Manager IT Service Management Office

Department: IT Technology Support Svcs

Salary/Grade: ITS/83

Target hiring range for this position will be between $125,220-153,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data

Job Summary

Manager, IT Service Management (ITSM) provides organizational leadership in design, implementation and improvement of mission-critical IT service management (ITSM) processes across the institution. Be an exceptional leader and change agent. This position will collaborate across the organization and help bring disparate teams together into a more cohesive unit operating with consistent service support processes and practices. Key responsibilities include ITSM process roadmap development; lead and/or co-chair ITSM governance groups, garner executive commitment for process driven service management initiatives, provide leadership and consulting services for process design & implementation initiatives. This role is also responsible for providing IT senior leadership with cross-process KPIs along with data-backed recommendations for continuous process and service improvement. This role will lead a team of 5 FTE's to implement approved process improvements across all stakeholders, identify and implement ITSM platforms including service desk tools for process automation and instill a culture of service excellence.

General Duties

• Lead strategic service management planning to achieve business goals by prioritizing service delivery initiatives and coordinating the evaluation, deployment, and management of current and future service management efforts.
• Collaborate with the appropriate departments to develop and maintain a service management roadmap that supports organizational needs.
• Develop and communicate business/technology alignment plans to IT management team, staff, partners, customers, and stakeholders.
• Assist and support the use of unified ITSM tools; including design, testing, and process implementation.
• Accounting and budgeting for Service Management function and associated platforms.
• Develop, lead and inspire the team. Be a magnet for talent and accelerate the hiring of strong contributors to the team. Solidify succession plans and enhance management capabilities to meet strategic and operating objectives of the department.

Principal Accountabilities

• Service/Process Leadership
• Develop and maintain a ITSM road map
• Lead and/or co-chair ITSM governance groups.
• Design, implement, manage and continuously improve core ITSM processes across all stakeholders
• Communicate and champion ITSM and process improvement initiatives within the IT division and across the university.
• Identify roles and responsibilities to support processes
• Identify and implement necessary service support tools including ITSM platform in support of the process automation
• Provide leadership teams with tactical and strategic recommendations based on process KPIs
• Develop, implement and manage process compliance
• Audit documentation of core processes to insure cross-process continuity, alignment with continuous improvement roadmap
• Mentor other process managers (within and outside of ITSM team)
• Create all Service management reports for distribution to Management
• Provide necessary training and support

Operational Support

• Responsible for process support activities; maintain process deliverables.
• Facilitate operational meetings in relation to regular process activities
• Measures, interprets and analyze data collected in the service management tool to prepare reports and statistics for use by management to identify historic trends. Identify areas to focus customer education and training activities
• Provides information that allows support processes to be optimized, incidents to be reduced, and management planning to be carried out
• Recommends changes in operation of the service support functions to respond to changing customer requirements/expectations and to improve management of customer service issues.
• Assist with other departmental activities as required to maintain required levels of service to our customers
• Interact with customers regularly to build relationships and ensure customer satisfaction through Quality & Service Value
• Lead process improvement teams
• Project Leadership
• Accountable for all ITSM projects - Initiate, plan, build, control and close.
• Work closely With Project Management Office to apply project management principles and industry best practices to all approved projects
• Lead and participate in project scope development, project status reporting, schedules project execution, manage vendor performance and customer expectations, and facilitate meetings. Interact closely with the PMO for planning and status reporting
• Coordinate IT resources for project and operational support

Supervises & Manages

• Provide work direction and/or supervise staff such as subordinates, contractors, vendors, students, etc.
• Provide leadership and guidance in organization development towards a high performing team focused on improving customer experience.
• Day to day management of service management team for efficient and effective use of resources
• Provide supervisory responsibilities to develop and grow a high performing team - talent management, performance evaluations, staff development
• Motivate and guide team members to continuously improve performance deliverables.
• Foster a team atmosphere within the organization and other departments by interacting with others in an honest and straightforward manner, listening to and valuing the opinions and ideas of others, sharing knowledge, and helping others to accomplish goals
• Respond flexibly & positively to change through active involvement
• Work with other IT staff in functional or cross-functional teams to meet goals, objectives, and responsibilities
• Conduct regular refresher training for the team on processes & policies
• Set the example in establishing and maintaining a professional demeanor in conducting job duties and accepts accountability for their performance and being accountable for their performance
• Develop and maintain expert level knowledge and skills in technical and professional areas, individual and as a team

Minimum Qualifications: (Education, experience, and any other certifications or clearances)

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business or a related information technology field
• Five years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in an information technology area related to the duties to be performed, including experience overseeing large teams, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Proven success engaging partners and leading projects to completion.
• Experience managing large, diverse teams
• Experience in building high performing teams

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)

• Ability to work through complex problems, both technical and functional, identify root cause and recommend solutions.
• Ability to independently manage tasks, projects, and timelines
• Monitor, measure, and communicate progress on key service improvement initiatives and projects, revising timelines and efforts based on team members' task-specific status updates.
• Ability to foster a collaborative and service-oriented work environment.
• Demonstrable ability to write and assess requests for proposals (RFPs), service level agreements (SLAs) and related documentation.
• Exceptional customer service values and skills, including the ability to successfully resolve conflict constructively and to maintain a positive relationship with executive sponsors
• Ability to collect and analyze data using tools such as data modeling and data flow diagrams
• Experience planning and leading staff training on customer experience improvement and technical support portfolio changes

Preferred Qualifications: (Education and experience)

• Advance degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business or a related information technology field.
• Proven equivalent experience at a large educational research institution.
• Five or more years of management experience leading a team that delivers IT support to a diverse group of customers that includes executives.
• Knowledge of ITIL V3 Service Operations; ITIL V3 Foundations Certification
• Vendor management experience

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)

• Skills and knowledge in organizational change management
• Ability to work under pressure and consistently meet deadlines
• Curiosity in new & emerging technologies, with a desire to implement for the betterment of campus and stakeholder experiences.

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability and veteran status. View Northwestern's non-discrimination statement. Job applicants who wish to request an accommodation in the application or hiring process should contact the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. View additional information on the accommodations process.