JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSON SPECIFICATION
POST:
Problem Manager
DIVISION/DEPT/UNIT:
ITS
RESPONSIBLE TO:
Helpdesk Manager
GRADE:
PSP6
THE LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a world-leading centre for research and
postgraduate education in public and global health, with 4,000 students and more than 1,300
staff working in over 100 countries. The School is one of the highest-rated research institutions
in the UK, and was recently cited as one of the world’s top universities for collaborative research.
Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in
partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation
of knowledge into policy and practice. Founded by Sir Patrick Manson in 1899, the School is now
part of the University of London and has expanded in recent years at its two main sites on Keppel
Street and Tavistock Place. Our research funding has grown to over £85 million per annum from
national and international sources including the UK government, the European Commission, the
Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The School’s multidisciplinary expertise includes clinicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, social
scientists, molecular biologists and immunologists. We work with our partners worldwide to
support the development of teaching and research capacity, and our alumni work in more than
180 countries.
Further information is available at http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/introducing/index.html
___________________________________
Improving health worldwide
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Purpose
The Problem Manager is responsible for managing major incidents, eliminating recurring
incidents and minimising the effect of incidents that cannot be prevented. S/he is responsible
for the management of both reactive root-cause analysis and proactive trend and preventative
analysis within IT, providing ownership in the management of service related problems
providing effective decision making for the viability of problem fixing, taking into account
service cost, risk and customer satisfaction. The role is also responsible for effective
engagement with change teams and activities to ensure that impact on Helpdesk services is
minimised and that the mechanisms for future incident resolution are apparent.
As well as facilitating the day to day resolution of underlying problems, the Problem Manager is
responsible for pursuing and championing a culture of continuous improvement in the arena of
proactive problem identification, resolution and Service improvement recommendations. The
primary outcomes indicating success in this role will be a) maximum service uptime; b) lower
helpdesk call volumes; and c) swifter helpdesk call resolution, all leading to improved end user
experience.
S/he will play an important role as a facilitator/enabler, working at an operational and tactical
level to ensure long-term stability of established services and greater success of service
transitions.
Responsibilities
1.
Promote across the School at any level the best practice approach for problem
management, explaining the benefits that the process will bring.
2.
Engage with change and project management so that effective and appropriate solutions
are in place to ensure changes transition from project to business as usual support. Further, be
primary point of contact for Helpdesk to ensure appropriate levels of support and incident
resolution processes are in place
3.
Quality assure the problem process and individual changes to ensure that contributors
are making high quality well thought out submissions.
4.
Be accountable for the problem process, specifically:
a
for the delivery of Root Cause Analysis and problem resolution within given
target duration
b
for acting as an escalation point to expedite problem resolution
c
for providing regular feedback to the Helpdesk Manager
d
for coordinating problem resolution involving internal support groups, vendors,
suppliers, customers and managing any roadblocks
e
To ensure that problems and their status are documented in a central system
and in a consistent way
f
To provide a problem management process that is in proportion to the scale of
the problem and which strikes an appropriate balance between pragmatism and
bureaucracy. This process encompasses; detect; log; categorise; prioritise; diagnose;
workaround/resolve; report; communicate
g
To integrate with other service management processes to allow authorised
problems to be tracked, unauthorised problems to be identified and the true impact of
the problem to be understood
h
To support Configuration Management by ensuring changes to infrastructure are
reflected in the Service Catalogue and Configuration Management Database
i
To use key performance indicators to measure and assess the effectiveness of
the change management process
5.
Support the Helpdesk teams to ensure that customer service and support is being run in
the most effective and efficient manner.
6.
Responsible for the on-going development of IT Services Knowledge Base system and
processes. Service Owner for the quality of submitted articles and content to the Helpdesk
online self –service knowledge portal. Work closely with the Helpdesk Manager and Knowledge
& Information Manager on the promotion of Helpdesk online to the School.
7.
Manage the process, not necessarily the data within the process.
8.
Monitor and Review the use of process:
a
Ensure problems are diagnosed, logged and escalated to appropriate and
consistent quality standards; co-ordinate Service Desk, IT staff and Customers to ensure
accurate and appropriate communications during Problems
b
Establish a regular review cycle to review and provide status updates on all
outstanding problems
c
Provide regular summary reports to the ITS Senior Management Group.
d
Advise Managers of process breaches and additional training requirements
9.
Develop appropriate training material for the use of the process and associated tools.
10.
Management of problems across the lifecycle using conceptual and practical experience
11.
Monitor and manage Major Incidents / Potential Major Incidents for high priority IT
failures, reporting progress to stakeholders, Further, conduct an improvement review of
current major incident management processes
12.
Matrix management of resolver groups during the problem lifecycle
13.
Facilitate problem workshops performing root cause analysis and coordinating actions
to fix the error
14.
Perform trend analysis: produce trends analysis of recurring Problems/Incidents extract trends on Incident types, Customer types, key problem areas, depts, hardware types etc;
hold regular meetings with IT support groups to review recurring Problems and press for final
resolutions - or escalate; produce 'Escalation Reports' on recurring issues and issues not being
resolved
15.
Demonstrate knowledge of the School’s services, technologies and capabilities to solve
complex problems
16.
Utilise knowledge of best practice and understands how the problem management
capability integrates with other capabilities.
17.
Act as a point of escalation during the problem lifecycle, using knowledge and expertise
to guide and develop problem coordinators
18.
Manage and nominates known errors for permanent fix using risk assessment and
commercial awareness as justification.
19.
Manage problems across end to end service providing governance of 3rd party/supplier
problems
20.
Communicate problem status updates to stakeholders and in liaison with the Helpdesk
Manager and Communications Manager
21.
Provide management information on the problem management capability
22.
On an exceptional basis, provide out of hours support for the transition of incident to
Problem Management
23.
Call and chair Post Mortem Review meetings; issue a written Post Mortem report to IT
management; ensure Post Mortem actions are completed in a timely manner
24.
Recognise and own Continual Service Improvement activities for Problem Management
25.
Undertake any other duties as reasonably delegated by your line manager
26.
Manage your own continuous professional development, internal collaborations and
external networks, in order to contribute to service quality, research excellence and innovation
27.
Demonstrate the School’s values through your behaviour at work, including your duties
and responsibilities in respect of equality and diversity, health and safety, data protection, and
any other legislative requirement
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Qualifications
The successful candidate should:
Essential/ Tested
Desirable by*
Hold an undergraduate degree in a relevant Problem and Solution Manager
discipline or have demonstrable relevant experience for the role
Essential
A, I
Hold a current ITIL v3 Practitioner qualification
Desirable
A, I
Hold a BCS Specialist Certificate in Problem Management or APMG Problem
Analyst Certification or have equivalent relevant experience
Desirable
A, I
At least 3 years’ experience in an IT Service Management environment, with
specific experience in the management of problems and major incidents in a
complex environment
Essential
A, I
At least 3 years’ experience working in Higher Education Sector
Desirable
A, I
Proven Leadership experience with capacity to build, motivate and develop teams Essential
without line management responsibility through matrix management
A, I
Strong analytical skills with experience in Root Case Analysis (RCA), trending,
management reporting, dashboard views and ability to develop and recommend
solutions for problems/issues
Experience in transition programmes with proven track record in service
outsourcing
Desirable
A, I
Desirable
A, I
Demonstrable customer management / service skills
Essential
A, I
Experience of working within a busy first level helpdesk environment in a
problem / solutions manager role
Essential
A, I
Proven experience of problem solving using industry standard problem
management methodologies
Essential
A, I
* A = application; I = interview; T = test
Background & Experience
The successful candidate should have a background in, or experience of:
Using a network of key individuals to secure important decisions and influence
timely completion of actions
Desirable
A, I
Knowledge
The successful candidate should have demonstrable knowledge of:
Good practical knowledge of MS Office applications, especially excel.
Desirable
A, I
Good practical knowledge of ITIL, especially Service Management and Service
Operations elements
Essential
A, I
Good practical knowledge of a variety of management information systems i.e.
Agresso, SITS and Resourcelink and web-based tools Drupal, WordPress and
SharePoint
Desirable
A, I
Ability to work in a high availability business critical environment with evolving
requirements and dynamic schedules
Essential
A, I
Ability to interact effectively with internal and external customers and senior
project and operational management
Essential
A, I
Decision maker with an operational and end user experience outlook
Essential
A, I
Ability to work with diverse/technical and customer facing teams, and makes
sound judgements when under pressure
Desirable
A,I
Commitment to continuous professional development
Desirable
A, I
A high degree of personal motivation, with the ability to prioritise conflicting and
changing demands – a “can do attitude”
Desirable
A, I
The ability to work independently and as part of a team (including sharing the
responsibilities of other teams to achieve urgent deadlines if required)
Essential
A, I
Confidence in operating in an environment of change
Desirable
A, I
Well- developed communication and negotiation skills across all levels of the
organisation; verbal, written and in presentation
Essential
A, I
Well-developed attention to detail and due diligence skills, notably in following
documented process.
Essential
A, I
An ability to build and sustain effective professional working relationships
Desirable
A, I
A strong customer focus – demonstrating a thorough understanding of customer
needs
Desirable
A, I
Skills & Competencies
The successful candidate should demonstrate:
The ability to think conceptually, demonstrating creativity and innovation
Desirable
A, I
The ability to look continuously for opportunities for improvement and to
develop strategies for change to influence and shape the future direction of the
business – adapting thinking and behaviour to suit the requirements of different
situations
Desirable
A, I
ITS DIVISION