Service Transition Lead

Location: Manchester, United Kingdom. Hybrid working with a minimum of 2 days per week in the office.

Salary: £55,000–£60,000 per year. Fixed-term contract for 24 months.

Company

hirify.global is a UK education charity and major provider of academic qualifications, delivering assessment services and supporting millions of learners across the UK.

What you will do

• Lead the transition of new, changed and retiring technology services into and out of live operation.
• Provide governance, service-readiness oversight and constructive challenge across programmes, projects and technology initiatives.
• Define and confirm service acceptance criteria, chair go-live and acceptance-into-service checkpoints, and secure required approvals.
• Coordinate delivery teams, operational functions, business stakeholders, suppliers and architecture teams to ensure successful handover and ongoing support.
• Identify, track and escalate service-related risks, prepare RAG reports and maintain visibility of transition status across the project portfolio.
• Improve transition processes, documentation, tooling and service management practices, including knowledge transfer and lessons learned.

Requirements

• ITIL Foundation certification and experience operating within ITIL-based environments and processes.
• Proven experience in service transition, service management and/or IT project delivery, including managed service implementations.
• Strong understanding of ITSM frameworks, service acceptance processes, operational readiness and project delivery methodologies.
• Demonstrable experience leading transition and organisational design activity for managed service implementations.
• Experience managing cross-functional teams, multiple stakeholders, suppliers and complex transitions.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, influencing, negotiation and decision-making skills, with the ability to provide constructive challenge.
• Understanding of the education sector and hirify.global’s operations, commercial awareness and familiarity with budgetary considerations.
• Experience using project and portfolio management tools, with strong coordination, problem-solving and risk-management skills.
• Pragmatic, outcome-focused, calm and resilient approach under pressure.

Nice to have

• ITIL Practitioner or higher-level ITIL certification.
• PRINCE2, Agile or another recognised project management qualification.
• Experience in large-scale IT environments or regulated sectors such as the public sector or finance.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid working and flexibility to support work-life balance.
• Bupa health insurance, a Health Care Cash Plan and Life Assurance.
• Electric Vehicle Leasing scheme, combined pension contributions of up to 18.5%, 25 days of annual leave, bank holidays and additional Christmas closure days.
• Career development and professional growth within a leading education charity.
• Inclusive culture that values collaboration, different perspectives and innovative thinking.

Hiring process

• Submit a CV and cover letter, followed by a short application questionnaire.
• First-stage face-to-face interview in Manchester, including a task shared in advance, scheduled between 16 and 18 November.
• Application deadline: 4 November at 23:59.