Service Transition Specialist

Job ID: 948

Req ID: 149

Location: London, UK; Bradford, UK

Posted:

Job Family: Tech Ops

Pay Type: Salary

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, with the right people, processes and controls in place.

As our Service Transition Specialist, you’ll play a key role in making that happen. You’ll work across projects, business teams, technology, suppliers and operational stakeholders to plan and coordinate the transition of new, changed and retiring technology services into live operation.

From identifying requirements early through to assessing readiness, managing risks and coordinating early-life support, you’ll provide the clarity and evidence needed to support confident go-live decisions and successful handover into business-as-usual operations. You’ll also support our Service Acceptance into Live (SAIL) process, helping ensure that services have the appropriate evidence, ownership and approvals in place.

There's More to the Story

This role is part of our wider Technology & Change journey. Explore our Technology & Change careers page to meet the teams, discover our technology journey and see how you can help shape what’s next.

How you’ll make an impact:

You’ll…

So that…

Own and coordinate service transition plans from discovery and design through to go-live and BAU handover

New and changed services have a clear, joined-up route into live operation

Engage early with delivery, technology, business and operational teams

Support, security, resilience, data and operational requirements are identified before they become barriers to delivery

Assess operational readiness and service acceptance against clear criteria

Go-live decisions are supported by relevant, traceable evidence

Identify and manage transition risks, issues and dependencies

Readiness gaps have clear ownership and can be addressed or escalated through the appropriate governance

Coordinate operational readiness reviews, service rehearsals and go-live assessments

Stakeholders have a clear view of readiness and residual risk when making acceptance decisions

Define and coordinate early-life support and handover arrangements

Services move effectively from delivery into sustainable BAU ownership

Why this role matters:

Technology services can be technically complete without being operationally ready. This role helps bridge that gap, connecting delivery with the teams and processes that will ultimately manage and support a service once it is live.

You’ll help ensure new and changed services launch with clear ownership, appropriate support arrangements, documentation and controls. By identifying gaps early and bringing the right people together, you’ll help reduce avoidable early-life incidents, operational uncertainty, additional support effort and delays caused by late discovery of readiness issues.

You’ll collaborate across project and programme delivery, architecture, engineering, infrastructure, cloud, applications and data, alongside Information Security, Privacy, Risk, Compliance, Operational Resilience and Service Management. You’ll also work with Procurement, Finance, suppliers and other external service providers.

Our Service Transition approach:

We believe in

What that means

Engage early

Operational requirements are considered from discovery and design, not just before go-live

Evidence-based readiness

Decisions are supported by evidence that is current, owned and traceable

Joined-up delivery

Business, delivery, technology, operational teams and suppliers work towards shared transition outcomes

Clear ownership

Risks, dependencies, actions and ongoing responsibilities have identified owners

Proportionate governance

Controls support Agile, iterative and phased delivery while maintaining the required outcomes

Continuous improvement

Lessons from transitions, incidents, problems and changes help strengthen future service readiness

Essential experience

We’re looking for someone who can bring together technical understanding, service management and strong stakeholder relationships. You’ll ideally have:

• Previous experience in Service Transition, Service Readiness, Service Design or Service Management within a complex enterprise environment.
• Demonstrable experience managing multiple service transitions from discovery or design through to go-live, early-life support and BAU handover.
• Experience developing service transition plans, operational readiness criteria, support models, service documentation, evidence packs and go-live recommendations.
• Strong working knowledge of ITIL 4 service management practices, with ITIL 4 Foundation knowledge essential.
• The ability to understand solution designs and translate technical, supplier and project information into practical operational requirements and support models.
• Experience working across architecture, engineering, security, resilience, operations, suppliers and project delivery teams.
• Confidence identifying and managing risks, issues and dependencies and constructively challenging where readiness requirements have not been met.
• Experience working across Agile, Waterfall or hybrid delivery environments, with confidence using ITSM, reporting, workflow and document repository tools.
• Strong stakeholder-management and communication skills, with the ability to bring together different perspectives and establish clear ownership and outcomes.

Useful, but not essential

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

Career development:

This role provides the opportunity to build broad experience across service management and technology delivery, working with teams spanning architecture, engineering, security, resilience, operations and change. The role profile also includes contributing to continual improvement of transition documentation, readiness criteria, guidance, tooling and stakeholder engagement.

Why Vanquis?

Benefits & Culture

Learning & Wellbeing

Award-Winning Employer

Great Place to Work Certified • Financial Times Best Employers 2025 & 2026 • Armed Forces Friendly Employer, Bronze

LinkedIn Learning

Access to learning resources to support your growth and development

Flexible Hybrid Working

A balanced approach to office and home working

Two Volunteering Days

Paid time to support causes that matter to you

Inclusive Culture

A workplace where colleagues are supported, respected and encouraged to be themselves

‍‍ Enhanced Family Leave

Supporting colleagues through important life moments

Up to 10% Pension Contribution

Helping you plan and prepare for the future

Paid Birthday Leave

An extra day off to celebrate you

25–30 Days Annual Leave

Time away to rest, reset and recharge

Career Development Opportunities

Support to build skills, grow your career and shape what comes next

Ready to shape what’s next?

If you're looking for an opportunity to build modern cloud platforms, influence engineering decisions and help shape the future of Technology & Change at Vanquis, we'd love to hear from you.

The Next Chapter Starts With You.

Recruitment agency information

Our Talent Acquisition team manages all recruitment activity directly. We work with approved recruitment partners where additional support is required.

Unsolicited CVs submitted without prior agreement from Vanquis Talent Acquisition will be considered direct applications and no agency fees will be payable.

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