Service Transition Manager

ISR RECRUITMENT LIMITED; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 86,000 - 89,000; Full time

Job summary

ISR RECRUITMENT LIMITED is supporting an established IT consultancy to appoint a Service Transition Manager for a 3-month contract, with remote working and outside IR35. The role focuses on transition of digital/IT services into live BAU, covering service design, readiness, acceptance and go-live processes.

The successful candidate will lead SDP creation, govern SLAs/OLAs, manage knowledge transfer and ensure robust documentation for a government programme requiring security clearance pre-start.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Service Transition Manager or Lead in complex environments.
• Strong ITIL 4 knowledge and certification impact on delivery.
• Experience transitioning digital/IT services into live BAU operations.
• Experience with SDP creation, runbooks and transition docs.

Responsibilities

• Develop Service Design Packages covering dependencies, security and capacity.
• Lead Operational Readiness Assessments and define acceptance criteria.
• Design L1/L2/L3 support models, roles, escalations and ownership.
• Coordinate validation, change enablement, release governance pre go-live.
• Manage knowledge transfer and ensure runbooks and procedures.
• Monitor transition risks and drive continual improvement to completion.

Skills

ITIL 4

Stakeholder mgmt

Operational Readiness

Governance

Go-Live planning

Service Design

Job description

Service Transition Manager

• 3-month contract
• Remote Working
• Outside IR35
• Market Rates (c£465 to £485 per day)

The Opportunity

We are currently supporting an established IT Consultancy with the appointment of an experienced Service Transition Manager to support a major central government programme around Government Digital Services (GDS).

This is an immediate-start opportunity for a strong Service Transition professional with proven experience transitioning digital, technology or IT services into live / BAU operational support.

The role will cover the full-service transition lifecycle, including service discovery, service design, operational readiness, service acceptance, implementation, knowledge transfer, go-live and Early Life Support (ELS).

This is a Service Transition and Operational Readiness role. It does not involve providing live BAU service support, incident/problem resolution or commercial/procurement activity.

Skills and Experience

• Proven experience as a Service Transition Manager, Service Transition Lead or similar working within complex enterprise or public-sector environments.
• Strong practical knowledge of ITIL 4 and Service Management principles (ideally with ITIL 4 certification)
• Experienced in transitioning digital, technology or IT services into live / BAU operations.
• Strong experience with Operational Readiness, Service Acceptance and Go-Live processes, with experience of CMDBs and service dependency mapping.
• Proven experience developing and managing Service Design Packages (SDPs) and transition documentation.
• Strong understanding of support models, service ownership, RACI/RAS and operational responsibilities.
• Experience defining or managing SLAs, SLRs and OLAs.
• Experience coordinating knowledge transfer and operational handover.
• Experience producing or assuring runbooks, operational procedures and support documentation.
• Strong experience working with technical, operational, business and supplier stakeholders.
• Excellent governance, risk, issue and dependency management skills.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management capability.
• Experience with service management tooling and governance frameworks.

Role and Responsibilities

• Develop Service Design Packages covering service dependencies, support arrangements, security, resilience, capacity and operational requirements.
• Lead Operational Readiness Assessments and define clear service acceptance criteria, evidence and approval processes.
• Design L1/L2/L3 support and operating models, including service ownership, supplier responsibilities, escalation routes and RACI/RAS documentation.
• Coordinate Service Validation and Testing, Change Enablement, Release Management and governance approvals ahead of go-live.
• Manage knowledge transfer and assure runbooks, operating procedures, knowledge articles and supporting documentation.
• Plan Early Life Support, monitor transition risks and maintain continual improvement actions through to completion

NB: The successful candidate will be required to undergo a basic level of security clearance before undertaking the assignment (one to two weeks’ lead-time).