Faculty/Administrative/Service Department / IT Services (Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences)
Job Title / IT Support Supervisor
Job Family / Professional Services / Job Level / 4
Responsible to / Faculty IT Manager
Responsible for (Staff) / 2 x IT Support Officers
Job Purpose Statement
To contribute to the effective academic use of IT in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (FHMS) – enhancing its research, teaching and administrative activities. This involves overseeing the support activities in the Faculty IT team, prioritising the work of other team members, ensuring that standards for quality of service are being met, working with colleagues across University IT to identify and deliver improvements and acting as an escalation point for support issues.
Key Responsibilities
1. Oversee and coordinate IT support activities with the Faculty, directing and supervising IT support staff to ensure a good standard of service.
2. Monitor and report upon support performance, making recommendations and implementing improvements to deliver service improvement.
3. Work with other members of IT Services to deliver and develop shared services, processes and procedures (e.g. the University’s SCCM service).
4. Develop and maintain internal (i.e. Standard Operating Procedures, technical knowledge) and external (i.e. user-facing) documentation.
5. Deal with support issues escalated by other members of the team.
6. Manage a case load of service incidents and change requests, ensuring that at all times requests are handled correctly and the service offering is to the highest standard.
7. Assist in the development of Faculty IT Strategy, plans, policies and principles.
N.B. The above list is not exhaustive.
All staff are expected to:
· Positively support equality of opportunity and equity of treatment to colleagues and students in accordance with the University of Surrey Equal Opportunities Policy.· Work to achieve the aims of our Environmental Policy and promote awareness to colleagues and students.
· Follow University/departmental policies and working practices in ensuring that no breaches of information security result from their actions.
· Ensure they are aware of and abide by all relevant University Regulations and Policies relevant to the role.
· Undertake such other duties within the scope of the post as may be requested by your Manager.
· Work supportively with colleagues, operating in a collegiate manner at all times.
Help maintain a safe working environment by:
· Attending training in Health and Safety requirements as necessary, both on appointment and as changes in duties and techniques demand.
· Following local codes of safe working practices and the University of Surrey Health and Safety Policy.
Elements of the Role
Planning and Organising
· The post holder will be expected to monitor and prioritise IT support tasks which arrive frequently (approximately 200-250 per month) through a number of routes (principally managed through the University’s Service Management Tool), assigning tasks to staff and colleagues.
· Working with minimal supervision the post holder will be required to use the University’s ITSM tool (currently Hornbill Supportworks) and Faculty service monitoring tools (Nagios) to develop and present reporting (of Faculty IT performance provided by both the local and central teams), with analysis and recommendations for improving IT service quality in FHMS to the IT Manager.
· Additionally the post-holder will be assigned small projects, tasks and ongoing responsibilities commensurate with the post grade and level of responsibility.
· The post-holder will be responsible for organising their time so that they can deal with conflicting priorities and provide customer focused assistance to the User Community. They will need to demonstrate a considerable level of flexibility in order to respond to the urgent queries from Users, and unforeseen problems.
Problem Solving and Decision Making
· The post holder will be responsible for prioritisation and allocation of support tasks to both other team members and their direct reports, and will need to take into account current workloads, an understanding of business needs and the general Faculty context to ensure that the right work is completed at the right time, by the right person.
· The post-holder will encounter varying types of problems, and will have freedom to choose the appropriate course of action to find solutions and resolve problems based on past exposure and previous experience. The post-holder will be required to analyse more complex problems of which they have little or no experience, and are responsible for carrying out necessary research to provide solutions, referring to relevant policies and procedures as required. If the problem requires more senior attention, it can be referred to the Faculty IT Manager.
Continuous Improvement
· Identifying, proposing and implementing improvements to the provision of personal IT services and support is a key aspect of this role. The post holder will present reports, analysis and recommendations for IT service improvement in FHMS to the IT Manager
· The post holder will be expected to keep professional knowledge up to date and make recommendations on the future development of systems and equipment within the Faculty.
Accountability
· The post holder will be responsible to the Faculty IT Manager for the delivery of effective 2nd line IT support (individually, through the work of the IT Officers and through direct reports) to the staff and students of the Faculty. While they will have substantial freedom to execute this responsibility, subject to applicable policies, it is expected that the post holder liaises with the Faculty IT Manager on any major changes from agreed plans.
· The post holder acts as a point of contact with staff and students and must therefore be able to provide a high level of customer service, utilising their knowledge to resolve queries and solve problems in a timely and professional manner. Through the course of their work, the post holder may have access to systems containing data of a sensitive or confidential nature and therefore it is essential that they ensure that all data is held securely at all times.
Dimensions of the role
· The post holder will be responsible for the effective provision of IT support to approximately 600 staff and Postgraduate students using IT equipment in a variety of form factors and operating systems.
· The post holder may be assigned responsibility for project-related budget, but is not responsible for operational finances.
· The post holder will be responsible for allocating and prioritising support tasks for the 4 IT Officers in the team, reviewing workloads and incoming task urgency/importance to ensure quality of service.
· The post holder will be responsible for the line management of two IT support staff, directing their work and managing their performance.
· This role requires a professional and proactive approach to the management and growth of key knowledge transfer activities across University IT. The post holder will provide advice and guidance within their specialist area of expertise University staff and students on the most efficient methods of deploying and exploiting systems and services.
Supplementary Information
· As some systems and services are used across the University, the post holder must have the interpersonal skills to communicate effectively with a wide range of users, who in some cases will have specific and detailed needs. They will be expected to influence, persuade and negotiation to obtain stakeholder buy in to ideas and proposals with large scale impacts in a wide variety of situations and environments.
· The post holder can expect to come under considerable pressure from staff must be able to retain their confidence through effective communication and delivery of commitments.
Person Specification
Qualifications and Professional Memberships
Degree, HND, NVQ 4 qualified in a relevant specialist subject, plus several years relevant experience
OR
Significant relevant vocational experience, demonstrating development through the acquisition of appropriate specialist knowledge and involvement in a series of progressively more demanding/relevant work/roles. / E
ITIL Foundation Service Management qualification / D
Membership of an appropriate professional organisation (i.e. BCS, ITSMF) / D
Technical Competencies (Experience and Knowledge) / Essential/
Desirable / Level
1-3
Experience of organising and prioritising the work of technical staff to meet organisational goals / E / 3
Knowledge and understanding of Service Management principles / E / 2
Practical experience of supporting Windows, Linux and Apple operating systems / E / 2
Experience of generating performance reporting, identifying and proposing opportunities for improvement and delivering CSI / E / 2
Experience of coordinating the management of, and exploiting shared and outsourced technical services / E / 1
Practical experience of operating Microsoft System Centre Configuration Manager 2012 and Application Jukebox / D / n/a
Experience of web development and CSS3 / D / n/a
Special Requirements: / Essential/
Desirable
Willingness to occasionally undertake out of hours work / E
Core Competencies / Level
1-3
Communication
Adaptability / Flexibility
Customer/Client service and support
Planning and Organising
Continuous Improvement
Problem Solving and Decision Making Skills
Managing and Developing Performance
Creative and Analytical Thinking
Influencing, Persuasion and Negotiation Skills
Strategic Thinking & Leadership / 3
2
3
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
Organisational/Departmental Information & Key Relationships
Background Information
University IT offers a wide range of administrative and academic computing and information technology services for all staff and students at the University.
This post is one of several being filled to enable the effective support of University of Surrey’s new School of Veterinary Medicine, within the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (FHMS). The Faculty has a strong track record in delivering high quality research and education in biosciences (microbial sciences, biochemistry and physiology, nutrition) and in health and social care (nursing and allied subjects). With over 400 staff and an annual turnover of around £40 million we are one of the biggest Faculties within the University
Department Structure Chart
Relationships
Internal· The post holder will be working closely with staff across University IT and have significant interactions with all levels of staff in Faculties and other Departments including members of the academic and student body, providing their technical skills and advice to ensure optimum service provision.
· Coordinating with the team IT Officers prioritising and allocating tasks.
· Working frequently with staff and students resolving any IT problems, fulfilling requests for new services or resources and providing effective technical advice.
· Dealing with other teams within University IT, liaising with colleagues who provide services used within the Faculty and collaborating on new projects and service development.
External
· Coordinating the activities of external suppliers and consultancy organisations to ensure that service delivery meets University business and quality requirements.