Service Design & Transition Lead in Chester House, Epsom Ave, Handforth, Cheadle, Greater Manchester, SK9 3DF Hybrid working, with 2 days a week working at the  Handforth Support Office

Location: Hybrid working, with 2 days a week working at the  Handforth Support Office

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Service Design & Transition Manager to join our Group IT Service Delivery function. In this role, you will play a crucial role in enhancing our technical capabilities and revolutionizing our pet care customer experience. As a Service Transition Lead, you will ensure the seamless integration of new services into our IT Service Delivery support portfolio, working across various programs and projects.

As a key stakeholder in the management of business and technical change, you will be responsible for representing the perspectives of operational service delivery. Your primary focus will be on ensuring service quality and readiness assurance in the delivery of new services, both internally and through partners, to support our business's strategic growth.

Operating within Pets at Home's Change Delivery Lifecycle, you will facilitate all aspects of service design and readiness. This includes working closely with project teams, service owners, business owners, and service delivery support teams to transition and build services before successfully landing them into service delivery.

In this role, you will be the face of Service Delivery, collaborating closely with the onsite support team, HQ services in Handforth, and project and business stakeholders. You will manage Work-off Plans from previous deployments and ensure the successful transition of new projects or developments.

Key Responsibilities (including, but not limited to)

• Partner with project stakeholders across IT and business teams to build and deliver service governance, design, and support model documentation, ensuring alignment with Pets at Home ITSM policy and ITIL standards for successful live operation and support in BAU (Business as Usual).
• Validate, define, and articulate the benefits case for Service NFRs (Non-Functional Requirements), providing a service lens in the commercial and operational build readiness of support functions, processes, technology, and capability to achieve the desired service.
• Review 3rd-party partner services to ensure high availability, robust SLAs (Service Level Agreements)/service management processes, and controls that align with ITIL best practices. Ensure high availability and recovery time are agreed with business owners and appropriate underpinning commercial cover and SLAs are implemented.
• Create all the necessary Service Support documentation to ensure effective management of new services that are supportable and meet business availability needs.
• Ensure documentation and processes are reviewed, agreed upon, and signed off by the business and service management stakeholders.
• Provide service governance to oversee and influence the readiness of new services for BAU operation. Ensure that our colleagues and service resources have been correctly provisioned in line with release timescales.
• Manage the early life support warranty of new in-life services through to handover into BAU support. Provide advice, guidance, and support to teams and assist with error investigation and recovery.
• Apply Service Transition principles and mentor staff across IT and the business to continually improve the Service Transition capability.

About Your Experience

• Minimum five years of experience in a Service Delivery environment where ITIL service management principles and processes are implemented.
• Experience in creating IT Service support designs and implementing those plans into working enterprise support.
• Confident use of productivity tools such as Microsoft Office, email, and familiarity with modern IT Service Management tooling (e.g., Service Now, Ivanti Heat).
• Well-developed presentation and influencing skills, capable of making a case for and achieving effective service transition deliverables in project environments.
• Proven track record of successfully managing your own work and that of others, including the ability to plan, prioritize, and organize work to meet tight deadlines.

Essential Qualifications

• Degree level education in an IT or Business discipline.
• ITIL4 Foundation certificate.
• ITIL Service Lifecycle Transition certificate.

Desirable Experience

• Project delivery experience in a retail environment.
• Technical background to understand the different architectures of core systems and the impact of new technologies. Experience with enterprise-level applications will be an advantage.
• Minimum of two years of experience as an IT Service Manager or Transition Lead within a complex and diverse organization.
• Service Transition experience in building support for both Agile and DevOps application delivery environments.

About Our Purpose

At Pets at Home Group, we are more than just a retailer. We are the UK's leading pet care specialist, dedicated to fulfilling every possible pet and owner need, from food and accessories to grooming and vet services. Since 1991, we have built a business centered around pets and their owners, with the goal of becoming the best pet care business in the world.

By joining our team, you will be part of a journey where you can take pride and passion in your work. You will work with an inspiring, professional team focused on supporting pets and their owners to live happier lives together.

We value the wellbeing of pets and our people. Your commitment and innovation will be rewarded with competitive pay and comprehensive benefits.

To apply for this position, please submit your resume and a cover letter outlining your relevant experience and qualifications. We look forward to hearing from you and potentially welcoming you to our team at Pets at Home Group.

Our diversity and inclusion vision is that everyone is welcome and feels part of our group. If you think you’re a good match to what we are looking for, and you share our belief that together ‘we’re better with pets’, we’d like to hear from you, whatever your background or circumstances