Senior Service Manager (Service Toolsets)
Job summary
Digital Operations and Service Management (DOSM) sits within the Technology Digital and Data Directorate of the new NHS England, which has brought together Health Education England, NHS Digital, NHS England and NHS Improvement into one single organisation.
The Technology Digital and Data Directorate vision is to deliver the best care and outcomes for the NHS and people that it serves, by improving population health and patient pathways, rapidly adopting effective technologies, building on insights from data and cutting-edge research, and by transforming the way that care is delivered.
DOSM operates and manages business critical infrastructure, and digital and data services, that underpin the health and social care system. We ensure the highest levels of reliability and availability of national digital and technology services, so that they can be relied upon by the NHS and social care system.
Our aim is to prevent system disruption but, if it does occur, to restore service as quickly as possible. We coordinate complex operational activities across environments, teams and organisations in order to achieve this.
Main duties of the job
As a Senior Service Manager (Service Toolsets) within our ServiceNow team you would be responsible for the operational leadership, governance, security and continual improvement of NHS England's enterprise ServiceNow platform.
The role leads a blended team of NHS England and supplier resources, ensuring platform availability, resilience, compliance and performance whilst overseeing releases, upgrades, security management, supplier governance and service improvement activities. The post holder will work with senior stakeholders across Technology and Digital to support the delivery of critical national services and strategic transformation programmes.
About us
NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.
Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms -- enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.
In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.
If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR).This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
We cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.
Job description
Job responsibilities
You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
Important: Please be aware there are residency requirements you need to meet:
All NHS England Technology personnel must hold Security Clearance (SC) level as a minimum.
To meet National Security Vetting requirements, SC clearances require 5 years continuous UK residency. In certain cases, this can be reduced to three years continuous UK residency, with additional overseas checks for the previous two years.
Candidates who were posted abroad for service with HM Government, Armed Forces or within a UK government role - will still be considered.Please make sure you meet these requirements before applying for this role.
You dont need to have Security Clearance (SC) already, however, failure to achieve the requirements for Security Clearance (SC) after offer, will result in the job offer being withdrawn.
For further advice please check https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels#security-check-sc or contact england.securityvetting@nhs.net.
Person Specification
Knowledge & Experience
- Specialist knowledge of various methodologies used to manage IT and Digital services and an ability to tailor methodologies and management practices dependant on the characteristics of the service being delivered.
- Broad knowledge of techniques and approaches that can be used to deliver value, such as Agile, DevOps and Lean.
- Broad understanding of managing products and services across the lifecycle.
- Extensive knowledge of evolving and emerging technologies used to deliver IT and Digital Services and ability to adapt management practices to those emerging technologies.
Skills
- Allocates responsibilities and/or packages of work, including supervisory responsibilities. Delegates responsibilities as appropriate.
- Manages aspects of the product lifecycle enabling the product to meet the needs of customers/users and achieve financial or other targets. Acts as product owner for one or more lower-value products or services; prioritises product requirements and owns a product backlog.
- Drafts and maintains procedures and documentation for applications support. Manages application enhancements to improve business performance. Advises on application security, licensing, upgrades, backups, and disaster recovery needs.
- Leads the assessment, analysis, planning and design of release packages, including assessment of risk. Liaises with business and IT partners on release scheduling and communication of progress.
Qualifications
- A master's degree or equivalent experience.
- TIL Practitioner, VeriSM Foundation or equivalent experience.
- Evidence of continuous professional development
- Recognised Management qualification or equivalent experience.
Interpersonal Skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to vary style and content appropriately to address the needs of diverse audiences.
- Proven ability to create, develop and manage teams effectively.
- Proven ability to motivate people and harmonise diverse and sometimes conflicting viewpoints.
- The ability to foster a collaborative environment that prioritises learning and development
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Employer details
Employer name
NHS England
Address
Wellington Place - Leeds & Hexagon House - Exeter
Leeds/Exeter
LS1 4AP
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/working-for/