Obsolescence Manager

As the QDC Portfolio Obsolescence Manager, you will act as the focal point for portfolio-level obsolescence management, ensuring lifecycle risks are identified, assessed, managed, and reported in accordance with the principles of BS EN IEC 62402:2019 and ITSM good practice.

The QDC Portfolio Obsolescence Manager will be accountable to the Chief Engineer for ensuring that obsolescence risks, issues, and opportunities are captured, assessed, escalated, and governed through the appropriate portfolio, programme, service-management, and change-control routes.

You will proactively identify items that are obsolete, approaching end-of-life, end-of-sale, end-of-support, or otherwise at risk of reduced availability, supportability, maintainability, compliance, or service continuity. You will assess and communicate the associated operational, cyber-security, commercial, contractual, and service risks, producing evidence-based customer reports that support clear decisions on risk acceptance, residual-risk treatment, or funded remediation.

You will work closely with the wider portfolio, including Commercial, Finance, PMO, IT Asset Management, Service Configuration Management, Core Service, Security/Cyber, Service Architecture, Agile Change teams, suppliers, and wider Engineering entities, to identify, assess, prioritise, and resolve lifecycle and obsolescence risks throughout the asset, configuration item, service, and system lifecycle.

Develop, implement, maintain, and continually improve an Obsolescence Management Plan (OMP) aligned to the Obsolescence Management Policy, contractual obligations, regulatory requirements, customer outcomes, service-management controls, and BS EN IEC 62402 principles.

Identify, assess, classify, and monitor obsolescence for configuration items and technology assets, including hardware, software, operating systems, firmware, applications, infrastructure components, and third-party products, using lifecycle intelligence such as vendor roadmaps, end-of-life notices, end-of-support dates, and support-policy changes.

Maintain obsolescence registers, lifecycle records, configuration and asset data, risk assessments, treatment plans, decision records, and residual-risk positions, ensuring defined ownership, review cadence, governance, and timely escalation of critical risks.

Perform obsolescence impact assessments for obsolete or at-risk items, including service impact, dependency and compatibility constraints, security exposure, availability and maintainability implications, compliance considerations, workaround requirements, and operational support consequences.

Lead and coordinate obsolescence mitigation and resolution strategies such as last-time buys, alternative sourcing, approved substitutions, upgrade paths, redesign, requalification, repair solutions, extended-support agreements, risk treatment, or service re-architecture.

Work with Engineering, Architecture, and Design teams to identify and validate replacement options (form-fit-function replacements, approved alternatives, or modern equivalents), including compatibility, security, supportability, and service impact.

Define replacement and remediation recommendations with an implementation view, including change category, implementation steps, prerequisite changes, testing and validation needs, release and deployment considerations, service-transition impact, and high-level effort or cost drivers to support funded-change decisions.

Engage with suppliers to understand product lifecycle status, roadmaps, and end-of-life notifications. Support programme bids, cost models, and business cases by providing obsolescence impact assessments.

Facilitate customer and portfolio decision-making by presenting options for risk acceptance, risk treatment, residual-risk ownership, and funded remediation; maintain traceability of decisions, approvals, assumptions, controls, and agreed actions.

Ensure compliance with customer, contractual, and regulatory requirements related to obsolescence management. Provide customer-facing reporting packs (e.g. monthly/quarterly) showing obsolete/at-risk products, affected locations/services, risk ratings, support implications, and recommended actions.

Contribute to continual improvement of obsolescence-management processes, lifecycle-data quality, service-management controls, reporting packs, governance forums, and toolsets.

Provide technical assurance on packaging/installation standards (approved versions, dependencies, hardening, and supportability) so remediation actions do not introduce new lifecycle or security risk.

Assess and communicate the impact of proposed changes through the change enablement lifecycle, including compatibility, regression and validation needs, support status, configuration baseline impact, release and deployment considerations, and downstream service impact, providing inputs to CAB or the relevant Change Authority as required.

Develop, implement, govern, and continually improve the Obsolescence Management Plan across the enterprise, together with proactive and reactive obsolescence strategies that minimise lifecycle risk and provide controlled mitigation, resolution, or risk-treatment options.

Provide obsolescence-management input at programme, technical, service-management, and support meetings, and chair the Obsolescence Working Group to drive governance, prioritisation, decision-making, and action tracking.

Produce, maintain, and communicate the Obsolescence Management Forecast, including emerging lifecycle risks, forecasted end-of-support events, affected services, risk ratings, mitigation options, and decision points.

Proven experience and knowledge of obsolescence/lifecycle management within a complex IT or operational technology estate. Strong technical understanding across hardware, operating systems, applications, and infrastructure components, including integration, dependencies, and service delivery impact.

Working knowledge of ITIL and ITSM practices, particularly IT Asset Management, Service Configuration Management, Change Enablement, Incident Management, Problem Management, Risk Management, Knowledge Management, and Continual Improvement, including how configuration and lifecycle data underpins effective service-management controls.

Experience working within regulated or high-assurance environments and producing evidence-based reporting for customer and audit stakeholders. Ability to analyse technical, operational, and commercial data to assess risk, determine service impact, and recommend practical mitigation or replacement options.

Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence decisions across multi-disciplinary teams (operations, engineering, security, procurement, and customer). Experience engaging vendors/suppliers for lifecycle information (EoL/EoS notices, support options, roadmaps) and translating this into actionable plans.

Excellent communication and reporting skills, including the ability to produce clear Obsolescence Impact Reports, risk summaries, and recommendations for non-technical audiences.

Desired Skills: Knowledge of industry standards and best practice for obsolescence management, particularly BS EN IEC 62402, including obsolescence-management policy, organisational infrastructure, OMP development, proactive design strategies, risk-based management approaches, resolution selection, implementation, measurement, and continual improvement.

Experience with obsolescence management tools or lifecycle databases such as Diamond OM. Understanding of ITSM service configuration management, configuration baselines, CI relationships, asset records, change enablement, release and deployment controls, and auditability.

Commercial awareness, including cost modelling and total lifecycle cost considerations. Experience in ITSM and ITAM tooling such as ManageEngine End Point Central and Service Desk Plus.

At Leidos we are PASSIONATE about customer success, UNITED as a team and INSPIRED to make a difference. We offer meaningful and engaging careers, a collaborative culture, and support for your career goals, all while nurturing a healthy work-life balance.

We provide an employment package that attracts, develops and retains only the best in talent. Our reward scheme includes: Contributory Pension Scheme, Private Medical Insurance, 33 days Annual Leave (including public and privilege holidays), Access to Flexible benefits (including life assurance, health schemes, gym memberships, annual buy and sell holidays and a cycle to work scheme).

We welcome applications from every part of the community and are committed to a truly diverse and inclusive culture. We foster a sense of belonging, welcoming all perspectives and contributions, and providing equal access to opportunities and resources for everyone.

If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages please let us know, and we will respond in a way that best fits your needs.

Leidos UK & EUROPE works to make the world safer, healthier, and more efficient through technology, engineering and science. Leidos is a growing company delivering innovative technology and solutions focused on safeguarding critical capabilities and transformation in frontline services.

We are at the forefront of machine learning, AI, cyber security and solutions. Using your skills in the technology frontline by helping to build a safer world. You can inspire change.

Having flexibility to do your job is one of our core benefits, enabling you to become part of our extraordinary team. We have been empowering our people to work flexibly for years.

At Leidos, we invest in technical academies, career rotations and a career development plans that enhance your future.

We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail.