Head of IT Support
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
About the job
Job summary
Do you have what it takes to lead and inspire IT support teams towards peak service excellence and customer focus for critical lifesaving systems and services?
Can you drive and elevate best-in-class IT Support through data-driven insights and continuous service improvements?
If so, we are looking for a Head of IT Support to join us at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and we'd love to hear from you!
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) implements the government’s maritime safety policy in the United Kingdom and works to prevent the loss of life and occurrence of pollution on the coast and at sea.
Safer lives. Safer Ships. Cleaner Seas.
Our vision is to be a world-leading organisation, accelerating the transition to sustainable shipping with non-negotiable safety standards. We put our people, our customers and our planet at the heart of everything we do.
We welcome applications from all communities, and we don’t discriminate against any identity. We’re interested to hear from you, regardless of your background.
Job description
The Head of IT Support leads and motivates the IT Support teams (IT Service Desk and IT System Engineers) to meet optimum service levels, owns key IT Service Management processes, fostering a customer focused approach throughout all activity.
They are knowledgeable about service management tools and software, are committed to delivering service improvement across the people, processes and tools used across Service Operations.
The Head of IT Support is responsible for staffing levels, for developing skills and for motivating team members to deliver high quality and consistent support services.
They also act as a primary escalation point for incident management activities and produces insightful service reporting and metrics that drives and promotes continuous improvement into IT Support as a whole.
Your responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Leadership
- Provide leadership on the IT support Teams (IT Service Desk and IT Systems Engineers) and future strategy thoughts, presenting compelling improvement ideas, as well as risk management activity.
- Build an effective framework for managing and improving customer IT Support, developing single point of contact, data capture accuracy and managing SLA metrics as defined by the business.
- Provide necessary KPI metrics and trends, understand the metrics and use the insight to develop strategies to improve and gain efficiencies.
Service Operations
- Take the lead on successful undertaking of major incident processes, ensuring best in class communications to stakeholders and high quality reporting information is captured and shared.
- Role Model in excellent customer service skills with enthusiasm and energy across the team.
- Manage vendor relationships, tailor their service provision to meet emerging and changing business needs, assess KPI metrics and partner to ensure continuous service improvement.
Process adherence and optimisation
- Own, update and socialise IT Support processes (including Major Incident process).
- Drive Continuous Improvement and innovation into the Team, Processes and Products used.
For further information about the role and responsibilities, please see the attached role profile.
Person specification
About You
- To be successful in this role, we are looking for an individual that has experience of leadership within an IT Support environment.
- You will already have the experience of Managing a team, with demonstrated ability in coaching, mentoring and leadership skills.
- You can establish mechanisms to seek out and respond to feedback from customers about service provided. In addition, the ability to develop proposals to improve the quality of service with involvement from a diverse range of staff, stakeholders, or delivery partners.
- You will have an expert understanding of service reporting, service desk practices and capability to analyse problems and present solutions to management or the business. Additionally, knowledge of service strategy, design, transition, operation and continual service improvement is something that comes naturally to you.
- You will have a high attention to detail, consumer orientated in everything you do and bring the best to the team. In addition, you will be able to remain calm under pressure, be empathetic and confident dealing with escalations.
Additional Information
This role will be based in the Southampton HQ. MCA supports flexible working and operates a hybrid working model between home and office for this role, giving you greater flexibility over where and when you work.
The expectation is that you will spend a minimum 60% of your working time based at your principal workplace or out on official business. Details of the arrangement will be discussed further with your line manager.
This role requires the successful candidate to partake in the out of hours on call rota to cover high priority incidents outside of normal working hours.
This role also requires SC Clearance.
Please refer to the special features section on the role profile for further information.
Benefits
Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance.
Click here to get a copy of the MCA Staff Benefits Brochure
Find out what it's like to work at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Technical skills.How to Apply
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Please see the following details on how to apply.
Within your CV and personal statement please demonstrate your knowledge and experience of:
- Managing a team, where you have had to lead, motivate, coach, and mentor IT support teams.
- Working in an IT environment where you have specialised in incident management and problem management.
- Ability to analyse problems and present solutions to management or the business.
- Service strategy, design, transition, operation and continual service improvement.
Your personal statement will be limited to a maximum of 1,250 words.
It is essential when submitting your personal statement that you provide as much detail as possible, and utilise the full word count given, against the essential criteria outlined above as this will be used in conjunction with your CV to assess candidate suitability to move to the next round in the recruitment process.
Please note, we are working with MatchTech for this recruitment process.
To apply for this role, please click here to access the MatchTech portal where you will be asked to submit your CV and Personal Statement.
All applications will be collected by MatchTech (our recruitment partners), which will then be sent to MCA for internal sift.
The sift is due to take place from 27th February 2024.
Interviews/assessments are likely to be held w/c 11th March 2024.
This interview will be conducted via face to face at one of our Southampton office. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.
We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.
The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:
- An interview.
- A presentation.
As part of your interview you will be assessed against: Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework.
Reasonable Adjustments
As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Document Accessibility
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.
Further Information
For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.
Pre-employment Checking
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.