SC Cleared Service Transition Manager

On behalf of the MOD, we are looking for a Service Transition Manager (Inside IR35) for a 6 Month contract predominantly Remote, with occasional need to attend the office based in Bristol as and when required.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is a central government department with a mission to protect our country and provide the ultimate guarantee of its security and independence, as well as helping to protect its values and interests abroad.

The MOD is one of the biggest public procurement organisations in Europe and the single largest customer for UK industry. It currently manages approximately £20 billion of spend on capital investments in equipment and infrastructure every year. Over the next decade the MOD is committed to spending over £190 billion on equipment and support. The MOD's customers include both the armed forces and national security agencies, and it has a diverse range of requirements, including military fighting vehicles, education services, nuclear submarines and facilities management.

The MOD's aim is to provide its armed forces with the best capabilities to enable them to protect the UK's security and advance national interests, both now and in the long term. To do this the MOD has an annual budget of almost £53 billion and a workforce comprising 197,000 people. of which 54,000 are civilians working for the UK MOD.

The work really matters; the MOD offers a range of engaging roles which have a direct impact on the quality of services they provide, in many locations across the UK. We support teams working in HR, Primary Health Care, Corporate Services, and many others.

SC Clearance is an essential requirement for this role, as a minimum you must be willing & eligible to undergo checks. Please note, due to the exceptional requirements of this position (short-term nature of this role and speed at which we require a postholder in situ) preference may be given to candidates who meet all of the essential criteria and hold active security clearance.

As a Service Transition Manager, your main responsibilities will be:
. Oversee the design and development of processes, governance mechanisms, operating procedures and work instructions for Defence Office staff, ensuring that Contact Centre requests are managed consistently and to a high standard
. Lead planning and coordination for service transition, ensuring all artefacts (documentation, processes, acceptance criteria, deployment plans, etc.) required for IOC are produced and delivered on time
. Establish and maintain the product life cycle for all service changes, monitoring progress against agreed criteria and milestones
. Conduct detailed risk and impact assessments relating to service delivery and transition, identifying potential issues and implementing mitigation strategies
. Engage with key stakeholders across the Defence Office for Small Business Growth, MOD teams, suppliers, and SME representatives to ensure service transition reflects their needs and requirements
. Oversee service readiness, ensuring products/services are fit for purpose and meet acceptance criteria prior to go-live
. Manage and coordinate resources required for service transition with consideration of demand on each service, facilitating collaboration between project, operations, and support teams

Essential Criteria:
. Experience in service transition, IT change/release management, or operations, ideally within MOD, defence, or complex public sector environments.
. Strong understanding of service management frameworks (eg ITIL) and service change life cycle.
. Proven ability to produce and deliver transition artefacts, documentation, and plans.
. Skills in risk and impact assessment, with experience managing mitigation strategies.
. Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills, working across technical and non-technical audiences.
. Strong organisational and project management skills, with the ability to coordinate activities across teams and suppliers.
* Awareness of MOD standards on service, security, accessibility, and compliance.

Essential Skills:
. Service Transition & Change Management: Experience planning, coordinating, and delivering service transition activities (from project completion to operational delivery) in complex or public sector environments.
. Stakeholder Engagement: Ability to work collaboratively across technical, non-technical, and senior stakeholder groups, including suppliers and SME representatives. Skilled at gathering requirements and maintaining effective communication throughout transitions.
. Service Readiness & Early Life Support: Experience ensuring services are ready for go-live (testing, acceptance, handover), and managing early-life support and incident/problem management as new services are Embedded.
. Continual Service Improvement: Demonstrated ability to review service transition outcomes, capture lessons learned, and identify opportunities for optimisation and process improvement.
. Communication & Reporting: Excellent written and verbal communication for reporting, risk logs, transition dashboards, and regular updates to senior management.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, the MOD guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group.

This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Armed Forces Covenant

The MOD guarantees to interview veterans or spouses/partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates/military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different.