Sword is a leading provider of business technology solutions within the Energy, Public and Finance Sectors, driving real transformation change within our clients. We use proven technology, specialist teams and domain expertise to build solid technical foundations across platforms, data and business applications. We have a passion for using technology to solve business problems, working in partnership with our clients to help in achieving their goals.
About the role:
A new opportunity has been created for a strategic, technically proficient, and experienced ServiceNow Platform Owner / Manager to lead the governance, development, and optimisation of our ServiceNow environment. This pivotal role will drive the delivery of a best‑in‑class enterprise platform that enables IT transformation, operational excellence, and innovation.
The role can be based anywhere in the UK but there will be an expectation for regular travel to our offices, particularly in Aberdeen and Glasgow.
The ideal candidate will bring deep ServiceNow expertise, proven delivery experience, and exceptional stakeholder engagement skills to define and deliver the ServiceNow vision and roadmap across ITSM, CSM, ITOM, HAM, and other modules. You will shape the platform roadmap to deliver exceptional customer and platform user experiences, drive operational efficiency through workflows, automation, and integrated portals, and enable data‑driven decision making and future AI innovation.
In this high‑impact role within a global organisation undergoing strategic IT transformation, you will lead a high‑performing team of developers, administrators, and analysts, manage vendors, and ensure the ServiceNow platform delivers maximum business value in alignment with enterprise strategy, architecture, and governance principles.
What you’ll be doing:
Platform Ownership & Strategy
1. Define and own the ServiceNow platform strategy and roadmap, ensuring alignment with business priorities and IT strategic objectives.
2. Serve as the guardian of platform governance, standards, and best practices.
3. Provide thought leadership for the evolution of ServiceNow capabilities, including ITSM, CSM, ITOM (Discovery & Service Mapping), SAM Pro, and HAM Pro.
4. Lead the development of customer interfaces, leveraging technologies such as self-service portals, Service Bridge, and integrations to streamline processes, reduce overheads, and improve user satisfaction.
5. Act as the primary liaison between technical teams, business stakeholders, and external partners to ensure clarity of requirements, alignment, and delivery.
Team Leadership & Vendor Management
6. Lead and inspire the ServiceNow Centre of Excellence (CoE), fostering high performance and career development.
7. Manage relationships with third-party vendors, implementation partners, and the ServiceNow account team.
8. Oversee resource planning, capacity management, and delivery performance.
Solution Delivery & Innovation
9. Oversee design, development, testing, deployment, and release management of new capabilities and enhancements.
10. Drive automation, workflows, and self-service improvements to optimise operational efficiency and reduce cost.
11. Lead change initiatives to promote platform adoption, ensuring user engagement, training, and awareness.
12. Leverage data analytics capabilities to generate actionable insights that support business decisions and enable AI-driven innovation.
13. Champion continuous improvement and operational excellence within ServiceNow.
Platform Operations & Compliance
14. Ensure platform stability, performance, and availability.
15. Manage upgrades, patching, releases, and platform maintenance.
16. Maintain compliance with security, data privacy, and regulatory requirements.
17. Oversee the quality and governance of the ServiceNow CMDB, Knowledge Base, and configuration data.
Stakeholder Engagement:
18. Build trusted relationships with stakeholders across all levels, including senior leadership, IT operations, and business units.
19. Provide regular reports, dashboards, and updates on platform health, roadmap progress, and business impact.
20. Advocate for ServiceNow adoption, continuous improvement, and enterprise service management principles.
Key Objectives You’ll Drive:
21. Deliver a robust, scalable, and business-aligned ServiceNow platform roadmap that supports IT transformation and customer experience.
22. Establish a high-performing Centre of Excellence with governance frameworks, standards, and operational processes.
23. Achieve measurable improvements in IT service delivery efficiency through automation, workflows, and integrated self-service portals.
24. Deliver enhanced customer and platform user experiences.
25. Use analytics and reporting to drive informed business decisions and position the organisation for future AI innovation.
26. Maintain platform stability, operational excellence, and compliance with industry best practices.
Requirements
This is a high-impact leadership role in a global organisation undergoing a strategic transformation of its IT service capabilities. You will have autonomy to shape the ServiceNow roadmap, build a high-performing team, and deliver a platform that drives measurable business value through enhanced customer experiences, operational efficiency, and innovation.
Here are the key skills and experience relative to the role:
27. Proven experience as a ServiceNow Platform Owner, Product Owner, or Manager in a large-scale enterprise environment.
28. Deep understanding of ServiceNow architecture, modules, and integration capabilities (ITSM, CSM, ITOM, HAM, etc.).
29. Experience with Agile delivery methodologies, DevOps practices, and CI/CD pipelines.
30. Expertise in managing platform upgrades, release cycles, and operational governance.
31. Strong leadership, stakeholder management, and communication skills.
32. Relevant ServiceNow certifications (CSA, CIS ITSM, CTA) highly desirable.
33. Familiarity with ITIL framework and enterprise service management principles (ITIL Foundation, MSP experience desirable).
34. Experience in large-scale ServiceNow transformations and enterprise deployments.
35. Background in IT operations, digital transformation, or enterprise architecture.
36. Proven track record of delivering platform improvements that align with business strategy, including customer experience enhancements and automation initiatives.
Key Personal Attributes:
37. Strategic thinker with strong execution capability.
38. Collaborative leader able to build trust and influence across the organisation.
39. Passionate about continuous improvement, innovation, and delivering value.
40. Pragmatic problem solver with excellent decision-making skills.
Benefits
At Sword, our core values and culture are based on caring about our people, investing in training and career development and building inclusive teams where we are all encouraged to contribute to achieve success.
We offer comprehensive benefits designed to support your professional development and enhance your overall quality of life. In addition to a Competitive Salary, here's what you can expect as part of our benefits package:
Personalised Career Development: We create a development plan customised to your goals and aspirations, with a range of learning and development opportunities within a culture that encourages growth.
Flexible working: Flexible work arrangements to support your work-life balance. We can’t promise to always be able to meet every request, however are keen to discuss your individual preferences to make it work where we can.
A Fantastic Benefits Package: This includes generous annual leave allowance, enhanced family friendly benefits, pension scheme, access to private health, well-being, and insurance schemes, an employee assistance programme, discounted cash plan and more…..
At Sword we are dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer, ensuring that all applicants receive fair and equal consideration for employment, regardless of whether they meet every requirement. If you don’t tick all the boxes but feel you have some of the relevant skills and experience we’re looking for, please do consider applying and highlight your transferable skills and experience. We embrace diversity in all its forms, valuing individuals regardless of age, disability, gender identity or reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Your perspective and potential are important to us.
If we can do anything to help make the hiring process more accessible, please let our talent acquisition team know when you apply so we can support any adjustments.