ServiceNow CMDB / CSDM Architect

Whitehall Resources require a ServiceNow CMDB / CSDM Architect to work with a key client on a 6 month initial contract. This role will require on site work in Cambridge 2 days per week. Inside IR 35.

The ServiceNow CMDB / CSDM Architect will act as the technical design authority for a CMDB uplift programme of work. The role will assess the current CMDB model, define pragmatic CSDM-aligned standards, guide remediation of service and application taxonomy issues, review IRE and data source precedence, shape service-to-infrastructure mapping, and design platform controls that improve ownership, lifecycle discipline and data quality. The role is expected to provide expert technical direction, not simply produce documentation. The candidate must be comfortable working in a complex existing ServiceNow environment where the CMDB requires remediation, simplification and operationalisation.

Key responsibilities:

• CMDB and CSDM design
• Assess and improve CMDB structure, CI classes, attributes and relationships.
• Define practical CSDM-aligned modelling standards.
• Clarify how Business Services, Application Services, Technical Services, Applications and infrastructure CIs should be represented.
• Support service and application taxonomy reset activity.
• Provide design guidance for simplifying CI classes, attributes and relationship usage.
• IRE, data source and reconciliation review
• Review current Identification and Reconciliation Engine configuration.
• Identify issues with source precedence, duplicate creation, reconciliation conflicts and poor upstream data.
• Recommend authoritative source rules by CI class and key attribute.
• Translate agreed data ownership and source rules into ServiceNow configuration guidance.
• Support design of data contracts and integration onboarding controls.
• Discovery, Service Mapping and dependency modelling
• Review current Discovery and relationship outputs.
• Define minimum relationship standards for priority CI classes.
• Shape the approach for service-to-infrastructure mapping.
• Advise on Service Mapping readiness, sequencing and prerequisites.
• Ensure dependency modelling supports change, incident, vulnerability and operational resilience use cases.
• Governance controls in ServiceNow
• Design technical controls to enforce ownership, lifecycle and data quality rules.
• Specify requirements for ownership gating, lifecycle guardrails, stale CI handling, certification workflows and readiness gates.
• Work with ServiceNow developers to ensure controls are implemented in a maintainable, upgrade-safe way.
• Review delivered configuration for technical quality and alignment to the target CMDB model.
• Data quality and remediation guidance
• Guide duplicate, orphan and stale CI remediation approaches.
• Help define CMDB Health rules, dashboards and data quality measures.
• Support prioritisation of remediation activity by operational value and risk.
• Advise on how to prevent recurrence of data quality issues through source controls and platform automation.
• Knowledge transfer
• Mentor the internal ServiceNow specialist.
• Document key design decisions, standards and configuration principles.
• Provide clear artefacts and handover material to sustain the CMDB model after the contractor engagement.

Expected deliverables:

• CMDB technical assessment.
• Target CMDB/CSDM modelling standard.
• Service and application modelling decision tree.
• CI class and relationship model recommendations.
• IRE and data source precedence review.
• Authoritative source matrix by priority CI class.
• Ownership and lifecycle control design.
• Service Mapping readiness and sequencing plan.
• Data quality and remediation approach.
• Technical backlog items for ServiceNow developers.
• Configuration review and design assurance.
• Knowledge transfer and handover pack.

Required experience:

• Strong experience with ServiceNow CMDB architecture.
• Hands-on CSDM implementation, remediation or uplift.
• CI class design and relationship modelling.
• ServiceNow IRE: identification rules, reconciliation rules and source precedence.
• CMDB Health, duplicate management and data quality rules.
• ServiceNow Discovery and discovered infrastructure relationships.
• Service Mapping concepts and implementation readiness.
• Integration patterns involving CMDB data sources.
• CMDB lifecycle, ownership and data quality controls.
• Working with existing, imperfect CMDBs rather than only greenfield implementations.
• Translating business/governance requirements into ServiceNow technical design.

Desirable experience:

• ServiceNow Certified Implementation Specialist qualifications in Discovery, Service Mapping, ITOM, CMDB or related modules.
• Experience with Service Graph Connectors.
• Cloud CMDB integration experience across Azure, AWS or GCP.
• Experience with CNAPP or cloud security data feeding CMDB.
• ITIL SACM / ITSM experience.
• Experience in large enterprise or regulated environments.
• Experience mentoring internal teams during a transformation or uplift programme.