Senior IT Service Desk Technician in Bicester, England at YASA Limited

Founded in 2009 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford, YASA is a world leader in axial flux electric motor technology and part of the Mercedes-Benz Group. We are helping to shape the future of electrification through cutting-edge innovation, engineering excellence and a passion for pushing boundaries. At YASA, you'll work alongside talented and driven colleagues in a collaborative environment where your ideas, development and contributions truly matter.

YASA is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates and make employment decisions based on skills, experience and potential, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity status, or any other protected characteristic.

About the role

• Own day-to-day IT Operations and service reliability
• Ensure secure, resilient IT infrastructure
• Drive standardisation, automation and operational maturity

What you'll do

• Own day-to-day IT operations across sites, ensuring service availability and effective incident, request, problem and change management.

• Operate and continually improve the virtualised infrastructure, including high availability and disaster recovery capabilities, in line with business growth.

• Oversee all network connectivity (LAN, WAN, Wi‑Fi, SD-WAN and SASE), from individual user connectivity through to inter-site traffic, including performance and resilience.

• Manage security operations for IT infrastructure and endpoints, including firewalls, endpoint protection/EDR, encryption, vulnerability and patch management, monitoring and secure remote/BYOD access controls (where applicable).

• Manage, maintain and upgrade the company’s server estate (predominantly Microsoft), including standard builds, configuration, documentation and lifecycle management.

• Own operational tooling and documentation (monitoring, alerting, backup reporting, asset/configuration records) and drive standardisation and automation where beneficial.
• Lead and coordinate end-user support and escalations, ensuring timely resolution and clear communication (working with internal colleagues and third parties as required).

• Maintain service KPIs and provide timely reporting to management, highlighting risks, trends and improvement actions.

• Manage key IT suppliers and support contracts (e.g., connectivity, security, support partners), including service reviews and escalation management.

• Any other duties as required.

Person Specification

• Proven experience in a similar role managing and improving IT Operations and infrastructure in a multi-site environment.

• Strong hands-on experience managing Microsoft server infrastructure (e.g., Windows Server/Active Directory and related services), including lifecycle management, high availability, backup and disaster recovery.

• Microsoft 365 administration experience (e.g., Entra ID/Azure AD, Exchange Online, SharePoint/Teams and related services), where applicable to the environment.

• Strong hands-on experience of enterprise virtualisation platforms (e.g., VMware vSphere and/or Nutanix AHV), including operational support and performance/resilience considerations.

• Strong understanding of LAN, WAN, Wi‑Fi and VPN connectivity, including troubleshooting and supplier engagement.

• Security operations experience, including next-generation firewalls (e.g., Sophos/Check Point or equivalent), endpoint protection/EDR, encryption, patching and vulnerability management.

• Identity and access management experience (e.g., MFA, role-based access, joiner/mover/leaver processes) and an understanding of modern device management/BYOD controls (where applicable).
• Experience running operational processes (incident, problem and change management), with a service-focused approach and clear stakeholder communication.

• Experience producing and presenting operational reporting and KPIs (availability, incidents, change, patch/vulnerability posture) to management.

• Automation/scripting capability (e.g., PowerShell) and a continuous improvement mindset.

• Ability to manage stakeholders effectively, with a service approach.

• Ability to work in a methodical, organised, and timely manner; good attention to detail; able to work to tight deadlines.

• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal; flexible approach; able to work within a small team across multiple departments.

• Willingness to travel as required.
• Desirable:
• ITIL Foundation (or equivalent operational service management experience).

• Relevant formal certification and/or advanced administration experience in an Enterprise virtualisation platform e.g., VMware or Nutanix.

• Cloud and SaaS administration experience (e.g., Microsoft 365 and related services), where applicable to the environment.