Temporary IT Service Desk 2nd Line Analysts (We can offer immediate starts with short, medium, long term contracts) in Chester House, Epsom Ave, Handforth, Cheadle, Greater Manchester, SK9 3DF

We really pride ourselves on being a very special place to work where people and pets come first! Voted in the top 10 of the Great Place to Work (Best Large Workplaces) awards 2017 for two consecutive years and Number 13 in Europe in 2016! The Pets at Home Group has 12,500 colleagues within 450 stores, 2 Distribution Centres, over 300 Groom Rooms, 430 vet practices, 2 Support Offices and 5 specialists referral hospitals; all making up the UK’s number one pet care retailer.

This is a career building opportunity for the right candidate. Every opportunity is on offer to learn and develop your IT within our Group IT Service Desk Team, supporting all Pets at Home and Vet Group colleagues and working as part of a busy, professional and highly motivated team based at our Support Office in Handforth, Cheshire. This is initially a temporary position to cover during these very challenging times but with the very real possibility of going permanent due to our continued growth and opportunity.

As a 2nd line Service Desk Analyst you will have excellent desktop support skills and knowledge of a Retail / Services environment and a good knowledge of networking principles and providing LAN / WAN support. You will have previously worked in a 1st line or technical Service Desk role. As a 2nd line Service Desk Analyst you will provide IT support for the Service Management function across the Pets at Home Group.

Key Responsibilities:

• Incident / Service Request recording and classification, inputting information into the Service Management Tool and ensuring quality and accuracy of data.
• Track, triage and manage incidents and service requests from receipt into the 2nd Line Team to completion to ensure resolution in a timely manner and to a high standard to avoid as little disruption to the business as possible, working to Service Level Agreements and providing an excellent level of Customer Service.
• Routing of Incidents and Requests to further appropriate 3rd Line Internal Support Teams or 3rd Parties if required.
• Conducting required operational daily checks and tasks to ensure systems stability.
• Providing desktop support either remotely, on-site at the Pets at Home Support Office or other support locations such as our specialist referral hospitals in Cheshire.
• Producing knowledge documents and procedures for transfer of activities and tasks to 1st line, improving the Service Desk Team First Time Fix rate.
• Major Incident Management when required.
• Correctly follow Incident, Request, Problem, Knowledge, Change, and Asset Management processes, along with Information Security processes and procedures.
• Support the implementation of new services, from transformation, implementation and BAU, such as encryption and refresh projects across the business, or new software / application implementations and projects.
• Play an active role in the problem management process identifying and resolving problems and suggesting and implementing service / process improvements in collaboration with other Group IT colleagues, 3rd parties and the wider business.
• Build and configuration of laptops and desktops, along with installation of authorised software, encryption software, Anti-Virus, software updates and patches.
• Troubleshoot hardware & software problems, such as printers/desktops/servers, POS & hardware/network related issues.
• Participate in the 2nd Line on-call rota, which rotates on a 4 weekly basis, requiring a member of 2nd Line to be available (24/7) for the week to support with business critical out of hours priority issues if required (additional benefit payments apply).

Skills Required and Proven Experience:

• Competent and methodical administrative experience - able to manage multiple tasks within required timescales.
• ITIL Foundation certification desired but not essential, however requires experience of working within an ITIL process driven environment.
• Confident and assertive communicator, oral and written - able to communicate with colleagues, senior managers, vendors and suppliers.
• Ability to work both independently and in a team.
• Good problem solving skills.
• Although a number of our systems are bespoke and training will be provided for these, previous experience of IT & Desktop support is required.
• Experience of using Landesk / Heat / Ivanti / Sophos software and experience of Software licencing is advantageous.
• Knowledge of Microsoft based operating systems and applications, networking experience & Active Directory required.
• Good working knowledge of PC hardware and software set-up and configuration.
• You must be able to demonstrate experience of, and thrive off, delivering excellent customer service.
• We’re a pet retailer so a passion for Pets is what we’re all about: this is a must!
• Your excellent time management skills will enable you to prioritise and organise your workload.
• You should be able to work both independently (with minimal supervision) as well as part of a team.
• We are looking for a committed, ambitious and motivated individual who has the drive to improve and develop their own skills but also someone who is a real team player.
• Our business never stops and therefore you must be willing to work to defined working schedules, which include a small number of weekends, evenings and bank holidays.
• You must hold a full UK driving licence and be willing to travel to other support locations across the Pets at Home Group, such as our specialist referral hospitals and distribution centres.

The Benefits:

• Up to £25,000 per annum
• 33 days paid annual leave (including bank holidays), increasing to 36 days (including bank holidays) after 2 years’ service.
• Birthday Leave - 1 day extra leave to celebrate your Birthday!
• The option to buy extra holidays
• An extra days holiday when you become a new pet parent (Dog/Cat/Horse)
• Pension Scheme
• Colleague Discount- 20% discount for you (plus one family member). This can be used in Pets at Home Stores, Groom Rooms, Companion Care & Vets4Pets Veterinary Services, and Pet Plan Insurance!
• “Treats” benefits- an online range of offers and discounts which are available exclusively to Pets at Home Colleagues
• Life assurance
• Contributory Private Health Care
• Charity Leave- You are entitled to have one paid day’s leave each year to work for your favourite animal related charity.
• Celebrating Special Celebrations? You’ll get 1 extra week off and a gift to celebrate your wedding or civil partnership, and a gift from us if you are expecting or adopting a baby!
• Free Car Parking
• Free Gym
• Colleague of the Month Awards
• Cycle to Work Scheme