Head of Service Management & Support
CompanyOcado Retail
Location
Hatfield, England, United Kingdom
Employment TypeFull-time
Posted At3/31/2026
UK Visa Sponsorship Analytics
Analytics are greyed out due to low classification confidence (43.0%).
Occupation Type
Production managers and directors in manufacturing
Occupation Code Skill LevelHigher Skilled
Sponsorship Salary Threshold
£55,000
(£28.21 per hour)
Occupation rate applies
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Description
Contract type: Permanent
Location: Hatfield (Hybrid working – 3 days in the office)
Working hours per week: 40 hours
Level: Head of Department
Application Closing Date: Tuesday 7th April 2026
About Us
Our mission is to deliver joy in every shop, through unbeatable choice, unrivalled service, and reassuringly good value.
We’re Ocado Retail, a market-leading joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S, and the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket, ocado.com. Not only is Ocado.com the only place to shop a full range of M&S food online, it’s also the home to the widest online supermarket range in the UK and champion of small, independent brands. We’re also the brains behind Zoom by Ocado, our same-day grocery delivery service.
About The Team And The Role
The Head of Service Management & Support is a senior technology leadership role responsible for ensuring the end-to-end stability, reliability, and performance of all services that underpin Ocado Retail’s operations. This goes beyond traditional IT support: you will build and lead a world-class, business-wide service management capability that covers logistics, fulfilment, commercial operations, and customer experience — as well as core IT.
You will own the incident, problem, change, and service delivery framework for the organisation, acting as the ultimate escalation point during major incidents and driving a culture of continuous improvement, measurable service quality, and proactive resilience. You will exercise strategic influence across departmental boundaries, ensuring operational excellence is delivered not just within your function but holistically across ORL.
What You’ll Do
Incident & Problem Management:
Location: Hatfield (Hybrid working – 3 days in the office)
Working hours per week: 40 hours
Level: Head of Department
Application Closing Date: Tuesday 7th April 2026
About Us
Our mission is to deliver joy in every shop, through unbeatable choice, unrivalled service, and reassuringly good value.
We’re Ocado Retail, a market-leading joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S, and the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket, ocado.com. Not only is Ocado.com the only place to shop a full range of M&S food online, it’s also the home to the widest online supermarket range in the UK and champion of small, independent brands. We’re also the brains behind Zoom by Ocado, our same-day grocery delivery service.
About The Team And The Role
The Head of Service Management & Support is a senior technology leadership role responsible for ensuring the end-to-end stability, reliability, and performance of all services that underpin Ocado Retail’s operations. This goes beyond traditional IT support: you will build and lead a world-class, business-wide service management capability that covers logistics, fulfilment, commercial operations, and customer experience — as well as core IT.
You will own the incident, problem, change, and service delivery framework for the organisation, acting as the ultimate escalation point during major incidents and driving a culture of continuous improvement, measurable service quality, and proactive resilience. You will exercise strategic influence across departmental boundaries, ensuring operational excellence is delivered not just within your function but holistically across ORL.
What You’ll Do
Incident & Problem Management:
- Design and mature a unified, business-wide incident management framework covering IT, logistics, fulfilment, and customer operations.
- Lead the coordination of technology-layer cyber incident response with Information Security and external SOC/MSSP partners.
- Maintain effective communication throughout cyber incidents, including structured briefings for the executive team and Audit Committee when necessary.
- Help develop and test cyber incident response playbooks and business continuity plans.
- Lead IT service and end-user support for reliable, efficient, user-centric services.
- Own and align ITSM processes (change, release, configuration, service catalogue) with ITIL 4 best practice.
- Manage 24/7 on-call and out-of-hours support for critical systems.
- Oversee ITSM toolset, driving adoption, data quality, and reporting.
- Own and manage the department's budget, vendor contracts, and OPEX, focusing on efficiency without sacrificing service quality.
- Manage relationships with key third-party service delivery partners, ensuring compliance with contractual obligations, SLAs, and value for money.
- Lead governance forums and performance reviews with strategic suppliers; promptly resolve performance issues.
- Assist in procurement for managed services and tooling, providing input on commercial evaluation and contract negotiations.
Strategic Leadership & Continuous Improvement:
Essential
- Define the strategic vision for ORL service management, emphasizing automation, proactive monitoring, observability, and AI ops.
- Set, track, and report on service KPIs/SLAs, using data to drive improvements and prove value.
- Foster a culture of service excellence, accountability, and blameless learning.
- Lead business-wide transformation programs, securing senior stakeholder buy-in.
- Lead, develop, and retain a high-performing Service team, fostering a collaborative, inclusive culture.
- Build strong relationships with stakeholders (Logistics, Customer Hub, Commercial, Technology & Engineering) to ensure alignment, shared accountability, and effective prioritisation.
- Represent Service Management at senior leadership forums, including technology governance and risk committees.
Essential
- Significant experience in IT service management or service delivery leadership roles, with at least 3 years at a senior / Head of level
- Demonstrated experience leading major incident management for complex, high-availability technology environments
- Proven track record of building and maturing ITSM processes (incident, problem, change, release, configuration management) in line with ITIL 4
- Experience managing third-party / managed service provider relationships and holding suppliers accountable to SLA
- Experience operating in a fast-paced, technology-driven environment — retail, ecommerce, logistics, or similarly complex operations preferred
- Experience setting and managing departmental budgets and delivering cost efficiencies
- Exceptional leadership and people management skills, including the ability to develop, coach, and retain talent
- Strong analytical and data-driven mindset; able to use metrics to diagnose issues and demonstrate service value
- Experience co-ordinating cyber or security incident response, working alongside an information security or SOC function
- Familiarity with ITSM platforms such as ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, or similar
- Experience with observability, AIOps, or automation-led service operations tooling
- Commercially aware; able to construct and present business cases and manage supplier negotiations
- ITIL 4 Managing Professional or Strategic Leader modules
- Project or programme management qualification (e.g. PRINCE2, PMP, MSP)
- ISO/IEC 20000 or similar service management standard awareness
By joining Ocado Retail, you’ll have the chance to experience life at the world’s largest online retailer, work with an amazing bunch of people who challenge what’s possible each day, and grow your skills and career in online retail.
If that’s not enough to tempt you, you’ll also get access to loads of great benefits to sweeten the deal. Here’s a taste of what we offer:
Health & Wellbeing: Private medical insurance with option to add your family, Digital GP appointments, market-leading family policies, mental health support, discounted gym memberships, dental insurance, and more.
Spend & Save: Annual bonus scheme split between personal and business objectives, recognition with reward platform, up to 7% matched pension contributions, 15% Ocado discount, 20% M&S discount, free breakfast every day in the office, electric vehicle leasing scheme, and free shuttle bus from Hatfield station to the office.
Never miss the moments that matter:
Hybrid working, 26 days holiday plus 8 flexible bank holidays, options to buy extra holiday, 2 weeks work from anywhere, and lifestyle break opportunities.
Our Hiring Process
Lucky for us, we receive a high volume of applications and genuinely appreciate the time and effort invested by every candidate. To ensure a fair and thorough process, every application is reviewed by a member of our team. If your skills and experience are a strong match, a Talent Partner will contact you to discuss the role and guide you through the next steps of our hiring process.
Your Application and AI
In the spirit of innovation, we welcome you to use AI tools in your application, just as we use them in our own business at Ocado Retail. However, as you leverage this technology, please don't lose sight of the most important element: your unique self. Your experiences, passions, and personality are what truly set you apart. Ensure that your application still authentically conveys who you are and why you're a great fit for us.
Everyone’s welcome
We’re an equal opportunities employer, which means that we make sure all potential colleagues are treated fairly and equally. We want to ensure everyone has a fair chance to apply; if you need this job description in an alternative format (e.g., larger print, different document type, etc.), please reach out to us at careers@ocadoretail.com and we'll be happy to assist you, and if you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know on the application form.
Our Hiring Process
Lucky for us, we receive a high volume of applications and genuinely appreciate the time and effort invested by every candidate. To ensure a fair and thorough process, every application is reviewed by a member of our team. If your skills and experience are a strong match, a Talent Partner will contact you to discuss the role and guide you through the next steps of our hiring process.
Your Application and AI
In the spirit of innovation, we welcome you to use AI tools in your application, just as we use them in our own business at Ocado Retail. However, as you leverage this technology, please don't lose sight of the most important element: your unique self. Your experiences, passions, and personality are what truly set you apart. Ensure that your application still authentically conveys who you are and why you're a great fit for us.
Everyone’s welcome
We’re an equal opportunities employer, which means that we make sure all potential colleagues are treated fairly and equally. We want to ensure everyone has a fair chance to apply; if you need this job description in an alternative format (e.g., larger print, different document type, etc.), please reach out to us at careers@ocadoretail.com and we'll be happy to assist you, and if you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know on the application form.