Service Transition Manager

FDM is a global business and technology consultancy seeking a number of experienced Service Transition Managers to support a major transformation portfolio within a large central government department. This is initially a 6 month contract and will be a hybrid role based in Telford or Worthing.

These positions will involve working on the client side as part of an end-to-end programme team. You will be accountable for ensuring that all programme, portfolio, supplier, and technology changes are safely transitioned into live service. You will provide leadership across service readiness, operational acceptance, release governance, risk management, and live service assurance, ensuring that all services are operationally ready and sustainable before go-live.

This role is ideally suited to an experienced Service Transition, Service Delivery, or IT Operations professional who has successfully operated within large-scale, highly regulated, multi-supplier environments and can confidently engage senior stakeholders across business and technology functions.

All candidates must be eligible and willing to undergo SC Security Clearance.

You will work closely with programme leadership, delivery teams, operational stakeholders, service managers, suppliers, and business representatives to ensure services are fully prepared for live operation and that supporting processes, governance, reporting, and support structures are in place.

The successful candidate will provide assurance that services meet operational standards, minimise deployment and transition risk, and establish sustainable support models that enable long-term service success.

Responsibilities:

Service Transition & Operational Readiness

• Ensure all services are fit for live operation through formal operational acceptance and readiness assessments.
• Define, own, and govern minimum and desirable Go-Live Service Criteria.
• Lead operational readiness reviews and structured readiness checkpoints across programme releases.
• Ensure all new and changed services are successfully transitioned into live operation.
• Establish sustainable Business-as-Usual support models for both existing and newly delivered services.
• Define and maintain support arrangements, operational support hours, and service ownership models.

Governance, Risk & Assurance

• Manage live service risks, issues, dependencies, and mitigation plans throughout programme delivery.
• Provide service transition assurance across multiple portfolios, programmes, and supplier organisations.
• Produce and maintain readiness dashboards, risk registers, acceptance criteria, and governance packs.
• Support programme governance through attendance at Programme Boards, Change Advisory Boards (CABs), and release approval forums.
• Ensure accountability and ownership are clearly defined through documented governance models and RACI frameworks.
• Support production of assurance materials and executive-level reporting.

Release & Deployment Management

• Oversee release-to-live transition activities, including rollout planning and contingency management.
• Ensure controlled, repeatable deployment approaches across all contributing services and platforms.
• Provide assurance that no critical defects remain unresolved at release milestones.
• Support approval of technical and business migration approaches.
• Coordinate Early Life Support (Hypercare) activities following go-live events.

Incident & Service Management

• Lead major incident and service management activities during programme releases.
• Define and implement incident, problem, escalation, and change management models.
• Ensure appropriate monitoring, management information, reporting, and service metrics are available.
• Support continual service improvement activities through operational performance analysis and lessons learned exercises.
• Ensure service management processes align with organisational governance and operational requirements.

Stakeholder & Supplier Management

• Work collaboratively across business, technology, programme, and operational teams.
• Manage relationships with stakeholders across client organisations, delivery partners, and suppliers.
• Provide confidence and assurance to senior executives through clear reporting and communication.
• Coordinate activities with business readiness managers to ensure end-to-end operational preparedness.

• Proven experience in Service Transition Management, Service Delivery Management, IT Operations, or Service Management roles within large-scale organisations.
• Strong experience delivering operational readiness and service acceptance activities for complex technology programmes.
• Demonstrable experience managing service transitions within multi-supplier environments.
• Experience defining and governing Go-Live Readiness Criteria and Operational Acceptance processes.
• Strong understanding of ITIL disciplines including Incident, Problem, Change, Release, and Service Level Management.
• Experience managing operational risk, dependencies, issues, and escalation processes.
• Experience supporting major releases, deployments, migrations, and production cutovers.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence senior business and technical audiences.
• Experience producing governance packs, readiness assessments, risk reports, and executive reporting materials.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Strong organisational and planning skills with the ability to coordinate multiple workstreams simultaneously.
• Ability to operate effectively within highly regulated and business-critical environments.