Planning Specialist (Contract) in London

Planning Specialist (Contract) in London

London Full-Time 40000 - 50000 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
Maintel

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Ensure smooth service transitions and create essential operational documentation.
  • Company: Join Maintel, a growing tech company focused on operational excellence.
  • Benefits: Gain exposure to cutting-edge technology and work with experienced specialists.
  • Other info: Opportunity for career growth and continuous improvement in a dynamic environment.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact by ensuring services go live successfully.
  • Qualifications: Experience in operational readiness or service transition is a plus.

The predicted salary is between 40000 - 50000 £ per year.

Be the reason every service goes live successfully. At Maintel, delivering exceptional customer experiences starts long before a service goes live. We're looking for a highly organised and detail-oriented Operational Readiness Specialist to join our Design & Transition team. This is a critical role responsible for ensuring new and changed managed services are fully prepared for operational support, enabling seamless transitions from project delivery into live service.

You’ll work at the heart of our service transition process, collaborating with Project Delivery, Customer Operations, Technology Operations & Platforms, and Service Desk teams to ensure every solution is operationally ready, fully documented, and set up for long-term success. If you thrive on bringing order to complexity, enjoy working across technical and operational teams, and take pride in getting things right first time, we’d love to hear from you.

The Opportunity

As Operational Readiness Specialist, you will own the production, validation and quality of operational readiness documentation for a wide range of managed services across Unified Communications & Collaboration (UC&C), Customer Experience (CX), and Security & Connectivity solutions. You’ll play a pivotal role in protecting service quality, reducing operational risk and ensuring support teams are fully equipped to deliver exceptional customer outcomes from day one. This role also offers an exciting opportunity to broaden your expertise through cross-training into Secure Connectivity operational readiness activities, helping build resilience and capability across the wider team.

What You’ll Be Doing

  • Service Transition & Operational Readiness
    • Lead operational readiness activities for assigned services and solutions.
    • Ensure all readiness criteria, quality gates and sign-off requirements are completed prior to go-live.
    • Coordinate readiness reviews and support formal service acceptance processes.
    • Work closely with operational teams to confirm support readiness and capability.
  • Documentation & Knowledge Management
    • Produce comprehensive Operational Readiness Packs and Service Transition Packs.
    • Develop and maintain runbooks, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), escalation paths and knowledge articles.
    • Ensure monitoring, alerting and support tooling requirements are documented and validated.
    • Maintain high standards of quality, consistency and accuracy across all documentation.
  • Go-Live & Early Life Support
    • Support the management of Early Life Support (ELS) activities following service launch.
    • Coordinate issue tracking, escalation pathways and stabilisation activities.
    • Capture lessons learned and support continuous improvement initiatives.
    • Help ensure a smooth transition from project delivery into business-as-usual support.
  • Collaboration & Stakeholder Management
    • Work closely with Project Delivery, Implementation, Solution Design and Network Provisioning teams.
    • Gather and validate technical information required for operational handover.
    • Partner with Customer Operations and Service Desk teams to ensure successful support readiness.
    • Support governance processes by providing visibility of readiness progress and outstanding actions.
  • Continuous Improvement
    • Identify opportunities to improve transition quality and operational readiness processes.
    • Contribute to the development of standardised templates, frameworks and quality controls.
    • Champion a right-first-time approach to documentation and service transition.
    • Support the ongoing maturity of Maintel's Operational Readiness function.

About You

You are highly organised, naturally detail-focused and passionate about delivering quality outcomes. You enjoy working across technical and operational teams and have a strong understanding of how successful service transitions contribute to excellent customer experiences. You are equally comfortable reviewing technical information, producing structured documentation and coordinating stakeholders to ensure nothing is missed before a service goes live.

Essential Experience

  • Experience in Operational Readiness, Service Transition, Service Delivery, Technical Documentation or Service Acceptance roles.
  • Experience working within Managed Services, Telecommunications or IT Services environments.
  • Proven experience producing operational documentation, runbooks, SOPs, service acceptance packs or handover materials.
  • Experience collaborating with Operations, Engineering and Customer-facing teams.
  • Understanding of ITIL principles, particularly Service Transition and Early Life Support.
  • Strong documentation, organisation and stakeholder management skills.

Desirable Experience

  • ITIL Foundation certification.
  • Experience with service management or project tools such as Autotask, Salesforce or similar platforms.
  • Knowledge of one or more of the following solution areas: Unified Communications & Collaboration (UC&C), Customer Experience (CX), Security & Connectivity.
  • Exposure to technologies such as Microsoft Teams, RingCentral, Genesys Cloud, Zoom Contact Centre, SD-WAN or SASE.
  • Experience within highly regulated sectors including Healthcare, Financial Services or Government.

What Success Looks Like

In this role, you will:

  • Deliver complete and accurate readiness documentation first time.
  • Ensure operational teams are fully prepared before every go-live.
  • Reduce transition risk and improve service quality.
  • Support smooth Early Life Support and service stabilisation.
  • Build trusted relationships across delivery, engineering and operations teams.
  • Contribute to the continuous improvement of Maintel's service transition capability.

Why Join Maintel?

This is an opportunity to join a growing and evolving organisation where operational excellence is at the centre of everything we do. You’ll gain exposure to a broad portfolio of cutting-edge technology solutions, work alongside experienced specialists and play a key role in shaping how services transition into live operation. Whether you’re currently working in Service Transition, Service Delivery, Technical Documentation, PMO, Operational Readiness or Support Operations, this role offers an excellent opportunity to broaden your expertise and make a visible impact across the business. If you’re passionate about quality, process, collaboration and delivering successful service transitions, we’d love to hear from you. Apply today.

Planning Specialist (Contract) in London employer: Maintel

At Maintel, we pride ourselves on fostering a collaborative and innovative work culture that empowers our employees to excel in their roles. As a Planning Specialist in London, you'll benefit from a hybrid working model, competitive remuneration, and opportunities for professional growth through cross-training and exposure to cutting-edge technology solutions. Join us to be part of a team that values operational excellence and is dedicated to delivering exceptional customer experiences.

Maintel

Contact Details:

Maintel Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Planning Specialist (Contract) in London

Tip Number 1: Get Involved in Consulting Case Competitions

Look for case competitions hosted by universities and consulting firms. They’re a fab way to showcase your problem-solving skills and meet industry players. Plus, winning one can seriously boost your CV, which we know is key when applying for roles like Planning Specialist (Contract) at Maintel!

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Tip Number 4: Polish Your Consulting Skills Online

Engage with online platforms that offer consulting simulations or courses. Prove your chops by completing relevant projects — this not only beefs up your experience but also gives you concrete examples to chat about during interviews for that full-time Planning Specialist (Contract) role at Maintel!

We think you need these skills to ace Planning Specialist (Contract) in London

Operational Readiness
Service Transition
Service Delivery
Technical Documentation
Service Acceptance
Documentation Management
Stakeholder Management

Some tips for your application 🫡

Show Your Problem-Solving Skills:In management consulting, it's all about problem-solving—so make sure your CV highlights your analytical and critical thinking skills. Include examples from your studies or previous roles where you tackled complex issues or came up with innovative solutions. Quantify your achievements whenever possible to demonstrate your impact!

Tailor Your Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to explain why you're a perfect fit for the consulting world. Focus on your motivation for joining the industry and how your skills align with the requirements of the role at Maintel. Remember to mention any relevant coursework or projects that showcase your understanding of strategic frameworks or business models!

Highlight Team Experience:Consultants often work in teams, so it's vital to showcase your collaborative skills. Include experiences where you've worked effectively with others, whether in academic group projects or internships. Discuss your role in the team and how you helped achieve common goals, demonstrating you can thrive in a consultancy environment.

Professionalise Your Online Presence:Make sure your LinkedIn and any other professional profiles are up to date, reflecting your career aspirations in management consulting. Connect with industry professionals and follow relevant groups—show you’re serious about entering this field. Applying through our website is a great way to get noticed, so showcase your personality and enthusiasm there!

How to prepare for a job interview at Maintel

Master the Case Study Game

In management consulting, case study interviews are all the rage. Make sure to practice structuring your thoughts and analysing data on the fly. Use resources like example case studies to get comfortable with frameworks and solutions. Remember, it’s not just about getting the right answer but showcasing your thought process, so talk us through your reasoning!

Know Your Numbers

Be prepared for some numerical and analytical questions. Brush up on your mental math and be ready to interpret data from charts or graphs. We might throw some business scenarios at you that require a quick turnaround on numerical analysis, so practice these skills to feel confident and swift!

Show Your Leadership Flair

As this is a full-time role, we want to see your potential as a seasoned consultant. Be ready to discuss experiences where you've led a project or a team. Think about times you've influenced decisions or navigated challenges—this is your chance to show how you can thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Be a Cultural Fit

We’re not just looking for brains; we want to see if you vibe with our company culture at Maintel. Prepare to share how your values align with ours. Have a think about what makes a great team environment for you and how you can contribute to that. A good cultural fit goes a long way in management consulting!