IT Service Delivery Manager

Service Delivery Manager
Location: Hybrid at Newcastle (3 days/week)
Employment Type Full-Time
Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced and proactive Service Manager to oversee the performance, stability, and continuous improvement of business-critical applications and services within the Service Group. The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring effective incident and problem resolution, managing service performance against agreed SLAs, and acting as a key liaison between technical support teams, delivery teams, and client stakeholders.
The Service Manager will play a pivotal role in maintaining operational excellence, leading major incident management activities, driving service improvements, and ensuring a seamless transition of new services into production.
Key Responsibilities Service Operations & Incident Management
Own and drive incident and problem management activities across the Service Group.
Monitor service performance, application availability, and operational stability in production environments.
Lead the resolution of Priority 1 (P1) and Priority 2 (P2) incidents, coordinating technical teams to restore services within SLA targets.
Actively participate in and lead major incident bridge calls, providing timely updates to stakeholders and clients.
Ensure production incidents are managed effectively and escalated appropriately based on business impact and priority.Service Performance & Reporting
Track, analyse, and report on service performance metrics, trends, and KPIs.
Produce weekly and monthly service reports, including Monthly Service Reviews (MSRs) for client presentation.
Identify service risks and recommend actions to improve performance and reliability.
Ensure compliance with contractual SLAs and operational objectives.Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management
Coordinate and direct support teams to prioritise work effectively and address critical issues.
Collaborate with technical, delivery, and business stakeholders to ensure alignment on service priorities.
Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, providing clear communication on operational performance and ongoing initiatives.
Deputise for the Service Lead when required.Continuous Service Improvement
Identify opportunities to improve service quality, operational efficiency, monitoring, and alerting capabilities.
Drive Continuous Service Improvement (CSI) initiatives to reduce incident volumes and improve customer experience.
Support the implementation of process enhancements, automation, and best practice service management methodologies.Change & Transition Management
Partner with delivery and project teams to understand upcoming releases and business changes.
Support the successful transition of new services and applications into live operations.
Ensure service readiness processes are followed and operational support requirements are clearly defined.Required Skills & Experience
Proven experience in a Service Manager, IT Service Delivery Manager, Application Support Manager, or similar role.
Strong understanding of ITIL Service Management principles and practices.
Demonstrated experience managing major incidents, problem management, and service operations.
Experience producing service performance reports, KPIs, and client-facing dashboards.
Strong stakeholder management and communication skills with the ability to engage at all levels.
Experience managing support teams and coordinating cross-functional technical resources.
Ability to work effectively in high-pressure environments and make decisions during critical incidents.
Knowledge of SLA management and operational governance.Preferred Qualifications
ITIL Foundation or higher certification.
Experience within enterprise application support environments.
Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools such as Splunk, Dynatrace, AppDynamics, SolarWinds, or similar.
Experience working within large-scale managed services or consulting environments.Key Competencies
Leadership & Team Management
Incident & Problem Management
Client & Stakeholder Engagement
Service Delivery Excellence
Analytical & Data-Driven Decision Making
Continuous Improvement Mindset
Communication & Influencing Skills
Risk & Escalation Management
Only candidates based in UK and eligible to work in UK are allowed