Principal Service Manager Job Description

Job Band

JOB TITLE: Principal Service Manager – EXTEND
JOB REF: 35806
JOB BAND: D
CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent, Full-time
DEPARTMENT: Technology Operations
LOCATION: London Broadcasting House or Salford Quay House
PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £54,300 to £61,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

CLOSING DATE: 23:59 6th of February 2026

Interviews to Commence: 16th of February 2026*this is subject to change

We’re happy to discuss flexible working. If you’d like to, please indicate your preference in the application – though there’s no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

As a Principal Service Manager, you’ll play a key role in ensuring the reliability and excellence of the BBC’s enterprise technology services. Leading a team within our Service Management function, you’ll oversee service assurance across a diverse portfolio, working closely with key suppliers, while helping to shape the future of service management at the BBC. This is your chance to influence strategy, drive innovation, and make a real impact on how we deliver world-class technology services

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

As the BBC redefines how enterprise services are delivered, this role offers a rare opportunity to shape the future of service assurance. You’ll lead a highly skilled team, collaborating closely with the wider Service Management function to drive innovation, refine working practices, and champion the standardisation of exceptional service quality

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:

• Experience developing and improving teams through strong and effective leadership
• Responsible for the line management of a team including performance management, assignment of work, maintenance of work standards and progress; participates in recruitment and training.
• Builds and promotes positive and productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Communicates complex written and verbal information and ideas to multidisciplinary stakeholders and is able to explain technical concepts to non-technical colleagues.
• Identifies and creates solutions for issues and risks within functional area – escalating and recommending solutions where required.
• Understands the provision of data analytics and its potential uses in end user experience and automation.
• Utilises mediation, influencing and negotiation skills where there are challenging or contentious commercially or performance issues with suppliers and internal stakeholders.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

•    Understands the provision of data analytics and its potential uses in end user experience and automation.
•    Experienced in understanding contractual obligations and working to deliver high quality on this basis.
•    Ability to work under pressure and demonstrate resilience to ensure the correct solution is selected with a full understanding of the costs, timescales and risk involved.
•    Ability to prioritise and plan, balancing priorities and deadlines.
•    Able to deliver process ownership, obtaining agreement of and effectively communicating policies across the functional area.
•    Effective problem solver with ability to examine and re-engineer processes, procedures and practices.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

•    Strong leadership skills with the ability to motivate and develop teams providing vision, challenge and support.
•    Applied use of ITIL Framework to deliver process improvement with V3 Foundation as a minimum.
•    Service delivery/management experience in a complex/large business.
•    IT competence with aptitude for learning new technologies and processes with a focus on service desk and ITIL technologies and processes.
•    Communicates written and verbal complex information and ideas to multidisciplinary stakeholders and is able to explain technical concepts to non-technical colleagues

DESIRED BUT NOT REQUIRED:

•    Experience with Helix ITSM tool
•    Commercial experience with large complex enterprise technology contracts
•    Experience with transitioning enterprise services
•    Understanding and experience working in a SIAM structure

If you can bring these skills and experiences, along with transferable strengths, we’d love to hear from you and encourage you to apply.

This role is currently advertised as internal only. Freelancers are eligible to apply if they have been on a Worker Contract (more info here) continuously for 6 months. If less than 6 months (or they have had a break of 3 weeks or more between engagements), they must seek Divisional HR approval to apply.