Operational Readiness Lead (IT Service Transition)

Sanderson Government and Defence; Farnborough; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Sanderson Government and Defence in Hampshire seeks a Service Management Lead to drive operational readiness and service transition for new and updated IT services.

You will lead ORRs, define readiness frameworks, coordinate cross-disciplinary teams across project delivery, operations and support, and ensure go-live readiness.

The role emphasizes risk management, documentation, and knowledge transfer to enable smooth live service and strong handover.

Qualifications

• 5 years experience in ITSM and Service Transition.
• Strong understanding of ITIL principles.
• Proven experience managing Operational Readiness and/or Service Transition activities.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Experience across infrastructure, cloud, application and support teams.
• Strong risk management and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to coordinate multiple projects, workstreams and competing priorities.
• Experience taking new or changed services through readiness, acceptance and transition into live service.
• Strong understanding of operational support requirements and service handover.
• ITIL Foundation or higher certification is desirable.
• Experience using ServiceNow or equivalent ITSM platforms is desirable.
• Project Management qualifications such as PRINCE2, Agile or PMP are desirable.
• Knowledge and practical experience of Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT) is desirable.
• Previous experience working within complex, highly secure or regulated environments is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Lead Operational Readiness Reviews (ORRs) for new and updated IT services.
• Develop and maintain operational readiness frameworks, processes and governance.
• Ensure all operational acceptance criteria are completed before go-live.
• Coordinate service transition activities across project and operational teams.
• Act as the operational readiness authority for project deployments.
• Ensure services are appropriately prepared for operational support before deployment.
• Define and maintain Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT) requirements.
• Facilitate readiness assessments and go-live reviews.
• Identify, assess and manage operational risks, issues and dependencies.
• Ensure service support requirements are documented, agreed and approved.
• Provide clear readiness recommendations to senior stakeholders and governance forums.
• Ensure appropriate support documentation, work instructions, runbooks and knowledge articles are created and maintained.
• Coordinate knowledge-transfer sessions between project/delivery and operational support teams.
• Ensure Service Desk and resolver groups have the information and knowledge required to support new services.
• Maintain appropriate service handover documentation and readiness records.
• Validate support structures, escalation paths, ownership and RACI models.
• Ensure monitoring, alerting, backup, recovery and support tooling are operational and fit for purpose.
• Work with technical teams to confirm operational support capability and capacity.
• Identify support-team resource, training and knowledge requirements.
• Ensure operational teams are appropriately prepared to take ownership of services.
• Work closely with Project Managers, Service Owners, Technical Architects, Engineers and Support Teams.
• Provide operational readiness reporting to senior leadership and governance boards.
• Communicate readiness status, risks, mitigation plans and recommendations clearly.
• Build strong relationships across technical, project and operational teams.
• Identify opportunities to improve service transition and operational readiness processes.
• Support the adoption of ITIL best practices and wider Service Management initiatives.
• Review post-implementation outcomes and lessons learned.
• Use lessons learned to improve readiness approaches for future deployments.

Skills

ITSM

ITIL

Operational Readiness

Service Transition

Stakeholder management

Risk Management

Project Coordination

Go-live Readiness

Service Handover

OAT (OP Acceptance Testing)

Tools

ServiceNow

PRINCE2

Agile

PMP

OAT methodology

Job description

Sanderson Government and Defence in Hampshire seeks a Service Management Lead to drive operational readiness and service transition for new and updated IT services.

You will lead ORRs, define readiness frameworks, coordinate cross-disciplinary teams across project delivery, operations and support, and ensure go-live readiness.

The role emphasizes risk management, documentation, and knowledge transfer to enable smooth live service and strong handover.