As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is a special place to work. We’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history.
We’ve set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive - a different kind of cultural and heritage institution: Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive. We won’t become this overnight. It will take time, focus, effort and daring.
That’s where you come in. Because we can’t do this without you.
Job Overview
Salary: £29,258 per annum
Contract type: Permanent
Band: D / Executive Officer
Closing date: Wednesday 8th July 2026 at midnight
Help support the technology behind the UK’s digital record!
We’re looking for an IT Service Support Analyst to join our IT Operations team.
At The National Archives, technology underpins how the UK’s digital record is preserved, accessed and protected. The Service Desk is central to ensuring those services remain reliable, secure and trusted.
This is a hands-on role providing first-line support across a wide range of IT services and technologies. You’ll act as the first point of contact for incidents and service requests, helping restore service quickly while delivering a high standard of customer experience.
You’ll work closely with colleagues across Infrastructure, Security and Digital teams, as well as third-party suppliers, contributing to the smooth running and continual improvement of live services.
You’ll also be joining a well-established and supportive team environment where learning, collaboration and development are encouraged.
This is a full time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department.
A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for the majority of their work time.
SC clearance/willingness to obtain SC clearance will be required for this role. This requires candidates to have been resident in the UK for at least the past three years. Please do not apply if you have been resident in the UK for less than three years as your application will be rejected.
The role:
• Provide first-line IT support for incidents, requests and live service issues
• Take ownership of tickets from initial contact through to resolution or escalation
• Support users across Microsoft 365, Windows, collaboration tools and core business applications
• Maintain accurate ticket updates, documentation and knowledge articles
• Work with resolver teams and suppliers to diagnose and resolve more complex issues
• Support approved changes and service improvement activities
• Contribute to maintaining a positive, professional and customer-focused support experience
What matters here:
• Delivering reliable and well-run IT support services
• Clear communication and strong customer experience
• Thorough investigation and ownership of issues
• Learning from repeat incidents and service trends
• A collaborative approach to support and improvement
• Developing technical capability over time
Who this might suit:
• Someone early in their IT career looking to broaden their technical capability
• Someone with Service Desk experience ready to take on more ownership and responsibility
• Someone who enjoys helping users and solving problems in a live environment
• Someone motivated by public service and delivering reliable services that matter
Application Process:
• Interview: Interviews will be held on-site, week commencing 20th July 2026. Candidates invited to interview will also attend a peer panel as part of the process. This is an informal meeting with current employees at The National Archives. Further information will be included in interview invitations.
• Application: We ask all applicants to submit work history details and a personal statement of up to 1200 words. Both elements will be assessed against the essential criteria shown in the job description below. We are particularly interested in how you apply your experience in practice. Responses should reflect your own work and understanding.
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please visit the Civil Service Careers website where you can find further information on the use of AI in the application guidance section.
Sponsorship:
We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.
Job Description
Department IT Operations
Reports to IT Service Desk Manager
Line manages None
Band D
Location Kew
Job Purpose
The IT Service Desk Analyst acts as the first point of contact for IT support, delivering high-quality customer service, effective incident resolution, and timely fulfilment of service requests. The role is responsible for logging, triaging, diagnosing, and resolving incidents and requests, while maintaining clear communication and ownership throughout each ticket’s lifecycle.
The focus of the role is to restore services efficiently, keep users informed, and resolve issues in a way that inspires confidence in The National Archives’ (TNA) digital and technology services.
Working within ITIL-aligned processes, you will aim to restore service as quickly as possible, achieve first-time fixes where appropriate, and escalate issues to internal resolver teams or third-party suppliers when needed. You will contribute to the stability, reliability, and continuous improvement of ICT services by applying technical expertise, identifying root causes, and maintaining accurate and meaningful records.
As part of IT and Digital Operations, this role is central to ensuring TNA’s technology services remain reliable, secure, and trusted. You will help ensure that issues encountered in live service are understood, addressed effectively, and used to drive ongoing learning and improvement.
We are looking for someone who excels at the fundamentals, taking pride in delivering reliable, well-run services, while remaining curious and proactive about improvement, using insights from day-to-day operations to enhance service quality.
This role aligns with DDaT capability expectations for managing live services, with a strong emphasis on service operations, user experience, and continuous improvement.
Role and Responsibilities
Service Management and Technical Support
- Take end‑to‑end ownership of incidents and service requests, ensuring accurate logging, classification, prioritisation, and diagnosis. Deliver high‑quality first‑line technical support to restore service and achieve first‑contact resolution wherever possible within agreed service levels.
- Manage incidents, requests, and changes within the IT Service Management (ITSM) tool, maintaining accurate records throughout the ticket lifecycle. Create and maintain clear, accessible technical and procedural documentation.
- Investigate and resolve complex issues by working collaboratively with customers, colleagues, and third‑party suppliers, following established incident management processes. Communicate clearly with stakeholders at all levels, translating technical information into accessible language.
Change, Improvement and Reporting
- Support the delivery of approved changes to ICT systems, ensuring all changes are authorised, risk assessed, and implemented in line with change control procedures.
- Identify, analyse, and report recurring incidents and service trends, escalating risks and problem candidates where appropriate. Contribute to service improvement initiatives, reports, and planning activities to enhance service quality and user experience.
- Work with internal teams, stakeholders, and suppliers to deliver changes, upgrades, and transformation initiatives that align with organisational objectives and minimise service disruption.
Ways of Working
- Demonstrate a strong customer‑focused mindset, contributing to a culture of professionalism, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Emphasise thorough investigation, clear communication, and learning from repeat issues over simply progressing tickets.
Working Conditions
- Normal office and controlled environments
- Display Screen Equipment user
- Moving items up to 20kg in weight
- Working in confined spaces, e.g., under desks
Person Specification
Essential Criteria
Managing a Quality Service
- Demonstrable experience working in an IT support or service environment, with a good working knowledge of core Microsoft technologies (e.g. Windows OS, Microsoft 365, Active Directory) and a willingness to build deeper technical capability over time.
- A foundational understanding of common end‑user, network, server, cloud and VoIP issues, with the ability to follow structured approaches to diagnose problems, seek support where needed, and continue developing technical knowledge.
- High attention to detail, with the ability to accurately log, update and maintain records relating to incidents, requests, assets and configurations so information is reliable and useful to others.
- An analytical and methodical approach to problem‑solving, with the ability to investigate issues, identify likely causes, and contribute to resolution in line with agreed processes and guidance.
- Experience working within an ITIL‑aligned service management environment, with a practical understanding of incident and request management and an appreciation of change and problem management in live services.
- An interest in learning from repeat issues and service trends, and a willingness to contribute ideas and observations that support continuous improvement under the guidance of senior colleagues and service owners.
Engaging People
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with a strong customer focus and the ability to explain technical information clearly, confidently and appropriately to non‑technical users, both verbally and in writing
- Proven ability to work effectively as part of a team, contributing to individual and shared objectives across different levels of the organisation
Desirable criteria:
- Experience working on a busy, customer focused IT Service Desk, managing competing priorities and service levels
- Experience working with or managing relationships with third-party suppliers, including coordination, escalation and follow‑up
- ITIL Foundation certification, or equivalent practical experience working within an ITIL‑aligned environment
- Experience using IT Service Management (ITSM) tools, including ticket management, workflow configuration, automation, self‑service portals, knowledge bases and reporting
- Experience supporting teams using Atlassian tools such as Jira and Confluence
- Ability to recognise common cyber security threats (e.g. phishing, malware, credential compromise) and understand when and how to escalate appropriately, including supporting security incident response activities in a service desk context
Other Requirements
- Participation in support rotas may be required
- A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for the majority of their work time.
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is
found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service
D&I Strategy.
Benefits
Generous benefits package, including pension, sports and social club facilities, onsite gym, discounted rates at our on-site cafe and opportunities for training and development. Annual leave entitlement of 22 days per calendar year (rising to 25 after the first year, and incrementally to 30 days after six years) and 10½ days public and privilege holidays per annum.
Any move to The National Archives from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ (opens in new window)
Reasonable adjustments
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
Contact The National Archives via careers@nationalarchives.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
Complete the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.
People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks (opens in new window)
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. (opens in new window)
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative. (opens in new window)
Contact point for applicants:
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact The National Archives via email: careers@nationalarchives.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/recruitment-complaints/ (opens in new window)
