IT Service Manager: Secondary

We are looking to appoint three IT Service Managers to join our Central Team, supporting our secondary sites.

The IT Service Manager will be an escalation point for day to day desktop support issues, providing high-quality IT assistance to the academies in your care. You will also work with the Academy Senior Leadership teams (SLT), IT Technicians and the Central ICT Team to ensure that centrally hosted IT services are delivered, maintained and supported in accordance with existing SLAs.

About Us

The Harris Federation is a leading education charity with 51 Harris primary and secondary academies across London and Essex. The founder, Chairman and sponsor of the Harris Federation, Lord Harris of Peckham, opened our first school in 1990. We now educate some 38,000 young people and closing the gap between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers has always been a core mission. 

The Harris Federation has a track record of accomplishment in achieving success through rapid school improvement and has built an unrivalled reputation for running outstanding academies in London. 

Our central team comprises of a dedicated, driven group of departments working centrally to provide support across the Federation and all of our academies. Across a multitude of key departments, we maintain an outstanding body of staff all integral to supporting central and academy finance, HR, Data, Estates management, Talent and many more. We look for dedicated experts in their fields to support the . If you are a committed leader in your role and would like to join the administration and operational development of a highly successful multi-academy trust, then this may be the opportunity for you.

Main Areas of Responsibility

Your main areas of responsibility will be:

Incident, Request and Problem Management

• To provide high-quality technical support, advice and guidance to the staff and students at the Academies in your care.
• To ensure that all Academy IT support needs are logged appropriately on the Service Management system.
• To ensure that Academy IT support tickets are resolved within the target resolution time as dictated by the SLA.
• To retain ownership of escalated IT support tickets and ensure local staff are regularly informed of the status of their ticket.
• To re-route or escalate IT support tickets to the appropriate team and work with 3rd line support, Project Managers and the relevant stakeholders to achieve resolution.
• To identify and implement workarounds for desktop related problems and document these within the Knowledge Base.
• Identify recurring IT incidents and perform root cause analysis to identify the underlying cause.
• Coordinate Incident tracking efforts and notification to Customers through the service desk; maintain regular communications with the appropriate local staff until Incident resolution.
• Raise Change Requests (RFC’s) as necessary to implement permanent solutions and prevent future incidents occurring.
• Notify the key contacts within the Academies in your care upon detection of a major incident affecting the delivery or operation of any centrally hosted service.

Service Support

• Manage and coordinate the support efforts of the local IT Technicians at the academies in your care.
• Be an escalation point for complex IT issues, where a higher level of knowledge, skill, experience and permissions are required to achieve resolution.
• Provide day to day support for systems or services in each Academy (Access Control, CCTV etc.), either remotely or during site visits.
• Assist with the imaging, deployment and maintenance of Windows 10 PCs, Laptops, Tablets, iPads and related endpoint devices.
• Assist with the installation, configuration and maintenance of computer peripheral equipment multifunctional printers, Interactive whiteboards (IWB’s) and Projectors, ensuring that this hardware is regularly tested and ready for use when required.
• Assist with the installation and testing of new software and software updates / upgrades, always ensuring compliance with software licensing regulations.
• To install, configure and maintain VoIP telephones.
• Ensure the anti-virus software is correctly installed, updated and maintained on all workstations and servers.

Qualifications & Experience

The successful candidate will:

• Be a confident communicator at all levels, with excellent spoken and written communication skills.
• Be self-motivated, with a can-do attitude and a strong commitment to delivering results.
• Have the ability to self-manage, organise, prioritise and work under pressure during troubleshooting and problem-solving.
• Demonstrate a track record of balancing priorities and working to strict timescales to deliver results on time and to a high quality in a fast-paced, constantly changing environment.
• Be flexible, adaptable and capable of handling the various pressures and demands associated with this highly customer-focussed ICT support role.
• Have good knowledge of Microsoft products, including Office 365 and Office 2016, SharePoint and other desktop-related software products.
• Have excellent troubleshooting and resolution skills, backed by a clear, analytical approach to problem solving.
• Be able to react quickly and effectively to issues and opportunities.

This is not a complete list of responsibilities and should be read in conjunction with the full job description and person specification provided in the Job Pack.

Rewards & Benefits

Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level to senior leadership.

We look for talented individuals who share our vision for creating exceptional places of learning, and are committed to ensuring that every child in London has access to the best possible education.

In addition to the opportunities for career progression, training and development, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes our Harris Allowance, a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme, a Wellbeing Cash Plan and many other benefits.

Safeguarding Notice

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share in this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed for all applicants. Before applying, please review our Policy Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders.

Equal Opportunities

The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

As a provider of employment and education, we value the diversity of our staff and students, and all our staff are equally valued and respected. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment for our students and staff.