Job Description

The University of Manchester is a truly global institution with a reputation for education and innovation that resonates across the world, offering a wide range of courses and boasting outstanding facilities in the centre of Manchester. With 25 Nobel Prize winners among its current and former staff and students, it has a history of world firsts and brilliant discoveries. Manchester's industrial and cultural heritage is mirrored by the achievements of some of the University's most celebrated names. The computer revolution started here in June 1948 when a machine built by Tom Kilburn and Sir Freddie Williams, known affectionately as 'The Baby', ran its first stored program. The celebrated wartime codebreaker Alan Turing worked on this computer during his time at Manchester.


The University is committed to world-class research, outstanding learning and student experience and social responsibility in everything it does. It is making one of the largest investments in facilities ever seen at a UK university, with 750 million spent so far and a further 1 billion to follow by 2022. Its goal is to become one of the world's leading Universities.

About IT Services

IT Services at the University of Manchester is a vibrant and fast-moving department, we focus on delivering excellent customer service and quality services for our staff, students and researchers.


Find out more about our organisation and values:

IT Services: About us and ITS Practice Charter Benefits of working at The University of Manchester

The team

Deskside Support provides a range of IT services and user support to over 12,000 staff and 40,000 students, managing and delivering activities across incident management, service management, and substantial University projects. We work across multiple sites and environments, from staff offices to specialist lab spaces, providing great customer support, technical excellence, and a friendly supportive team ethos.

The role

This role will involve providing customer-focused IT support at physical locations across the University, involving everything from a broken laptop to setting up several hundred desktops for a large teaching cluster. We manage a mixed estate of Windows, Mac and Linux supporting both hardware and software including connectivity with a wide variety of peripherals, from keyboards to experimental equipment.

The person

Use customer service techniques to ensure that full account is taken of customers' real and stated needs in the delivery of IT services. Identify gaps in the available information required to understand a problem or situation, and gather more information as necessary, seeking help from colleagues as required. Establish relationships with people from a variety of backgrounds, possessing effective and sensitive communication skills across different societies and cultures. Use their own knowledge and skill and specialist knowledge from the wider team to install, fix, and maintain hardware and software systems in a way that ensures they operate within their planned specification, and are safe to use by those authorised to work with them. Develop relationships and work with other teams within IT Services when resolving problems, such as Networks, IT Security, and the IT Support Centre.

Please be aware that due to the nature of the work of the Deskside Support team, home/remote work is not available in this role, and you will be required to work on-site.


When addressing the person specification criteria in your application for this role, please ensure you refer to the specific role requirements above.

What you will get in return:

Fantastic market leading Pension scheme Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays Additional paid closure over the Christmas period Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers

As an equal opportunities employer we support an inclusive working environment and welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.


Our University is positive about flexible working you can find out more here


Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.


Any CV's submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Neil Oddie


Email: neil.oddie@manchester.ac.uk

General enquiries:

Email: People.recruitment@manchester.ac.uk

Technical support:

https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home

This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.

Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.