Contract: Initial 6‑month contract, with extension thereafter
Day Rate: £600-£800 per day (Inside IR35)
About the Role
We're recruiting an experienced Lead IT Service Delivery Manager on behalf of our leading utilities client to oversee the delivery, performance, and continual improvement of IT services across a complex, regulated organisation. You will lead a team of Service Delivery Managers responsible for ensuring that critical IT services remain stable, resilient, secure, and aligned to operational, customer, and regulatory needs.
This role will play a pivotal part in safeguarding essential services that support water quality, environmental compliance, customer operations, corporate systems, and incident response.
You will provide strategic leadership across Service Management, champion ITIL best practice, and drive service excellence across both internal teams and third‑party suppliers.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership & People Management
Lead, coach, and develop a team of Service Delivery Managers, fostering a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Set objectives, monitor performance, and support professional development.Major Incident & Service Operations
Manage major incidents, P1 and P2 events through to restoration and root‑cause resolution.
Act as an escalation point and participate in a 24/7 out‑of‑hours rota.
Provide timely, clear communications to impacted users.Service Performance & Reporting
Own service performance metrics including SLAs, OLAs and KPIs.
Produce accurate MI reports to demonstrate service performance and trends.
Communicate risks, incidents, and improvements effectively to stakeholders.Stakeholder & Relationship Management
Build strong, collaborative relationships across engineering, operational, digital, and business teams.
Run regular service reviews with internal teams and suppliers.
Represent Service Delivery in governance meetings, operational reviews, and leadership forums.Supplier & Commercial Management
Lead service reviews with suppliers to ensure contractual compliance.
Provide performance feedback to the Commercial team.
Drive supplier improvements and escalate service issues impacting stability or resilience.Service Management & Continuous Improvement
Lead the development and optimisation of ITIL‑aligned processes (Incident, Problem, Change, Release, Request).
Deliver continual service improvement initiatives that enhance stability, reduce risk, and improve user experience.
Ensure service governance aligns with regulatory expectations within the water sector, including operational resilience and cybersecurity.Risk & Resilience
Identify and manage risks related to service delivery and critical national infrastructure.
Promote best practice in business continuity, disaster recovery, and asset integrity.Skills & Experience Needed
Strong people leadership with experience coaching, mentoring and driving high performance
Ability to build trust and influence senior stakeholders and technical teams.
Experience managing teams through change and fostering continuous improvement.
Deep understanding of ITIL frameworks and Service Management disciplines (Incident, Problem, Change, SACM etc).
Good working knowledge of IT operations, cloud services, infrastructure, networking and applications.
Ability to interpret technical detail and communicate it in a business‑focused way.
Understanding of how IT services underpin operational performance and regulatory compliance in utility or similarly regulated industries.
Ability to balance cost, risk and service quality.
Proven experience leading IT Service Delivery teams in a 24/7 or operationally critical environment.
Strong supplier and third‑party contract management experience.
Experience within a regulated or complex industry (utility sector preferred).
ITIL Foundation (v3 or v4).
Experience working with ServiceNow ITSM/CSM.Desirable
ITIL Foundation v5.
Further qualifications such as SIAM, Lean, Agile, or similar frameworks.
Understanding of regulatory frameworks relevant to water utilities (resilience, cybersecurity, operational technology).
Adecco acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and an employment business for the supply of temporary workers. The Adecco Group UK & Ireland is an Equal Opportunities Employer.
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Salary description
£600.00 - £800.00 per day