IT Service Introduction Manager in Wilmslow

Salary: £44,297‑£49,813, with potential progression to £56,082 under our pay progression scheme.

Location: Hybrid Contracted to our Wilmslow office. The office will relocate to Manchester city centre from 28 September 2026; thereafter the contracted office will be Circle Square, Manchester.

Work arrangement: Through hybrid working we offer flexible home and office-based opportunities. You will sometimes be expected to attend the office or travel for business.

Benefits: 25 days paid holiday per year, plus public holidays; Flexi leave (up to 26 additional days per year); pension (employer contribution about 28.9%); online discount scheme; Health Cash Plan; excellent development opportunities.

This role is a strategic leadership position accountable for developing, implementing and managing a robust service introduction process for the DDaT directorate. You will own the end‑to‑end readiness process and be responsible for ensuring a successful and smooth transition into live service. Reporting to the Head of IT Operations, you will work closely with Project Managers, Delivery Managers, and Product/Service Owners to provide advice, guidance and direction for seamless transition and support for new services.

• Act as the authority and primary point of contact for all service introduction and transition activities across the DDaT directorate – including all new products, services and projects delivering a solution into the live environment.
• Design, implement and continuously improve the Service Introduction processes as part of a broader IT governance framework.
• Provide advice and guidance to project and product teams to assure that their services are ready.
• Coordinate and manage service acceptance activities including testing, training, handover and go/no‑go decisions.
• Review and revise existing service operational documentation (Service Definition Documents) in collaboration with the wider organisation.
• Oversee the development and maintenance of support documentation sets: runbook templates, support model templates, and escalation procedures.
• Facilitate workshops and meetings to gather requirements and feedback.
• Lead the establishment of KPIs and metrics to measure service introduction success.
• Identify and manage risks associated with new services.
• Act as the single point of contact for senior stakeholders, building strong relationships and ensuring effective engagement to support service delivery.
• Evaluate and ensure current and future needs are met, and ensure compliance with internal governance and audit requirements.

• Experience working in an IT Operational / Service team with multiple stakeholders.
• Proven experience in IT Service Management, ideally within a Service Introduction, Transition or Delivery role.
• Experience liaising with external third‑party support partners.
• Strong understanding of ITIL practices, particularly Service Transition and Service Operation.
• A demonstrable systematic, disciplined and analytical approach to work.

• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to form effective working relationships at all levels.
• Excellent standard of literacy and effective written communication skills for writing documentation and reports and meeting notes.
• Good intellectual and analytical ability to assimilate often complex data or technical information and apply it to operational activities.
• Strong time management, organised and delivery focused, good planning skills and process driven.
• Ability to step up when needed and offer support even when outside normal hours if required.

The ICO is committed to promoting and enhancing equality, diversity and inclusion. We are focused on developing a workforce that is representative of the communities we serve and building an inclusive workplace where all colleagues have the opportunity to make a real difference. Candidates with a disability who meet the minimum criteria will be invited to interview as part of the Disability Confident Scheme. We guarantee an interview to candidates who identify as belonging from an ethnic minority background and who meet the minimum criteria.

If you face difficulty using our online application system, please email the recruitment team to arrange an alternative method.

Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS).

Closing date: 23:59 on Sunday 5th July 2026. Please submit your CV and cover letter by the closing date. Your cover letter should be no more than 1,000 words and clearly demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria for the role. If required, contact for reasonable adjustments to support your application. We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. All candidates who meet the minimum criteria and apply in line with the guaranteed interview scheme will be interviewed.