Senior Principal - Service Desk Assurance

Job Purpose  The Technology Service Desk is the front door to Digital & Tech for GSK colleagues worldwide and is delivered through an outsourced provider. This senior role owns the assurance and performance governance of the outsourced Tech Service Desk, managing the provider to agreed SLAs, XLAs and quality expectations and driving continuous improvement. A key part of the role is to drive the Service Desk modernisation agenda, increasing the use of AI and automation to accelerate shift left, expand effective self-service and deliver material improvements in colleague experience. It sets and refreshes SLAs and XLAs to ensure continuous stretch and improvement, and ensures a robust “voice of the customer” feedback-to-improvement cycle. Operating within GSK's largely outsourced, multi-sourced ecosystem, the role sets, monitors and governs standards and delivery discipline for the service outcome. Key Responsibilities Service Desk Performance Assurance • Manage the outsourced Tech Service Desk provider to agreed SLAs, XLAs and quality expectations, holding the provider to account for outcomes. • Assure the quality and delivery discipline of the service, driving improvements where performance or experience falls short. • Own the end-to-end colleague experience of the Service Desk, not just the L1 interaction – where issues are escalated from L1 to L2, retain accountability for the outcome and ensure L2 delivers what is required to resolve it, escalating to L2 service owners where appropriate. SLA / XLA Refresh & Continuous Improvement • Drive the refresh of SLAs, XLAs and measures to ensure continuous stretch and improvement over time. • Set, monitor and govern service standards and improvement plans across internal and provider teams. Voice of the Customer & Experience • Ensure a robust “voice of the customer” feedback-to-improvement cycle, using experience data (eg XLA/CSAT) to shape service change. Standards, Quality & Governance • Define and govern service standards, quality expectations and operational governance artefacts. • Ensure audit-readiness of the Service Desk operation, maintaining the controls, evidence and documentation needed to demonstrate compliance to internal and external audit at all times. • Ensure compliance of the products owned by and directly supporting the Service Desk (e.g. Smart IVR). Service Desk Modernisation, AI & Automation • Own and drive the Service Desk modernisation agenda, working with the outsourced provider, Automation Acceleration Hub and enabling product teams to increase the use of AI and automation across operations. • Deliver measurable strides in shift left by expanding knowledge-enabled resolution, intelligent self-service, automation and effective deflection, while improving colleague experience and service efficiency. • Translate modernisation opportunities into a prioritised roadmap with clear adoption, experience and performance outcomes, holding partners to account for delivery and realised benefits. • Ensure AI and automation are used responsibly, with appropriate security, compliance, human review and change control before operational use. Education & Professional Qualifications • Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g. Computer Science, IT or a business discipline), or equivalent experience. • ITIL Foundation required; ITIL Intermediate / Managing Professional desirable. • Certification in enterprise ITSM tooling (e.g. ServiceNow) or service management desirable. Area of Specialisation • Knowledge of Service Desk operations, service management and the ITIL framework. • Strong capability in SLA/XLA design, performance assurance and experience-level management. • Understanding of AI-enabled service desk automation, self-service and defle