Head of IT Service Management

• Salary: up to £130K + annual bonus & benefits
• Work Level: 3 – Certified role
• Location: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, London, Welwyn Garden City or Reigate, Permanent
• Office Attendance: Our hybrid working model gives you the best of both worlds - flexibility to work from home and valuable face-to-face time with colleagues. This role typically requires 2 days per week onsite.
• Closing Date: applications close on 27/11/2026 at 5pm.

The role

We're recruiting a Head of IT Service Management. This role is responsible for the leadership, governance, performance and continual improvement of IT services across Tesco Insurance and Money Services. Reporting into the CIO, this is a technology leadership position whereby you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to all areas of technology strategy, change and innovation.

This includes services provided to internal colleagues, 3rd party partners (including the wider Tesco Group) and external customers. You’ll ensure that business-critical services (often 24/7) are delivered in line with agreed service levels, regulatory obligations and customer expectations, while driving operational excellence, high levels of IT service resilience, availability and recovery metrics according to predefined SLAs.

These services are delivered via internal resources, a strategic outsourcing partner and other 3rd parties. The role will take ownership and accountability for all elements of IT service delivery and continuity ensuring that internal and outsourced service providers deliver stable, secure and high-quality services to meet business and regulatory needs.

What you’ll be doing

• Providing strategic leadership and assurance across all core ITIL-aligned service management disciplines including incident, problem, change, IT Service Continuity (ITSC), service desk and Risk & Renewal management.
• A good understanding of all areas of technology infrastructure, including compute, networks, cloud, applications and EUC.
• Acting as a key interface between business stakeholders, technology teams and third-party service providers, you’ll ensure clear accountability and effective governance, and that services deliver agreed outcomes and provide a great colleague and customer experience.
• Defining and implementing the IT Service Management strategy, ensuring alignment with organisational goals, SLAs, performance metrics and technology objectives.
• Owning and managing the effective generation, forecasting and expenditure of all IT Service operational related budgets including 3rd party spend.
• Building trusted relationships with senior business stakeholders, acting as the primary escalation and engagement point for service-related issues.
• Leading, coaching and developing a high-performing service management team.
• Building capability and fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous learning.
• Owning the IT Service Continuity framework and associated assurance activities. Ensure robust continuity plans are in place for critical IT services, aligned with business requirements and recovery objectives.
• Managing currently deployed services, as well as the transition in/out of any future services.
• Responsible for robust leadership and governance across incident, problem and change management processes.
• Providing governance and assurance of Service Desk and End User Support services.

What we’re looking for (minimum criteria)

• Wide and deep experience in IT Service Management providing expert competence, using ITIL best practice. Deep understanding of incident, problem, change, and service continuity management.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to convey complex information clearly.
• Demonstrable ability to build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders across multiple levels of an organisation.
• Significant experience planning, managing and organising teams/resources to meet medium long term business requirements.
• Demonstrable ability to establish governance frameworks, service review structures, KPI reporting and executive service dashboards.

And if you have any of these, even better

• Demonstrable success driving service improvements through automation, process optimisation and performance analytics.
• Experience working within a regulated /financial services, highly customer centric environment.

We welcome applications from everyone. If you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every requirement, we’d still love to hear from you.

What’s in it for you?

• A generous pension, with up to 15% employer contribution, depending on what you put in.
• Private Medical Insurance, health screening (every 2 years) and virtual GP Service for you and your family.
• Critical illness insurance
• Performance related annual bonus.
• Car allowance or interest free car loan.
• 7.2 weeks holiday, with the opportunity to buy more.
• Colleague Clubcard discount (10-15% + second card to share with someone else).
• Enhanced parental leave.
• Opportunities to Save and Buy as you earn.
• A place to get on - take advantage of our ongoing learning opportunities to help you achieve the job and career you want.

Interview info

As a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2), we’re committed to creating an accessible and supportive environment for all. We offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, including interviews, to ensure every candidate has a fair opportunity to succeed.

We also know the importance of balancing work with life’s other commitments. Please talk to us at interview about the flexibility you need, as we’re committed to exploring part time and flexible working opportunities, at every level of the organisation.

Interviews are expected to be held after closing date.