Senior Service Delivery Manager

Senior Service Delivery Manager

Full time, Hybrid - West Bromwich

We're looking for an experienced Senior Service Delivery Manager to join 848 Group Managed Services team, taking ownership of the strategic direction, governance, and performance of high-value managed service customer relationships. This is a senior, highly visible role where you'll operate as a trusted advisor to executive-level client stakeholders, ensuring services are commercially sound, operationally resilient, and continuously improving. You will lead service lifecycle governance, performance optimisation, financial management, and stakeholder engagement while influencing internal delivery teams, suppliers, and senior leadership. The successful candidate will spend 3-4 days per week on-site in West Bromwich (reviewed after the first 8 months), playing a critical role in driving service excellence, customer satisfaction, and sustainable growth.

Key responsibilities

Strategic Client Leadership & Engagement

• Act as a strategic advisor to senior and executive client stakeholders, providing insight-led recommendations that shape service direction and operational priorities
• Develop and maintain executive-level engagement plans that build trust, transparency, and long-term value
• Lead all service review meetings (regular and ad-hoc), providing clear performance insight, recommendations, and improvement actions
• Manage customer escalations and complaints, ensuring effective resolution and relationship recovery
• Deliver consistently high levels of service resulting in better-than-industry-average NPS and CSAT scores

Service Governance & Lifecycle Management

• Govern the full service lifecycle from service design and transition through steady-state delivery and continuous improvement
• Embed structured governance frameworks aligned to ITIL best practices and commercial obligations
• Ensure audit readiness, performance consistency, and contractual compliance across aligned services
• Provide governance oversight for all change activity, ensuring risk-aware and predictable implementation
• Lead client onboarding, offboarding, and service transition management

Service Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Establish, track, and optimise service performance baselines that evolve with client demand and service maturity
• Drive service performance improvements through data-driven insight and trend analysis
• Lead proactive problem management and early-intervention strategies to reduce service disruption
• Agree, document, and ensure delivery of customer Continuous Service Improvement (CSI) plans
• Facilitate cross-functional improvement workshops to accelerate the adoption of modern service management practices

Incident, Problem & Change Management

• Lead incident, request, and problem management processes to minimise business impact
• Invoke escalation and jeopardy management procedures where required
• Ensure accountable resolution pathways and timely service restoration
• Oversee post-incident investigations, including RCA, lessons learned, and corrective action plans
• Ensure customer-facing incident reports are clear, accurate, and understandable to non-technical audiences

Commercial & Financial Management

• Own financial management across service engagements, including forecasting, budget variance analysis, and contribution margin optimisation
• Ensure services remain financially viable and aligned to contract scope
• Influence EBITDA and revenue growth through effective profitability and cost management
• Ensure all managed service contracts are invoiced accurately
• Manage non-standard service requests end-to-end, from scoping and quoting through delivery and billing
• Support sales activity including bids, proposals, and client pitches

Supplier & Vendor Management

• Manage third-party supplier performance, ensuring contractual alignment and consistent service outcomes
• Facilitate multi-vendor engagements to unify delivery expectations and accountability
• Coordinate vendor involvement across incidents, changes, and service improvements

Leadership & Operational Oversight

• Provide leadership, direction, and coaching across service desk and operational delivery teams
• Oversee daily service desk operations, ensuring efficient queue management and workload distribution
• Drive capability development, succession planning, and workforce optimisation
• Develop, maintain, and evolve policies and procedures to deliver efficient and effective support
• Work closely with the Quality & Compliance team to ensure alignment with certification and regulatory standards

Innovation & Growth

• Champion an innovation-led culture that enhances service experience and cost efficiency
• Identify opportunities to solve customer business challenges using 848 Group technology solutions
• Keep customers informed of new products and services that may generate additional value
• Collaborate with 848 Group senior management on service and operational improvement initiatives

What we're looking for

Experience

• Proven experience in a Service Delivery Manager, Service Manager, or Senior Operations role
• Strong background in IT service management within a managed services environment
• Experience leading incident, problem, change, and vendor management processes
• Demonstrated experience managing senior client stakeholders and complex service environments
• Experience overseeing service desk operations and distributed delivery teams

Skills

• Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills
• Strong commercial and financial acumen
• Data-driven approach to service performance and decision-making
• Ability to lead, influence, and drive change across technical and non-technical teams
• Calm, structured approach to escalation and crisis management
• Strong organisational, governance, and risk management capabilities

Qualifications & Certifications

• ITIL v4 Foundation
  (or willingness to obtain within 6 months)
• GCSE English and Maths
• Full clean UK driving licence

Desirable certifications

• ITIL v4 Practitioner
• PRINCE2 Foundation / Practitioner
• Six Sigma
• AgilePM Foundation / Practitioner
• Technical baseline certifications (e.g. CompTIA Network+, Microsoft Fundamentals)

Security & Compliance

• Any offer is subject to the receipt of a satisfactory BPSS and Credit Checks ahead of your contract start date, and should there be a business requirement, the ability to gain Security Clearance, funded by the business

Bonus points if you also have

• Experience managing multi-vendor service environments
• Strong understanding of managed services commercial models
• Experience influencing EBITDA and margin optimisation
• Exposure to service transition and large-scale onboarding activities

Our employee value proposition

At 848 Group our people are at the heart of everything we do. Our People Strategy is designed to attract, develop, and retain top talent while fostering an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive in a diverse, engaged, and high-performing workforce where everyone feels valued and empowered to reach their full potential in a safe environment.

People are our spark - the force that drives progress, innovation, and service excellence. We believe that when our people thrive, so does our business. Our People Promise is our commitment to creating an experience where you feel supported, valued, and inspired to grow.

Whether you're new to the business or have been with us for years, we want you to feel confident in what you can expect from us, and what we're building together.

This is more than a strategy. It's how we work, lead, and grow, together.

Employee benefits

• Private healthcare, including dental, optical, stress counselling, and mental health support
• Unlimited holiday allowance (fair usage policy) + bank holidays
• Gifts for significant life events (getting married, buying first home, becoming a parent)
• 2 paid days a year for volunteering
• One-month full sick pay
• Discretionary bonuses