Service Management Lead

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

Salary: £50,000 - 50,000 per year

Requirements:

• 5 years experience in IT Service Management (ITSM) and Service Transition.
• Strong understanding of ITIL principles and frameworks.
• Proven experience managing Operational Readiness and/or Service Transition activities.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Experience working 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.

Technologies:

• Cloud
• Support
• ITIL
• ITSM
• ServiceNow
• DevOps
• Security

More:

We are seeking an experienced Service Management Lead for a site-based contract opportunity in Hampshire. We work across project delivery, Service Management, Operations and Support to ensure new and changed IT services are fully prepared for live environments from day one. This highly stakeholder-focused role involves operational acceptance, service transition, support models, knowledge transfer, training, documentation, risk management and service handover. We value a collaborative and inclusive environment and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and perspectives.

last updated 38 week of 2026