1st Line Analyst - 12 Month FTC

Location & Working Pattern

This role is predominantly based at our Handforth, Cheshire office (South Manchester), with some opportunity for hybrid working once fully trained.

You’ll work a shift-based pattern Monday to Friday, rotating across the following shifts:

Early: 08:00 – 16:15

Mid: 09:00 – 17:15

Mid: 10:00 – 18:10

Late: 12:00 – 20:10

The role also includes approximately 1 in 4 weekends, working:

Saturday: 08:00 – 19:10

Sunday: 09:00 – 18:10

The starting salary for this role is £25,875. The initial training period (up to 12 weeks) will be fully office-based. Once training is complete and signed off, you’ll move to a more flexible working pattern and benefit from a salary uplift to £28,374.97.

About the Role

As a Service Desk Analyst, you’ll be the first point of contact for colleagues across the business, supporting IT queries via phone, email and self-service. With around 90% of enquiries coming through by phone, strong communication skills are essential—you’ll need to deliver clear, confident and professional support in a fast-paced environment.

You’ll be responsible for accurately logging incidents and requests, using knowledge base tools to troubleshoot hardware and software issues, and aiming to resolve as many queries as possible at first contact. Where needed, you’ll escalate issues to the relevant internal teams or external partners, working closely with 1st and 2nd line colleagues to share knowledge and continuously improve the service.

Our Service Desk supports over 450 Pet Care Centres and Vet Practices, along with our Support Offices and Distribution Centre, so you’ll be comfortable managing a high volume of queries—typically around 30 calls per day (depending on task complexity).

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for colleagues, supporting queries via phone, email and self-service, and keeping them updated so they can continue their day with minimal disruption
• Accurately log incidents and requests in the Service Management system, ensuring clear and detailed records
• Troubleshoot hardware and software issues using our knowledge base, supporting both on-site and remote colleagues
• Aim to resolve queries at first contact, delivering a positive and professional experience as the ‘front door’ to IT
• Identify when issues need escalation and route them to the appropriate internal teams or external partners
• Collaborate with 1st and 2nd line colleagues to share knowledge, improve ways of working and enhance overall service delivery

About You

You’ll bring hands-on experience from a busy 1st line or Service Desk environment (typically 6–12 months), and be confident managing a high volume of queries and calls. With most interactions happening over the phone, you’ll have strong communication skills and be able to explain technical issues clearly and professionally.

You’ll be highly organised, with a keen attention to detail when logging and managing tickets. A natural problem solver, you’ll be curious, tenacious and motivated to see issues through to resolution.

You’ll also have a strong interest in IT and technology, with working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications. Experience within a retail environment would be an advantage, particularly in a fast-paced, customer-focused setting.

Pets just see people. They aren’t biased and they don’t discriminate. We take our inspiration from pets, and we value and respect difference in all its forms. Our aim is to reflect the diversity of the communities we operate in, and every colleague can help us achieve this. We encourage our people to be themselves so even if your skills and experience don’t perfectly align, if you think you can make a unique contribution through your values and behaviours, we want to hear from you.