Problem manager

Find out what a problem manager in government does and the skills you need to do the role at each level.

Last updated 30 August 2024 — See all updates

Contents

— What a problem manager does
— Problem manager role levels

— 1. Problem analyst
— 2. Problem manager

— Roles that share problem manager skills

What a problem manager does

Problem managers aim to resolve and control the root causes of incidents caused by errors within the IT infrastructure. In this role, you will be expected to work to prevent the recurrence of these incidents.

Problem manager role levels

There are 2 problem manager role levels, from problem analyst to problem manager.

The typical responsibilities and skills for each role level are described in the sections below. You can use this to identify the skills you need to progress in your career, or simply to learn more about each role in the Government Digital and Data profession.

1. Problem analyst

At this level, you will be responsible for maintaining software systems once they are up and running and, where necessary, support the problem manager in co-ordinating the resolution of any problems.

This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:

EO (Executive Officer)
HEO (Higher Executive Officer)

Skill	Description
Asset and configuration management Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: track, log and correct information to protect assets and components
Availability and capacity management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: manage service components to ensure they meet business needs and performance targets
Change management Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: implement change requests apply change control procedures under supervision
Community collaboration Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: contribute to the work of others motivate and empower teams create the right environment for teams to work in, and can identify the best team makeup depending on the situation recognise and deal with issues
Continual service improvement Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: identify process optimisation opportunities with guidance, and contribute to the implementation of proposed solutions
Continuity management Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: explain the basic principles of IT standard continuity management processes and procedures
Incident management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: diagnose and prioritise incidents, investigate their causes and find resolutions
Ownership and initiative Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: own an issue until a new owner has been found or the problem has been mitigated or resolved
Problem management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: initiate and monitor actions to investigate patterns and trends to resolve problems effectively consult specialists where required determine the appropriate remedy and assist with its implementation determine preventative measures
Service focus Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: take inputs and establish coherent frameworks that work
Service management framework knowledge Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: You have a Level 3 service management framework qualification
Technical understanding Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: show an awareness of the relevant subject matter and a high level understanding of what it involves
User focus Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: identify and engage with users or stakeholders to collate user needs evidence understand and define research that fits user needs use quantitative and qualitative data about users to turn user focus into outcomes

You can:

track, log and correct information to protect assets and components

You can:

manage service components to ensure they meet business needs and performance targets

You can:

implement change requests
apply change control procedures under supervision

You can:

contribute to the work of others
motivate and empower teams
create the right environment for teams to work in, and can identify the best team makeup depending on the situation
recognise and deal with issues

You can:

identify process optimisation opportunities with guidance, and contribute to the implementation of proposed solutions

You can:

explain the basic principles of IT standard continuity management processes and procedures

You can:

diagnose and prioritise incidents, investigate their causes and find resolutions

You can:

own an issue until a new owner has been found or the problem has been mitigated or resolved

You can:

initiate and monitor actions to investigate patterns and trends to resolve problems
effectively consult specialists where required
determine the appropriate remedy and assist with its implementation
determine preventative measures

You can:

take inputs and establish coherent frameworks that work

You can:

You have a Level 3 service management framework qualification

You can:

show an awareness of the relevant subject matter and a high level understanding of what it involves

You can:

identify and engage with users or stakeholders to collate user needs evidence
understand and define research that fits user needs
use quantitative and qualitative data about users to turn user focus into outcomes

2. Problem manager

A problem manager picks up feeds from numerous sources, such as the service desk, with the aim of putting in place continual improvements to stop incidents such as regular service outages recurring.

At this role level, you will:

resolve emerging and recurring problems
perform root cause analysis to minimise the adverse impact of incidents caused by errors within the IT infrastructure
work closely with major incident managers
deal with problems and root cause analysis

This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:

HEO (Higher Executive Officer)
SEO (Senior Executive Officer)

Skill	Description
Asset and configuration management Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: track, log and correct information to protect assets and components
Availability and capacity management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: manage service components to ensure they meet business needs and performance targets
Change management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: analyse and assess the impact of change document change requests action changes from change requests
Community collaboration Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: work collaboratively in a group, actively networking with others adapt feedback to ensure it’s effective and lasting use your initiative to identify problems or issues in the team dynamic and rectify them identify issues through Agile ‘health checks’ with the team, and help to stimulate the right responses
Continual service improvement Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: analyse current processes, and identify and implement opportunities to optimise them lead and develop a team of experts to deliver service improvements help to evaluate and establish requirements for the implementation of changes by setting policy and standards
Continuity management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: manage the runbooks and the processes around service continuity test the runbooks to ensure that service availability is maintained
Incident management Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: lead the investigation and resolution of incidents
Ownership and initiative Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: take accountability for issues that occur and be proactive in searching for potential problems achieve excellent user outcomes
Problem management Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: ensure that the right actions are taken to investigate, resolve and anticipate problems co-ordinate the team to investigate problems, implement solutions and take preventive measures
Service focus Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: see the bigger picture by taking groups of services and investigating how to get the best of underlying services
Service management framework knowledge Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: You have a Level 3 service management framework qualification
Technical understanding Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: understand the core technical concepts related to the role, and apply them with guidance
User focus Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels	You can: identify and engage with users or stakeholders to collate user needs evidence understand and define research that fits user needs use quantitative and qualitative data about users to turn user focus into outcomes

You can:

track, log and correct information to protect assets and components

You can:

manage service components to ensure they meet business needs and performance targets

You can:

analyse and assess the impact of change
document change requests
action changes from change requests

You can:

work collaboratively in a group, actively networking with others
adapt feedback to ensure it’s effective and lasting
use your initiative to identify problems or issues in the team dynamic and rectify them
identify issues through Agile ‘health checks’ with the team, and help to stimulate the right responses

You can:

analyse current processes, and identify and implement opportunities to optimise them
lead and develop a team of experts to deliver service improvements
help to evaluate and establish requirements for the implementation of changes by setting policy and standards

You can:

manage the runbooks and the processes around service continuity
test the runbooks to ensure that service availability is maintained

You can:

lead the investigation and resolution of incidents

You can:

take accountability for issues that occur and be proactive in searching for potential problems
achieve excellent user outcomes

You can:

ensure that the right actions are taken to investigate, resolve and anticipate problems
co-ordinate the team to investigate problems, implement solutions and take preventive measures

You can:

see the bigger picture by taking groups of services and investigating how to get the best of underlying services

You can:

You have a Level 3 service management framework qualification

You can:

understand the core technical concepts related to the role, and apply them with guidance

You can:

identify and engage with users or stakeholders to collate user needs evidence
understand and define research that fits user needs
use quantitative and qualitative data about users to turn user focus into outcomes

Role	Shared skills
Change and release manager	Asset and configuration management Availability and capacity management Change management Community collaboration Continual service improvement Continuity management Incident management Ownership and initiative Problem management Service focus Service management framework knowledge Technical understanding User focus
Command and control centre manager	Asset and configuration management Availability and capacity management Change management Community collaboration Continual service improvement Continuity management Incident management Ownership and initiative Problem management Service focus Service management framework knowledge Technical understanding User focus
Incident manager	Asset and configuration management Availability and capacity management Change management Community collaboration Continual service improvement Continuity management Incident management Ownership and initiative Problem management Service focus Service management framework knowledge Technical understanding User focus
Service transition manager	Asset and configuration management Availability and capacity management Change management Community collaboration Continual service improvement Continuity management Incident management Ownership and initiative Problem management Service focus Service management framework knowledge Technical understanding User focus
Application operations engineer	Asset and configuration management Availability and capacity management Change management Continual service improvement Incident management Ownership and initiative Problem management Service focus Service management framework knowledge Technical understanding User focus

Updates

Published 7 January 2020

Last updated 30 August 2024

30 August 2024

The skill level descriptions for 'change management' and 'continuity management' have been updated to improve clarity and ensure consistency across the framework. No change was made to the meaning of skill level descriptions.

7 January 2020

First published.

Problem manager

What a problem manager does

Problem manager role levels

1. Problem analyst

2. Problem manager

Updates

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Cookies on Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework

Problem manager

What a problem manager does

Problem manager role levels

1. Problem analyst

2. Problem manager

Roles that share problem manager skills

Updates

Is this page useful?

Thank you for your feedback