Product and Operations Lead - ServiceNow

John Lewis plc; Bracknell; Hybrid; GBP 63,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Job summary

John Lewis Partnership seeks a Product and Operations Lead - ServiceNow to define the multi-year roadmap for ITSM and CMDB and to manage offshore delivery partners. The role focuses on governance, stakeholder engagement, and enabling automation and value delivery across the ServiceNow platform.

The position is hybrid, based at Bracknell, with occasional site visits to other locations, and offers a salary up to £75,000 per year plus benefits. Closing Date: 29 September 2026.

Qualifications

• Experience in product management or enterprise platform ownership with ServiceNow ITSM/CMDB exposure.
• Strong ability to define roadmaps, govern programs, and align with business strategy.
• Proven stakeholder engagement, vendor management and cross-functional leadership.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the multi-year ServiceNow roadmap and platform capabilities.
• Lead governance, senior stakeholder engagement and cross-team collaboration.
• Oversee licensing, vendor relationships and SOW creation with offshore partners.
• Drive platform development, automation opportunities and cost optimisation.
• Ensure operability, risk management and delivery quality of services.

Skills

ServiceNow ITSM

Stakeholder management

Roadmap ownership

Vendor management

Cross-functional leadership

Job description

ABOUT THE ROLE

As a Partner in our business your number one focus is to work collaboratively to create more value for our customers and our business. As the Product and Operations Lead - ServiceNow, you will lead the development and operational maintenance of the JLP ServiceNow environment, supporting ITSM and CMDB. You will define and own the multi-year ServiceNow roadmap, aligning platform capabilities with the Service Management and organisational goals and digital transformation initiatives. You will seek to improve the operational efficiency of the organisation through the use of ServiceNow by identifying and developing opportunities for integrations and automations and associated process improvements. Note that all development and operations of ServiceNow are provided by our 3rd party infrastructure partner and therefore you will not have admin access to the platform. You will maintain a holistic view of technical services, projects and outcomes for ServiceNow, assuring technical delivery and operational performance of services provisioned via offshore 3rd party suppliers. You will be a key touch point for the business and for colleagues within IT. You will also focus on developing and maintaining stakeholder relationships, demonstrating effective influencing skills. You will have the opportunity to develop and stretch personally and professionally to achieve your potential.

Expected salary: up to £75000

Contract type: This position is a permanent contract.

Working pattern: This is a hybrid working role, therefore your time will primarily be split between working from home and the Bracknell Head Office. However, there will also be an expectation to visit other locations as the need arises. Our team currently works from the office around twice a week to connect and on a more ad-hoc basis to attend key meetings, but again the frequency is dependent on the business needs.

Location: This role is based at our Bracknell Head Office campus.

Key responsibilities

• Strategic Vision & Roadmap: Define and own the multi-year ServiceNow roadmap, aligning platform capabilities with organisational goals and digital transformation initiatives.
• Stakeholder & Governance Leadership: Establish and chair governance boards to ensure cross-functional transparency and lead engagement with senior directors to translate complex needs into deliverable requirements.
• Commercial & Vendor Management: Oversee licensing strategy, manage vendor relationships, and lead procurement activities, including the creation of Statements of Work (SOWs).
• Platform Development: Keep abreast of ServiceNow product development understanding how this would be useful for JLP. Network with other ServiceNow customers to understand best practice and ways of working.
• Platform Advocacy: Champion the platform across the business, identifying opportunities for workflow automation, integrations with other relevant platforms (such as Jira, Confluence, Slack, Salesforce etc.) and driving adoption of new modules and features beyond our initial use of ITSM Pro. Set clear intent, direction and guardrails to achieve outcomes, aligned to the Partnership and business area strategy.
• Empower and support 3rd party offshore teams to make decisions and resolve challenges in line with the strategy. As a co-owner, actively share the responsibilities of ownership and support Partners and colleagues to have a voice in our business.
• Implement architectural and business commerce strategy to maximise the benefit and use of ServiceNow.
• Mitigate business risk while protecting throughput and business value.
• Assure operability delivery of ServiceNow.
• Owns ways of working in capabilities and encourages safe experimentation in build and run.
• Ensures services meet business need and manage major incidents as point of escalation.
• Ensures all teams / services have clear OKRs.
• Measure service(s) throughput and value released to ensure it is meeting required business impact.
• Optimise cost of delivery by effectively using Partners and 3rd Parties by finding and removing all waste in the process.
• Fights for balance of sensible prioritisation to remove technical debt and closes services, applications and infrastructure safely.

Essential skills/experience you’ll need

• Can plan effectively and is heavily outcome focused
• Has owned business problems and transformed business process with defined business impact
• Strong stakeholder management skills
• Demonstrates integrity by tenaciously doing the right thing in the face of mounting pressure
• Demonstrates a high level of personal accountability

Experience: Typically 8-10+ years in product management or enterprise platform ownership, with significant exposure to the ServiceNow ecosystem, particularly ITSM and CMDB.

Technical Certifications: Certified System Administrator (CSA) or Certified Implementation Specialist (CIS) in modules like ITSM, CMDB, ITOM and CSDM.

Leadership: Proven ability to manage multidisciplinary teams, working extensively in a matrix management environment.

Business Literacy: Strong financial acumen, including budget ownership, ROI assessment, and benefit realisation planning.

Where You'll Be Working

Bracknell Campus, Doncastle Road, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 8YA

Important points to note

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles. We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants. We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP

We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us. We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose. As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect. We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective. As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it. At the John Lewis Partnership we’re not just employees; we’re co-owners, and that’s why we’re called Partners. Being a Partner means not only do we all collectively share the responsibilities of being the UK’s largest employee-owned business, but we also share in its rewards and successes. It’s this ownership model that makes the Partnership a very unique place to work.

Closing Date: September 29, 2026

Pay: £62,900.00 - £115,000.00

Annual Contract Type: Permanent

Hours of Work: 35

Job Level: Partnership Level 6

Where You’ll Be Working: Bracknell Campus, Doncastle Road, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 8YA