‘On Call’
• Create, improve and maintain IT process documentation in line with the group processes
• Identify and assess risks to IT service delivery, and develop and implement mitigation strategies. Ensure compliance with relevant regulations and security policies. Feed into the group IT Risk Management process
• Provide regular reports on IT service performance, including key metrics and trends. Communicate effectively with stakeholders, including senior management, business users, and IT staff. Ensure actions are taken to improve service based on trend analysis reporting
• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of IT professionals. Set clear goals and objectives, provide regular feedback, and conduct performance reviews. Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning
• Develop and manage strategic relationships with key IT suppliers. Negotiate and manage contracts, ensuring service level agreements (SLAs) are met and value for money is achieved. Monitor supplier performance and address any performance issues. Conduct regular supplier reviews and ensure compliance with contractual obligations. Ensure contracts are renewed in a timely manner and managed within budget whilst  proactively managing vendor risks
• Contribute to the overall IT strategy, ensuring alignment with business objectives. Oversee the design and development of IT services, considering user needs, cost-effectiveness, supportability and scalability. Act as an evangelist to promote that best practice is implemented during service design to ensure correct alerting & monitoring, maximum service availability, graceful service failure processes, minimise risk of introducing new bugs and optimal supportability. Champion the adoption of new technologies and service delivery models
• Manage the transition of new or changed IT services into the operational environment, ensuring minimal disruption and optimal performance. Ensure service transitions are business-aligned by conducting (PIRs) and integrating business impact assessments. Oversee change management, release management, and knowledge management processes
• Lead the day-to-day operations of IT services, ensuring high availability, performance, and service levels in line with SLA expectation. Manage incident management, problem management, request fulfillment, change management, risk management and asset management processes. Drive continuous improvement in service delivery performance
• Act as a point of escalation for all Business as Usual (BAU) incidents and problems to ensure service disruption is minimised and communication between all parties is managed
• Act as a Major Incident & Cyber Manager and be responsible for the co-ordination and communication of major incidents to reduce business impact and communicate progress to your stakeholders. This will involve rostered out of hours ‘On Call’
• Create, improve and maintain IT process documentation in line with the group processes
• Identify and assess risks to IT service delivery, and develop and implement mitigation strategies. Ensure compliance with relevant regulations and security policies. Feed into the group IT Risk Management process
• Provide regular reports on IT service performance, including key metrics and trends. Communicate effectively with stakeholders, including senior management, business users, and IT staff. Ensure actions are taken to improve service based on trend analysis reporting
• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of IT professionals. Set clear goals and objectives, provide regular feedback, and conduct performance reviews. Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning

What you'll need:

• Extensive experience in IT modern service delivery management, with a proven track record of success
• Deep understanding of ITIL framework and experience implementing and managing ITIL processes
• Strong experience in supplier and contract management, including negotiation, performance monitoring, and relationship management
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills
• Proven ability to build and manage high-performing teams
• Experience with IT service management tools and technologies
• ITIL certification
• Strong analytical, reporting and problem-solving skills
• IT contract creation and renew cycle
• Track record in improving IT cost efficiency while enhancing service levels
• Experience with C suite level reporting and stake holder management
• Working in an augmented environment with in house, managed services and off shore teams

What we offer in return for your hard work and commitment...

• Free Bus & Coach travel for yourself on the National Express network
• Complimentary coach travel for a Nominated Person or complimentary bus travel for a Spouse or Partner on the National Express network
• Life Assurance
• Company pension
• Employee Assistance programme
• Private online GP service

National Express is committed to creating an inclusive workplace that reflects the diverse communities we serve and we positively encourage applications from all sectors of the community. 

We are a Disability Confident Committed employer and should you require any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process please let us know.

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we receive a high volume of applications before the advertised closed date.

Things to Note...

At National Express, we are really proud of our health and safety record and as a result, we operate a Drugs and Alcohol Policy which is applicable to all employees.

As part of your initial assessment, we will complete Drug and Alcohol testing and you may be subject to random tests during your employment.