Front Office Systems Manager; Ticketing Systems

We are seeking a Front Office Systems & Devices Manager to lead the operational performance, support, and continuous improvement of customer-facing systems and field devices within a major public transport programme.

This role goes beyond traditional IT support - it requires ownership of live operational technology, including ticketing systems, validators, gates, kiosks, and other passenger-facing devices that are critical to daily service delivery.

You will lead a multi-disciplinary team responsible for ensuring high availability, rapid incident response, and seamless customer experience across all front office technology.

• Lead the end-to-end support and operation of front office systems and field devices, ensuring reliable performance across stations and customer environments.
• Oversee the delivery of L2 and L3 support services, with a strong focus on real-time operational impact and customer experience.
• Act as the senior escalation point for major incidents affecting ticketing systems, gates, validators, kiosks, and associated platforms, coordinating rapid resolution with engineering and field teams.
• Drive operational excellence across:
  • Incident management
  • Ticket prioritisation and queue management
  • Root cause analysis (RCA)
  • Service performance and uptime
• Work closely with field engineers, maintenance teams, and operational stakeholders to ensure effective resolution of hardware and software issues in live environments.
• Lead engagement with the client on:
  • System performance
  • Incident trends
  • Service improvements
  • Operational risks and mitigation
• Ensure systems meet contractual SLAs/KPIs, particularly those linked to customer availability and revenue protection.
• Identify and deliver continuous improvement initiatives, including system optimisation, reliability improvements, and operational efficiencies.
• Provide leadership and direction to a cross-functional team including team leaders, engineers, analysts, and support staff, ensuring alignment between IT, engineering, and operations.
• Support capacity planning, resource forecasting, and service readiness, ensuring resilience across peak operational periods.
• Produce regular performance reporting including dashboards, trend analysis, and improvement roadmaps.

Proven experience managing customer-facing technology in operational environments, such as:

• Ticketing / fare collection systems
• Gate or validator systems
• Self-service kiosks or vending machines
• Retail / POS / device-based environments
• Strong background in technical operations, service delivery, or support leadership (L2/L3), with exposure to both software and hardware systems.
• Experience managing live operational incidents where system downtime directly impacts customers or revenue.
• Demonstrated ability to work closely with field support teams and engineering functions, understanding the realities of device-based environments.

Strong understanding of:

• Incident and major incident management
• Root cause analysis (RCA)
• Service performance and KPI management
• Proven leadership experience managing multi-disciplinary teams across IT, engineering, and operations.

Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage confidently in customer-facing and operational discussions.

• Experience with in transport, ticketing, or revenue collection environments.
• Experience managing distributed devices or field technology estates.
• Knowledge of monitoring tools, service management platforms, and device diagnostics.
• Experience contributing to system upgrades, rollouts, or transformation programmes.

• Operationally minded with a strong focus on customer impact and service availability
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, high-availability environments
• Able to bridge the gap between IT systems and real-world operational delivery
• Proactive, analytical, and solution-oriented
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to drive accountability and performance

This is a critical role at the intersection of technology and operations, ensuring that the systems passengers rely on every day - from ticket purchase to gate access - function seamlessly