Senior Service Management Lead

The Role: Senior Service Management Lead

The Senior Service Management Lead is responsible for the strategic leadership, governance, and continuous improvement of IT Service Management (ITSM) processes, with a strong focus on IT Service Management Office (ITSMO). This role ensures that services are managed effectively to meet business and operational requirements. The manager will oversee a team of ITSM professionals, working closely with business units, service owners, and technical teams to ensure seamless service delivery, adherence to ITIL frameworks, and alignment with the organization’s business goals.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

ITSM Process Ownership and Governance:

• Act as the primary owner of core ITSM processes, including Incident, Problem, Change, Release, Service Request, Request for work (IT4IT demand) and Knowledge Management.
• Ownership and alignment of Major incident management process across organization alignment with owners with DR and BC teams.
• Develop and implement ITSM policies, procedures, and guidelines, ensuring continuous improvement of service management practices.
• Ensure effective Change Management processes are in place to mitigate risk and maintain service stability.
• Regularly review and audit ITSM processes for compliance with established frameworks and to identify areas for improvement.

ITSMO Leadership:

• Establish and lead the IT Service Management Office (ITSMO), providing governance and oversight for all ITSM activities across the organization.
• Drive the development and maturation of ITSM tools and systems within Service Now ITSM to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.
• Lead the development of KPIs, metrics, and reporting to measure the performance of IT services and ITSM processes.
• Act as the escalation point for critical incidents and service disruptions, ensuring timely resolution and clear communication to stakeholders.

Continuous Improvement and Innovation:

• Lead initiatives to continuously improve the quality and efficiency of IT services, leveraging best practices in DevOps, Agile, and Automation.
• Implement and drive a culture of Continuous Service Improvement (CSI), ensuring that services are continually optimized to meet evolving business needs.
• Identify opportunities to introduce automation and AI technologies into service management processes to enhance efficiency and reduce manual effort.

Team Leadership and Development:

• Provide leadership and direction to the ITSM team, ensuring alignment with the organization’s strategic objectives.
• Mentor and develop a high-performing team of service management professionals, fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence.
• Develop and execute training and development plans for team members to maintain high levels of competency in ITIL, ITSM practices, and service delivery.

About You

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field. Master’s Degree preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in IT Service Management, with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
• Extensive experience with ITIL (v3 or 4) frameworks, with certifications such as ITIL Expert or ITIL Managing Professional highly desirable.
• Strong understanding of ITSM platforms (e.g., ServiceNow) and ITSM /ITOM tooling.
• Experience managing Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Operational Level Agreements (OLAs), and other contractual agreements.
• Strong knowledge of DevOps, Agile methodologies, and Automation within ITSM.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with a proven track record of stakeholder engagement.
• Analytical mindset with strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work under pressure.
• Knowledge of IT Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) practices is a plus.
• Knowledge of DR process and governance.

About Us

DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers and business service professionals located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Our global reach ensures that we can help businesses with their legal needs anywhere in the world. We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality, service excellence and value to our clients and offering practical and innovative legal solutions to help them succeed. Our clients range from multinational, Global 1000, and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging companies developing industry-leading technologies, as well as government and public sector bodies.

Our Values

In everything we do connected with our People, our Clients and our Communities, we live by these values:

• Be Supportive – we are compassionate and inclusive, valuing diversity and acting thoughtfully
• Be Collaborative – we are proactive, passionate team players investing in our relationships
• Be Bold – we are fearless and inquisitive, challenging ourselves to think big and find creative new solutions
• Be Exceptional – we are strategic and driven, exceeding standards and expectations

Diversity and Inclusion

At DLA Piper, diversity and inclusion underpins how we live our values and everything we do. We believe that everyone has a voice, and that everyone’s voice counts. We know that the rich diversity across our firm makes us stronger, more innovative and creative, which helps us to better serve our clients and communities. We are committed to providing an inclusive working environment and culture across our global firm, where everyone can bring their authentic self to work.

Diversity of perspective, thought, background and culture combine to make us the leading global law firm; that’s why we actively seek to build balanced teams. We welcome the unique contribution that you will bring to our firm and actively encourage applications from all talented people – however your talent is packaged, whatever your background or circumstance and regardless of how you identify.

Hybrid Working

We recognise that people have responsibilities and interests outside of their career and that as a business, we all benefit from working flexibly. That’s why we are open to discussing with candidates the different ways in which we are able to support requests for agile working arrangements.

Pre-Engagement Screening

In the event that we make an offer to you, and where local legislation permits and where relevant, we will conduct pre-engagement screening checks that may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and work-related references.