Head of IT service management

Band 8b · IT service manager · 594 job evaluation points

UK GDaD PCF level: Head of IT service management

Most often performed at Civil Service grade G7 or G6.

A head of IT service management is responsible for setting the vision and strategy for service management, ensuring processes are owned and maturing.
At this role level, you will:
lead a team, ensuring adequate resources and capacity
represent the IT service management function at a senior level
act as an escalation point for business stakeholders

Contains public sector information from the UK Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (https://understand-digital-data-roles-skills.service.gov.uk/), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.

Responsibilities

Set the vision, strategy, and operating model for IT service management across the organisation.
Make sure every service management process has an owner and keeps maturing.
Represent IT service management at senior level, including at clinical and operational governance meetings.
Act as the senior escalation point for clinical and corporate service leaders.
Make sure the service management function has the people, tools, and budget it needs.

Skills

Skill	Expected level	What this level means
Asset and configuration managementUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: manage configuration management for the organisation, ensuring value for the business and adherence to company policies ensure that changes to assets are recorded and controlled appropriately advocate organisational commitment to asset control
Business analysis (IT operations)UK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead investigative work into problems and opportunities in existing processes lead the collection of information and creation of recommendations for improvements absorb large amounts of conflicting information and use it to produce solutions
Continual service improvementUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: analyse current processes, and identify and implement opportunities to optimise them lead and develop a team of experts to deliver service improvements help to evaluate and establish requirements for the implementation of changes by setting policy and standards
IT service reportingUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: use data analytics skills to make decisions that enhance business performance
Ownership and initiativeUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: take accountability for issues that occur and be proactive in searching for potential problems achieve excellent user outcomes
Service management framework knowledgeUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: show you have an expert certificate in the service management framework qualification demonstrate an industry understanding of how to implement the framework into numerous environments
Stakeholder relationship management (IT operations)UK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: manage long-term strategic relationships with stakeholders, identifying where new connections need to be made and existing ones nurtured direct the strategic approach for stakeholder relationships, establishing stakeholder objectives and ensuring these are clearly represented act as a point of escalation if stakeholder relationships break down or become challenging for more junior members of the team influence important senior stakeholders and arbitrate when blockers are escalated facilitate discussions across high risk and complex areas or projects under constrained timelines
Strategic thinkingUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: lead the design and implementation of strategy, directing the evaluation of strategies and policies to ensure business requirements are being met
Technical understandingUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: show a thorough understanding of the technical concepts required for the role, and can explain how these fit into the wider technical landscape
User focusUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: give direction on which tools or methods to use demonstrate experience in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure they're met by the business apply strategic thinking to provide the best service for the end user
Understanding health and care servicesThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: analyse how a service fits into care pathways across organisations work with clinicians, care staff, and patients to shape digital services explain the effect of digital decisions on care, safety, and staff workload
Information governance and data protectionThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead data protection impact assessments and information sharing agreements advise teams on lawful basis, consent, confidentiality, and retention investigate incidents and recommend improvements
Clinical risk managementThis reference	Working (2)	You can: take part in hazard workshops and contribute to a hazard log follow the clinical risk management process for your work provide evidence for a clinical safety case, such as test results
Organisational risk managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: run the risk process for a directorate or programme assess risks against the risk appetite and escalate them report on risks to committees
People managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: line manage a team, setting objectives and running appraisals support wellbeing and manage attendance, performance, and conduct plan the team's development and succession
Budget managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: hold and manage a budget, forecasting and explaining variances build a business case with costs and benefits

Typical qualifications and experience

Extensive experience of leading IT service management in a large or complex organisation.

Band 8b outline

Knowledge: Expert knowledge across several disciplines or a large service.
Autonomy: Shapes policy and strategy for a large area.
Scope: Several services or teams, or a principal-level discipline.
Leadership: Manages managers, or is the principal authority in a discipline.
Accountability: Several services, their staff, and their budgets.

Job evaluation (illustrative)

Factor	Level	Level summary	Points
Communication and relationship skills	5	Gives highly complex or contentious information needing developed persuasion and negotiation, presents to large groups, or communicates where there are significant barriers to acceptance.	45
Knowledge, training, and experience	7	Highly developed specialist knowledge across the range of the specialism (master's level or equivalent).	196
Analytical and judgemental skills	5	Judgements on highly complex facts or situations needing analysis, interpretation, and comparison of options.	60
Planning and organisational skills	5	Forms long-term strategic plans, with uncertainty and effects across the organisation.	60
Physical skills	2	Skills gained through practice, such as standard keyboard use or driving.	15
Responsibility for patient and client care	1	Helps patients, clients, or relatives during incidental contact.	4
Responsibility for policy and service development	4	Implements policy and develops policy or services for a service or several areas.	32
Responsibility for financial and physical resources	4	Holds or sets the budget for a department or service, or buys or maintains its assets.	32
Responsibility for people	4	Line manages a function or department, designs training programmes as a main duty, or delivers a full range of HR services.	32
Responsibility for information resources	5	Designs and develops major information systems, or runs information systems for several services as the main duty.	34
Responsibility for research and development	2	Regularly does research, development, trials, or equipment and system testing as part of the job.	12
Freedom to act	5	Works within general policies, and in most cases decides how to interpret them.	45
Physical effort	1	Sitting, standing, and walking, with little physical effort.	3
Mental effort	3	Frequent concentration on unpredictable work, or occasional prolonged concentration.	12
Emotional effort	1	Rare exposure, or occasional indirect exposure, to distressing circumstances.	5
Working conditions	2	Occasional unpleasant conditions, frequent travel or outdoor work, or near-continuous screen use on most days.	7
Total (Band 8b: 585 to 629)			594