Service Desk Analyst

Sword is a leading provider of business technology solutions within the Energy, Public and Finance Sectors, driving real transformation change within our clients. We use proven technology, specialist teams and domain expertise to build solid technical foundations across platforms, data and business applications. We have a passion for using technology to solve business problems, working in partnership with our clients to help in achieving their goals.

The Service Desk Analyst provides high-quality technical support to customers across Sword’s Managed Services environments. The role is responsible for taking ownership of assigned Incidents and Requests, investigating issues, resolving them where possible and ensuring they are escalated appropriately when they cannot be resolved within the Service Desk.

The role combines technical support with strong service discipline and customer awareness. Service Desk Analysts are expected to take pride in the quality of their work, maintain accurate records, communicate clearly, follow agreed ways of working and contribute to a consistent and professional customer experience.

The role is an important part of Service Desk Operations and is expected to support the wider service through good ownership, effective execution, knowledge sharing and continual improvement.

What You'll Be Doing

Service Desk Support & Ownership

• Take ownership of assigned Incidents and Requests from initial investigation through to resolution, fulfilment or appropriate escalation.
• Provide effective technical support across customer environments, following agreed processes, procedures, service levels and customer commitments.
• Investigate and resolve issues within the scope of the Service Desk using a structured and methodical approach.
• Ensure tickets are accurately categorised, prioritised, documented and progressed throughout their lifecycle.
• Maintain clear ownership of actions, customer communication, technical investigation and next steps.
• Recognise when an issue cannot be resolved within the Service Desk and escalate it to the correct resolver team with the required information and evidence.
• Monitor assigned work and take action where tickets are ageing, stalled, approaching SLA breach or at risk of impacting the customer.
• Remain accountable for the customer experience and the quality of the handover when work is escalated.

Customer Experience & Service Delivery

• Provide professional, clear and timely communication throughout the Incident or Request lifecycle.
• Treat customers with respect and demonstrate care and attention in every interaction.
• Understand the impact of technical issues on the customer, their users and the wider service.
• Set realistic expectations and ensure customers are kept informed of progress, actions and changes to timescales.
• Build customer confidence through ownership, accuracy and consistent follow-through.
• Manage difficult or sensitive interactions calmly and professionally.
• Understand customer commitments and service levels and ensure they are reflected in day-to-day activity.
• Raise risks to service quality, customer experience or operational performance at the earliest opportunity.

Operational Excellence

• Work consistently within the Service Operations Manual, Service Operations Procedures, Service Desk standards and agreed customer ways of working.
• Maintain high standards of ticket quality, documentation, categorisation, prioritisation and ownership.
• Follow the agreed Incident, Request, Knowledge, Problem and Change processes.
• Use ServiceNow and other approved tools correctly and consistently to maintain accurate operational information.
• Support effective queue management and contribute to the achievement of SLA, KPI and customer performance targets.
• Identify ageing, stalled, misrouted, incorrectly prioritised or poorly documented work and take appropriate action.
• Maintain a disciplined and organised approach to workload management, handovers and shift responsibilities.
• Recognise operational risk and escalate issues where service quality, customer commitments or team performance may be affected.

Knowledge & Continual Improvement

• Create and maintain accurate knowledge articles, technical documentation, work instructions and ticket records.
• Use available knowledge and approved procedures to support consistent and effective resolution.
• Identify knowledge gaps, recurring incidents, avoidable contacts and opportunities to improve first-time resolution.
• Contribute to Problem Management, Continual Service Improvement and service optimisation activities.
• Share useful technical knowledge, lessons learned and customer information with colleagues.
• Support the introduction of new services, technologies, procedures and customer requirements into Service Desk Operations.
• Provide constructive feedback where processes, tools or ways of working are not supporting effective service delivery.
• Remain open to learning, developing technical capability and improving the way work is completed.

Team & Technical Collaboration

• Work collaboratively with Service Desk colleagues, Customer Operations, Technical Services and other resolver teams.
• Provide clear and useful handovers, updates and technical information to support continuity of service.
• Support colleagues during periods of high demand, major incidents or operational pressure.
• Ask for support when required and share information that may help others resolve issues more effectively.
• Follow agreed team standards and contribute positively to the Service Desk culture.
• Take responsibility for personal development and build the technical and service knowledge required for the role.
• Act as a reliable and professional member of the Service Desk Operations team.

Requirements

Required Skills & Experience

• Experience working within an MSP, Managed Services or enterprise Service Desk environment.
• Experience providing technical support within a defined service level and customer commitment framework.
• Practical experience managing Incidents and Requests through investigation, resolution, fulfilment or escalation.
• Understanding of ITIL-based Incident, Request, Knowledge, Problem and Change Management.
• Experience using ServiceNow or an equivalent ITSM platform.
• Practical technical knowledge across areas such as Windows, Microsoft 365, Outlook, Teams, Active Directory, Entra ID, authentication, MFA, endpoints and business applications.
• Good troubleshooting skills and the ability to follow a structured approach to investigation.
• Understanding of ticket lifecycle management, prioritisation, queue control and operational ownership.
• Ability to maintain accurate ticket records and produce clear technical information.
• Good customer service, communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage workload, follow agreed processes and meet required timescales.
• Strong organisational skills, attention to detail and a willingness to learn.
• Commitment to knowledge sharing, service quality and continual improvement.

Desirable Qualifications & Experience

• ITIL qualification or equivalent experience.
• Experience supporting customers in the Energy, Oil & Gas or other regulated environments.
• Understanding of ISO/IEC 20000, ISO 27001 or equivalent service and information security standards.
• Experience using ServiceNow ITSM, Knowledge, reporting or operational dashboards.
• Experience contributing to Major Incident, Problem Management, Continual Service Improvement, service transition or operational readiness activity.
• Relevant Microsoft technical certifications or equivalent practical experience.

Key Personal Attributes / Behaviours

• Takes ownership of assigned work and remains accountable for progressing it.
• Takes pride in the quality, accuracy and completeness of their work.
• Demonstrates care and attention to detail in technical investigation, ticket records and customer communication.
• Works consistently to the agreed MSP standard and follows established ways of working.
• Proactively identifies risks, ageing work, recurring issues and opportunities to improve.
• Uses good judgement and understands when to resolve, escalate, ask for support or challenge.
• Remains calm, professional and methodical under pressure.
• Communicates clearly and treats customers and colleagues with respect.
• Is organised, dependable and consistent in the way they work.
• Takes responsibility for learning and developing their technical and service capability.
• Works collaboratively and contributes positively to team performance.
• Understands that Service Desk Operations is about quality, ownership and customer outcomes, not simply processing tickets.

Benefits

At Sword, our core values and culture are based on caring about our people, investing in training and career development and building inclusive teams where we are all encouraged to contribute to achieve success.

We offer comprehensive benefits designed to support your professional development and enhance your overall quality of life. In addition to a Competitive Salary, here's what you can expect as part of our benefits package:

Personalised Career Development: We create a development plan customised to your goals and aspirations, with a range of learning and development opportunities within a culture that encourages growth.

Flexible working: Flexible work arrangements to support your work-life balance. We can’t promise to always be able to meet every request, however are keen to discuss your individual preferences to make it work where we can.

A Fantastic Benefits Package: This includes generous annual leave allowance, enhanced family friendly benefits, pension scheme, access to private health, well-being, and insurance schemes, an employee assistance programme, discounted cash plan and more…..

At Sword we are dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer, ensuring that all applicants receive fair and equal consideration for employment, regardless of whether they meet every requirement. If you don’t tick all the boxes but feel you have some of the relevant skills and experience we’re looking for, please do consider applying and highlight your transferable skills and experience. We embrace diversity in all its forms, valuing individuals regardless of age, disability, gender identity or reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Your perspective and potential are important to us.

If we can do anything to help make the hiring process more accessible, please let our talent acquisition team know when you apply so we can support any adjustments.