Service Readiness and Cutover Manager in Bristol

Location: Bristol

Contract: Permanent

Mode of Working: Hybrid

Are you looking to leverage your skills in Network Engineering? We have a great opportunity for you!

TCS is a purpose-led transformation company, built on belief. We do not just help businesses to transform through technology. We support them in making a meaningful difference to the people and communities they serve - our clients include some of the biggest brands in the UK and worldwide.

For you, it means more to make an impact that matters, through challenging projects which demand ambitious innovation and thought leadership.

The Role:

The Service Readiness & Cutover Lead is responsible for planning, governing, and executing end-to-end service readiness activities for large-scale network transformation programmes. This role combines senior project management capability with deep network engineering expertise to ensure seamless migration from legacy environments to a modern network, with minimal disruption and a controlled handover into Service Management.

Key Responsibilities

• Service Readiness & Hypercare Management
• Own and deliver the Warrant & Hypercare strategy for network migrations (sites/buildings).
• Create and maintain a detailed warrant and Hypercare Plan, including: Tasks, dependencies, milestones, risks, and gating criteria.
• Entry/Exit criteria for warranty, Hypercare and BAU handover.
• Define, implement, and operate warranty & Hypercare phase governance, decision points, acceptance criteria, and reporting aligned to programme governance.
• Ensure all service, operational, and technical prerequisites are met before BAU approval.
• Define and agree handover artefacts to Service Management (Runbooks, SOPs, CMDB updates, support models).
• Ensure alignment with ITSM processes (Incident, Change, Problem, Configuration, Knowledge).
• Work closely with SIAM/Service Operations teams to ensure a smooth transition into BAU.
• Support Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT) sign-off for network services.
• Act as a central coordination point between: Network engineering teams, Service Management / SIAM, Test & Assurance teams, Multiple third-party suppliers and client stakeholders.
• Lead operational readiness checkpoints, and go/no-go governance.
• Provide structured status reporting, RAID management, and executive updates.
• Own and manage Service Readiness & Cutover risks within the programme RAID.
• Ensure traceability between requirements, testing, cutover, and service acceptance.
• Drive continuous improvement of readiness and cutover processes across waves/buildings.
• Ensure compliance with security, operational, and regulatory requirements.

Required Skills & Experience

Essential

• Experience in IT Infrastructure or Network programmes.
• Strong background as a Network Engineer before moving into programme/transition roles.
• Proven experience managing Service Readiness, Cutover, and Transition for: Network migrations, Campus/building migrations, Large enterprise or public-sector environments.
• Strong understanding of ITSM / Service Transition principles.
• Hands-on experience with: Enterprise LAN/WAN & Wi-Fi networks, routing and switching, Firewalls & network security, SD-WAN and WAN transition.
• Experience running cutover bridges, hyper care, and early life support.
• Strong stakeholder management and supplier coordination skills.

Desirable

• Experience working within SIAM environments.
• Experience across public sector or higher education networks.
• Familiarity with ITSM tools (e.g., ServiceNow, BMC Helix).
• Exposure to structured testing approaches (SVT, OAT, UAT).
• PRINCE2 / PMP / Agile PM certification.
• ITIL v4 certification.
• Network certifications (e.g., CCNP, CCIE, equivalent).

Rewards & Benefits

TCS is consistently voted a Top Employer in the UK and globally. Our competitive salary packages feature pension, health care, life assurance, laptop, phone, access to extensive training resources and discounts within the larger Tata network. We offer health & wellness initiatives and sports events; we are the proud sponsor of the London Marathon.

Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing

Tata Consultancy Services UK&I is committed to meeting the accessibility needs of all individuals in accordance with the UK Equality Act 2010 and the UK Human Rights Act 1998. We welcome and embrace diversity in race, nationality, ethnicity, disability, neurodiversity, gender identity, age, physical ability, gender reassignment, sexual orientation. We are a disability inclusive employer and encourage disabled people to apply for this role.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer an interview to applicants with disabilities or long-term conditions who meet the minimum criteria for the role.

Next Steps:

Application Process

• Online application: You can apply directly through LinkedIn/by uploading your CV.
• Skill-Based discussion: This will be a level 1 interview with the project team, it can be via video or in-person.
• Managerial discussion: This discussion will focus on behavioural aspects and person-organisation fit.
• HR Discussion: This will be with one of the members of the HR team and will cover your career journey, aspirations for growth, compensation and any other questions you may have.

Beware of Fraudulent offers: This is to notify you that TCS does not ask for any sort of payment or security deposit from candidates at any stage of the recruitment process. The firm never sends out job offers from free internet email services like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and so on. TCS has not authorised any third-party company to collect money on their behalf. As a vigilant job seeker, beware of fraudulent recruitment activity and protect your interests!

Due to the high volume of applications, we will be unable to contact each applicant individually on the status of their application. If you have not received a direct response within 30 days, then it should be deemed unsuccessful on this occasion.

Join us and do more of what matters. Apply online now.