Service Operations Lead

Service Operations Lead

£60,144 - £63,535

Full Time (Hybrid)

Are you an experienced IT service management professional with a passion for delivering high-quality technology services and driving continuous improvement? Do you enjoy leading teams, managing operational performance and building strong stakeholder relationships? If so, we may have the perfect opportunity for you.

We’re looking for a proactive and customer-focused Service Operations Lead to oversee the delivery, performance and continual improvement of IT services across the Fund’s Systems function. Working in a collaborative and evolving environment, you’ll play a key role in ensuring services are reliable, secure and aligned to business needs, while helping shape and mature our service management capability for the future.

About WMPF

WMPF is one of the UK’s largest pension funds providing local authority pension benefits for employees across the West Midlands. We manage and administer the pension interests of over 330,000 scheme members, 800+ employers and currently have over £21 billion in assets under management.

We are recruiting for Service Operations Lead to join our continually growing Systems Service area. Our brand-new offices are based at the i9 building in Wolverhampton and is an excellent location for transport links by car, bus, train and tram.

As Service Operations Lead, you’ll play a central role in ensuring the smooth, secure and efficient delivery of IT services that support the Fund’s operational and strategic objectives. Working closely with internal teams, suppliers and stakeholders, you’ll lead a proactive service management function focused on reliability, resilience and continuous improvement.

Your day could include overseeing service performance, leading major incident resolution, managing supplier relationships, improving operational processes and supporting the successful transition of new services into live operation. You’ll also provide leadership to the Service Operations team, helping to build a collaborative, customer-focused and high-performing culture.

• Leading the day-to-day delivery and continual improvement of IT service operations across the Systems function
• Managing and developing ITIL-aligned processes including incident, problem, change, service request and service level management
• Building and maintaining a comprehensive Service Catalogue to ensure services are operationally ready and effectively supported
• Monitoring service performance against SLAs, OLAs and KPIs, identifying opportunities for improvement and reducing operational risk
• Coordinating the response to major incidents and ensuring timely resolution, communication and root cause analysis
• Driving proactive problem management and continual service improvement initiatives
• Supporting effective change and release governance to minimise disruption to live services
• Managing operational relationships with third‑party suppliers and key stakeholders, including the Pension Administration provider and City of Wolverhampton Council interfaces
• Producing clear service performance reporting and operational insights for senior management
• Leading, coaching and developing the Service Operations team to deliver excellent customer‑focused outcomes
• Ensuring compliance with governance, information security and regulatory requirements within a regulated environment

We’re looking for an experienced IT service management professional with a strong background in leading operational service delivery within a medium-to-large or regulated environment. You’ll bring excellent leadership, stakeholder management and problem‑solving skills, alongside a passion for service excellence and continual improvement. You’ll be confident managing competing priorities, influencing others and driving positive change across teams and suppliers.

You will also have:

• Significant experience in IT service leadership and operational management
• Strong knowledge of ITIL principles and service management best practice
• Experience managing incident, problem, change and service level management processes
• The ability to build strong relationships with…