Service Transition Manager

Freshfields; Manchester; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Freshfields Global Centre seeks an experienced lead to own the end-to-end Service Design and Transition for IT projects across the firm.

You will shape governance, deliver transition plans, and work with architects, product owners and vendors to ensure timely, cost-effective delivery of services that support business outcomes.

Qualifications

• Forward thinking and detailed and passionate Service Management professional.
• Process improvement skills.
• Experience of Customer Insight practices e.g. Voice of the Customer.
• Experience in developing insight from data sources including other teams’ analyses.
• Experience of assimilating evidence and recommendation into outputs.
• Excellent analytical, problem solving and influencing skills.
• Experience in holding supplier/service reviews with external vendors.
• Strong ITIL Experience (Foundation level minimum) and Service Management understanding.

Responsibilities

• Help shape the process and governance around the Service Design and Transition framework.
• Contribute to the Service Design & Transition continuous improvement plan with registered opportunities and timely delivery.
• Work with key stakeholders to define IT Service outcomes and deliver value for the business.
• Produce Service Design Packages detailing service definition, criticality, support model, contracts, hours, staffing and supplier processes.
• Collaborate with architects, product owners and engineers to implement solutions.
• Deliver Service Transition activities per best practice methodologies including risk, governance, quality assurance and issue resolution.
• Interface with 3rd party suppliers for planning and quality of deliverables.
• Create detailed Service Transition plans to manage risks, issues and dependencies.
• Adhere to escalation processes for resource issues, support issues and missed deadlines.
• Ensure milestones, invoices and deliverables align and budgets are respected.
• Map Service Design to the existing operating model and identify gaps/changes required.
• Ensure service delivery stays within time and budget constraints with required quality.
• Monitor projects to drive timely issue resolution and corrective actions.
• Produce documentation for project delivery per process requirements.
• Review Service Transition outcomes to identify future improvements in cost, quality and customer satisfaction.
• Own end-to-end delivery of Service Design and Transition activities for projects.
• Ensure warranty and early life support for live services.

Skills

Service Management

ITIL

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Communication skills

Automation knowledge

Vendor management

Education

ITIL Foundation Certification

Tools

ServiceNow

Job description

The Freshfields Global Centre provides both business and legal services to the firm. Our services are delivered in a way which supports the global nature of our firm and our clients, enables our fee earners to deliver exceptional service to our clients and to do that in a way which is efficient and effective.

Function Overview

This role reports into the service management and then Technology Services function that is responsible for the delivery of IT services to the firm.

Key responsibilities and deliverables

• Help shape the process and governance around the Service Design and Transition framework.
• Contribute to the Service Design & Transition continuous improvement plan, ensuring that improvement opportunities are formally registered and delivered against agreed timescales.
• Working closely with Key Project Stakeholders including Product & Service Owners suggesting, collating and validating IT Service to deliver business outcomes.
• Producing Service Design Packages which clearly and accurately define service definition, Service Criticality, Support Model, Underpinning Contracts, Support Hours, Staffing and Supplier Management Processes.
• Working with Architects, Product Owners, Service and Engineers to understand the changes required to technically implement solutions.
• Deliver Service Transition Activities in line with recognised best practice methodology (managing risk, governance, quality assurance, issue resolution, reporting), where the successful implementation of service resource skills and processes are just as critical to project success as technology.
• Interface with 3rd party suppliers, involving agreement, planning, timelines and quality of deliverables.
• Produce detailed Service Transition plans to manage risks, issues and dependencies.
• Adhere to relevant escalation processes to elevate resource issues, support issues, delayed project phases, missed deadlines and other planning issues.
• Ensure commercial project milestones are agreed and published and that invoices are raised with reference to these dates and/or on completion of deliverables.
• Ensure the Service Design is mapped out with consideration to the existing operating model to determine any gaps and changes / additions which may be required.
• Ensure products and services delivered within Service Transition are within time and budget constraints and meet the required level of quality.
• Monitor the project ensuring issues are resolved in a timely manner and the appropriate corrective actions are implemented.
• Produce support models and all required documentation for project delivery in line with the process.
• Review the outcomes of the Service Transition Projects to determine any corrective actions that could be taken to improve future delivery in terms of cost, quality and customer satisfaction.
• Own the end the to end delivery of Service Design and Transition activities for projects.
• Ensure effective warranty and early life management for project deliveries to Live Service.

Key requirements

Knowledge & Experience:

• Forward thinking and detailed and passionate Service Management professional
• Process improvement skills
• Experience of Customer Insight practices e.g. Voice of the Customer
• Experience in developing insight from a variety of data sources including those created by other teams such as data analysis and external research
• Experience of assimilating fact-based evidence and recommendation into effective output
• Excellent analytical, problem solving and influencing skills
• Experience in holding supplier/service reviews with external vendors
• Strong ITIL Experience (Foundation level minimum ) and Service Management principle understanding

Technical & People Skills:

• Applies structured thinking and logical reasoning
• Collaborative, professional, accountable and trustworthy
• Ability to translate analysis into insights
• Fosters strong connections and works in collaboration with other teams & departments
• Knowledge of systems and relevant software applications (ITSM toolsets – ideally ServiceNow)
• Service Management process and lifecycle management - previous experience with Service Management communication and interaction channels.
• Knowledge of modern approaches to Service Management, including automation.
• Proven skills in matrix management
• Highly dynamic approach to task management
• Able to present at all levels, able to communicate technical findings to non-technical audience in an engaging manner
• Ensuring stakeholders and contributors are involved across the change management process, gaining sign off at regular touchpoints
• Excellent communication skills, written and verbal.
• Empathetic - Views from a customer perspective
• Ability to influence outside of specific area of management, demonstrating the value and encouraging collaboration
• Can generate solutions from complex problems
• Excellent facilitation ability
• Sound commercial acumen
• Decisive and calm in a crisis

Inclusion

Freshfields is an equal opportunities employer and all applications received by the firm will be considered on the basis of their merit alone. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals regardless of background. All offers of employment will be conditional on the candidate having/securing the right to work in the UK in the role in question and providing the firm with evidence of that right (as required by the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006) prior to employment commencing.

Freshfields is a Ban the Box employer. We ask applicants to disclose criminal convictions only if and when a conditional job offer is made. A conviction does not automatically lead to withdrawal of the offer: we make decisions on a case-by-case basis and take a number of relevant factors into account (e.g. the role you are applying for and the circumstances of the offence). You would have the opportunity to discuss the matter with us before we make a decision.