Deputy Director Enterprise IT Service Operations

Cardiff, Glasgow, London

Ofgem, the representative of energy consumers, ensures the provision of a secure, affordable, and eco-friendly energy supply for UK homes and businesses. Actively contributing to achieving Net Zero and a carbon-neutral energy system, we invite you, regardless of your role, to play a crucial part in developing customer-friendly and environmentally beneficial energy solutions, supporting a shared goal.

We are currently seeking a Deputy Director to lead a group of multi-disciplinary teams within a professional and flexible resourcing operating model.

As the Deputy Director, your responsibilities will include coordinating, supervising, and successfully executing a substantial work programme within established timeframes, budget constraints, and high-quality benchmarks. Efficiently managing and supporting multiple teams, you will demonstrate exceptional inclusive people and enterprise leadership, ongoing professional development, and commitment to Ofgem values.

You will contribute significantly to fostering the growth of colleagues and teams. Collaborating with the Personal Development Lead (PDL), you will ensure the well-being and pastoral care of all team members. Additionally, you will actively engage in promoting diversity and inclusion within your team and across the organisation.

The Deputy Director of Enterprise IT Service Operations will be responsible for overseeing the operational aspects of IT services, including platforms and digital products across the Ofgem estate during the Business as Usual (BAU) phase. This encompasses various services, such as Delivery and Schemes platform services and enterprise and colleague IT products.

The role involves addressing IT issues at Levels 1 and 2, escalating unresolved issues to platform/product owners, managing major incidents, and supporting service design and transition activities.

You will manage five key activities: service support design and assurance, IT systems change management, coordination of IT issue resolution and major incident management, and service monitoring and reporting across the IT estate. Leading a substantial in-house support team and fostering key relationships with suppliers, the role emphasises a collaborative “one team” culture to achieve objectives.

Ofgem offers flexible working practices, enabling a harmonious blend of professional and personal commitments. The organisation cultivates a positive culture, marked by an accessible and friendly senior leadership team devoted to aiding employees in their responsibilities. Ofgem actively nurtures an inclusive atmosphere that appreciates, reinforces, and commemorates the diverse perspectives and backgrounds of our workforce.

Join Ofgem to play a role in shaping the trajectory of energy regulation and sustainability. Apply now to become part of a dynamic team dedicated to making a positive impact on the future.

Lead a group of multi-disciplinary teams in the context of operating in a Professions and Flexible Resourcing operating model.

Plan, oversee and deliver a significant programme of work on time, on budget and to a high standard through effective management and support of multiple teams.

Demonstrate exceptional inclusive people and enterprise leadership, ongoing professional development and commitment to Ofgem values.

Key Responsibilities:  

Delivery of a significant programme of work and managing and co-ordinating successful outcomes across teams, Ofgem and professions

• Develops, plans and delivers work outcomes, including clear and transparent work objectives, milestones and success metrics.
• Accountable for agreeing and delivering on budget and resource requirements.
• Responsible for building and supporting the teams delivering the work including effective scoping of work and setting of clear responsibilities.
• Encourages and supports development of colleagues within profession and teams
• Jointly responsible with the Personal Development Lead (PDL) on welfare and pastoral care of all colleagues.
• Effectively undertakes appropriate and necessary D&I focus within their team and the wider organisation.

Key Outputs and Deliverables

Enterprise Service Operations is accountable for managing the operation of IT services (i.e. platforms and digital products) across the Ofgem estate once they go into BAU. This includes Delivery and Schemes platform services, enterprise and colleague IT products and involves resolving IT issues (Level 1 and Level 2 support), escalations to the platform / product owners if issues cannot be resolved by Service Operations, managing major incidents and supporting service design and transition activities.

Specifically, the Enterprise Service Operations DD’s accountabilities involve managing and executing the five main activities conducted by the Enterprise Service Operations unit:

• Service support design and assurance (including service transition planning)
• IT systems change management (including change and release management, acting as a ‘gatekeeper’ for anything that goes into BAU)
• Coordination of IT issue resolution (L1 and L2 support) and major incident management
• Service monitoring and reporting across the IT estate

The role involves management of a large in-house support team as well as maintaining key working relationships with suppliers. The successful applicant will be expected to ensure that Enterprise Service Operations has a collaborative “one team” culture and approach to meeting its objectives.

Key accountabilities:

• Lead cross-functional teams to deliver Ofgem’s Technology Operations vision, including translating it into actionable goals with associated KPIs

• Ensure the effective day-to-day delivery of IT services to Ofgem colleagues and wider users of our services, including driving excellent execution of the unit’s four main activities as described below:

• Service Support Design and Assurance: Leading, planning and coordinating IT Service Transition activities in conjunction with platform / product owners (e.g., creating a plan for how new services will be onboarded onto BAU)

• IT systems change management: Planning, approving and managing requests for changes to IT systems. Includes chairing key change management forums and managing stakeholders impacted by the change

• IT issue resolution: Running Level 1 and Level 2 support teams, including engaging external suppliers, to resolve issues where possible. Escalate incidents to product / platform teams where more specialist knowledge is required and coordinate the resolution of all major incidents with the relevant subject matter experts

• Service monitoring and reporting: Own the Management Information regarding live services across the IT estate. This includes collation of the data, monitoring the service performance, identifying trends and escalating issues to the relevant platform / product owners. Regular reporting on service performance will also be required (e.g., for Director and Director General Meetings)

• Maintain strong relationships with Service Operations suppliers (e.g., Microsoft), including monitoring supplier performance and holding suppliers to account for delivering on the agreed SLAs and other operational contractual requirements

• Act as the main point of contact for business stakeholders on anything related to IT operations, including follow-ups on individual live issues and producing updates / briefing materials as required for senior stakeholders

• Refine the future operating model for the Enterprise Service Operations directorate as needed, in alignment with Technology-wide operating model principles

• Lead effective budget planning, financial management and resource management across Enterprise Service Operations, including directing recruitment as needed

• Ensure learning and development within the wider profession meets Technology standards, contributing to Technology-wide efforts to increasingly place learning and development at the heart of what we do so that we can embed our colleague commitments of encouraging learning and growth, celebrating diversity and inclusion, and championing care and support.

Key Corporate Responsibilities

• Contributes to development of Directorate and Ofgem strategic programmes and partners with senior leadership to prioritise work and resources to deliver effectively across Ofgem.
• Represents Ofgem across Government and the Energy sector to promote and advocate for Ofgem policies and priorities.
• Set the strategic direction of the function and provide intellectual leadership.
• Strategic workforce planning – to recruit, develop, and deploy staff within the function to meet the organisation’s strategic priorities.

• Supports Ofgem’s Professions model, providing professional mentoring, development, leadership and thought across postholder’s relevant professional disciplines

Professional Development Lead (PDL)

• Mentors and coaches staff on personal and professional development.
• Collates 360 degree feedback from staff’s colleagues in a thorough and timely manner holding colleagues to account for providing high quality feedback.
• Assesses feedback against the behavioural framework and recommends overall performance rating to the Head of Profession based on sound, constructive and inclusive evidence.
• Delivers high impact and empathetic performance conversations with staff for effective performance management including poor performers.
• Acts as first point of contact in the event of deployment disputes prior to escalation to the Head of Profession.
• Advises staff on deployment opportunities as needed.

• Supporting deployment choices, as part of flexible resourcing.
• Performance management and assessment.

• Extensive knowledge and experience of developing, deploying and operating a number of IT service management models (Lead)
• Extensive knowledge of and experience of operating service delivery in a hybrid model of outsourced and internally developed services (Lead)
• Knowledge of ITIL V3/V4 or associated delivery models (e.g., Service Continuity, Change and Release Management, Service Transition, Asset and Configuration Management, Problem, Capacity, Availability), with demonstrable experience of applying to deliver great business outcomes.
• Establishing a service management KPI and monitoring framework to baseline service expectations and give a structure to identify improvements and progress service quality and outcomes
• Demonstrable leadership skills, with a clear ability to prioritise, support, coach and mentor. Ability to translate strategic priorities into operational delivery.
• Experience of taking an existing Service Operation and evolving it to match new business need, resolving extant organisational issues, and working with other business stakeholders to gain support for a change in service management approach.

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership
• Managing a Quality Service

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Please see Candidate Pack for Details.

Alongside your salary of £75,000, OFGEM contributes
£20,250 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Ofgem can offer you a comprehensive and competitive benefits package which includes; 30 days annual leave after 2 years; Excellent training and development opportunities; The opportunity to join the generous Civil Service pension which also includes a valuable range of benefits; Hybrid working (currently 1 day a week in the office but is in review), flexible working hours and family friendly policies. Plus lots of other benefits including clean and bright offices based centrally, engaged networks and teams and an opportunity to contribute to our ambitious and important targets of establishing a Net Zero energy system by 2050. This exciting blend of professional challenge and personal reward identifies career opportunities at Ofgem as something to get excited about.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 2 years. An assignment duration
is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them
to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through
building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above.
This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions.
Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and
conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your
personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any
absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you
to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available.
You may want to save a copy for your records.

Job contact :

• Name : Sandra Segal
• Email : recruitment@ofgem.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ofgem.gov.uk