Head of Service Operations and Assurance


Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Salary:	£73,025 to £94,356 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Edinburgh
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	10 Sept 2026
Closing date:	30 Sept 2026

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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!

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 integration and virtual assistant capabilities

ensure reliable reporting and management information to support service decisions and assurance.

About you

We are looking for a senior IT service operations leader with proven experience of improving live, business-critical technology services in a complex environment.

You must be able to operate strategically while retaining the technical credibility and operational judgement needed to lead Service Desk, ITSM platform, service operations and supplier performance.

You will need to show evidence of leading through service disruption, strengthening incident, problem and change practices, improving configuration and CMDB governance, and using operational data to drive and identify opportunities for measurable service improvement.

You will be confident setting direction for multidisciplinary teams, working constructively with senior stakeholders and suppliers, and holding others to account for service outcomes.

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