Service Transition Specialist

Vanquis; Bradford; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible Hybrid Working

Up to 10% Pension Contribution

25-30 Days Annual Leave

LinkedIn Learning

Job summary

Vanquis in the United Kingdom is seeking a Service Transition Specialist to coordinate discovery through go-live handover, ensuring operational readiness and robust governance.

You’ll work with architecture, engineering, security, resilience, operations and suppliers to build readiness criteria and evidence-based go-live decisions, enabling smooth live operation and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Experience in Service Transition, Service Readiness or Service Management within a complex enterprise.
• Experience owning multiple transitions from discovery to go-live, early-life support and handover.
• Strong ITIL 4 knowledge, with ITIL 4 Foundation knowledge essential.
• Ability to translate technical, supplier and project information into operational requirements.
• Experience collaborating with architecture, engineering, security, resilience, operations and delivery teams.
• Strong stakeholder-management skills with the confidence to challenge and own.
• Experience working across Agile, Waterfall or hybrid delivery environments.

Responsibilities

• Own service transition plans from discovery and design through go-live and BAU handover.
• Engage early so operational, support, resilience, security, data and supplier requirements are built into delivery.
• Assess operational readiness and service acceptance with evidence for go-live decisions.
• Identify and manage transition risks, issues and dependencies with clear ownership.
• Coordinate readiness reviews, service rehearsals, early-life support and handover arrangements.
• Contribute to continuous improvement through lessons learned from transitions.

Skills

Service Transition

ITIL 4

Stakeholder management

Operational readiness

Agile/Hybrid delivery

Job description

Service Transition Specialist

Turn technology change into services that are ready to perform from day one

Great technology delivery doesn’t stop at go-live. New and changed services need to be secure, supportable, resilient and operationally ready.

THE NEXT CHAPTER STARTS WITH YOU

Service Transition Specialist

Turn technology change into services that are ready to perform from day one

Great technology delivery doesn’t stop at go-live. New and changed services need to be secure, supportable, resilient and operationally ready.

As our Service Transition Specialist, you’ll bring together projects, technology teams, business owners, suppliers and operational stakeholders to make sure services are genuinely ready to move into live operation.

From identifying requirements early and assessing operational readiness to coordinating go-live, early-life support and handover, you’ll provide the clarity and evidence needed to support confident decisions and successful transitions

There's More to the Story

Vanquis is evolving.

We’re investing in our people, modernising how we work, strengthening customer experiences and building new capabilities across the business.

Technology & Change is a key part of that journey, and Service Transition helps connect technology delivery with successful live operations.

How you’ll make an impact:

• Own service transition plans from discovery and design through to go-live and BAU handover.
• Engage early so operational, support, resilience, security, data and supplier requirements are built into delivery.
• Assess operational readiness and service acceptance, bringing together the evidence needed to support informed go-live decisions.
• Identify and manage transition risks, issues and dependencies, ensuring gaps have clear ownership.
• Coordinate readiness reviews, service rehearsals, early-life support and handover arrangements.
• Help strengthen how we approach Service Transition through lessons learned and continuous improvement.

Why this role matters:

A service can be technically complete without being operationally ready.

You’ll help bridge that gap, making sure new and changed services move into live operation with clear ownership, appropriate support arrangements, documentation and controls. Your work will help reduce avoidable early-life incidents, operational uncertainty and delays caused by readiness gaps being identified too late.

You’ll collaborate with colleagues across Architecture, Engineering, Security, Operational Resilience, Technology Delivery and Service Management, as well as business teams and external suppliers.

Our Service Transition principles

• Engage Early – Build operational readiness into delivery from the outset.
• Evidence-Based Readiness – Make decisions based on evidence that is current, owned and traceable.
• Joined-Up Delivery – Connect business, technology, delivery, operational teams and suppliers.
• Clear Ownership – Make sure risks, actions, dependencies and ongoing responsibilities have clear owners.
• Proportionate Control – Support Agile and iterative delivery without losing the governance and controls that matter.
• Continuous Improvement – Learn from previous transitions, incidents and problems to strengthen what comes next.

Essential experience

• Experience in Service Transition, Service Readiness, Service Design or Service Management within a complex enterprise environment.
• Experience owning multiple transitions from discovery or design through go-live, early-life support and BAU handover.
• Strong working knowledge of ITIL 4, with ITIL 4 Foundation knowledge essential.
• Experience developing transition plans, operational readiness criteria, support models, service documentation and go-live recommendations.
• Ability to translate technical, supplier and project information into practical operational requirements.
• Experience working with architecture, engineering, security, resilience, operations, suppliers and project delivery teams.
• Strong stakeholder-management skills with the confidence to challenge, influence and establish clear ownership.
• Experience working across Agile, Waterfall or hybrid delivery environments.

Useful, but not essential

• Experience in financial services, another regulated industry or highly controlled environment.
• Knowledge of operational resilience, technology risk, information security, data protection or third-party management.
• Understanding of service architecture, applications, integrations, infrastructure and CMDB/configuration relationships.
• ITIL 4 Managing Professional, Practice Manager or advanced ITIL modules.
• Experience or qualifications in project delivery, Agile, risk management, business analysis or Lean Six Sigma.

Career development:

You’ll gain broad exposure across Technology & Change, working with teams spanning architecture, engineering, security, resilience, operations and delivery. You’ll also have the opportunity to contribute to continual improvement across transition documentation, readiness criteria, guidance, tooling and stakeholder engagement.

Why Vanquis?

• Great Place to Work Certified
• Financial Times Best Employers 2025 & 2026
• Armed Forces Friendly Employer (Bronze)
• Flexible Hybrid Working
• Inclusive Culture
• Up to 10% Pension Contribution
• 25-30 Days Annual Leave
• LinkedIn Learning
• Two Volunteering Days
• Enhanced Family Leave
• Paid Birthday Leave
• Career Development Opportunities

Ready to shapewhat’snext?

Ifyou'relooking for an opportunity to build modern cloud platforms, influence engineering decisions and help shape the future of Technology & Change at Vanquis,we'dlove to hear from you.

The Next Chapter StartsWithYou.