IT Operations & Support

IT support, help desk, technical support, system administration

Hiring for IT operations and support roles is consistent across businesses of all sizes and across all sectors, since they form the backbone of the day-to-day running of organisations’ technology. It’s a broad discipline, and the range of available roles reflect both this fact and the increasing complexity of the environments being managed.

At the first and second lines, helpdesk and technical support roles involve resolving incidents, supporting end users and managing service requests within service-level agreement (SLA). This means clear communication skills are essential, as well as the ability to troubleshoot technical problems. Applicants should show experience in ITSM platforms such as ServiceNow, Jira Service Management and Zendesk, while job descriptions frequently cite ITIL Foundation certification as a requirement or preference.

Systems administration roles are responsible for configuring, maintaining and monitoring servers, networks and core infrastructure. This includes both on-premises and in cloud environments. Applicants are often required to demonstrate familiarity with Windows Server, Active Directory, Microsoft 365, and virtualisation platforms such as VMware or Hyper-V, while Linux administration skills are increasingly valuable.

In terms of more senior roles, IT Operations Manager and Head of IT positions focus on service management, vendor relationships, capacity planning and aligning operational standards with the needs of the business. This means it’s really useful to be able to show experience managing a support function during organisation change or technological migration.