Head of IT Service Management & Experience

About the role

The Head of IT Service Management & Experience is responsible for the overall technology experience of faculty, researchers, staff and students at MBZUAI. The role leads the Service Desk, audiovisual and classroom technology, student computing labs and IT asset management, ensuring strategy, performance, cost efficiency and AI‑enabled renewal.

Key responsibilities

• Own end‑to‑end strategy, roadmap and sourcing posture for the Service Management & Experience capability.
• Lead day‑to‑day Service Desk operations across all channels, improving resolution times, first‑contact resolution and user satisfaction.
• Manage experience‑level agreements (XLAs) alongside SLAs and use satisfaction, effort and sentiment data to drive improvements.
• Deliver reliable audiovisual and classroom services, coordinating with academic and facilities teams for event readiness.
• Oversee student computing labs, planning capacity, imaging, software and lifecycle refresh to support teaching peaks.
• Run IT asset management for the end‑user estate, ensuring accurate lifecycle and cost visibility.
• Govern core service management processes (incident, request, problem, change, knowledge, service catalogue) and drive automation.
• Lead AI‑enabled transformation, piloting automated triage, conversational self‑service and automated fulfilment.
• Manage, coach and develop Service Desk, AV and labs teams, maintaining staffing levels for academic cycles.
• Govern managed‑service and specialist‑vendor relationships, ensuring SLAs, KPIs and knowledge transfer.

Required profile

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration or related discipline.
• Minimum 10 years progressive IT service‑delivery experience, including at least 5 years in senior management or capability‑ownership role.
• Proven end‑to‑end ownership of a service or capability (strategy, roadmap, budget, sourcing, vendor governance).
• Strong grounding in ITIL 4 service management (incident, request, problem, change, knowledge, service catalogue).
• Hands‑on experience with enterprise ITSM platforms and performance reporting.
• Experience managing AV/classroom technology, computing‑lab estates and IT asset management.
• Track record of improving service performance and user experience through KPI/SLA frameworks.
• Experience leading teams through operational transformation and stakeholder engagement.

Required skills

• ITIL 4 service management
• Enterprise ITSM platforms
• AI‑enabled automation and conversational self‑service
• Audiovisual and classroom technology
• Computing‑lab management
• IT asset management