Closing Date
30/01/2026
Location: Durrington (Worthing) – Hybrid 2 days a week in office
Contract Type: Permanent
Salary: to £60400 per annum (DOE) + bonus.
Hours: 37 hours
Are you ready to make a difference in the water & waste industry?
Southern Water are going through an immense digital transformation programme and require skilled and talented people to join our supportive and collaborative teams to deliver these transformation initiatives.
About The Role
As Service Design and Transition Manager, you will be responsible for ensuring the effective design and seamless transition of new or changed services into operational environments. You will focus on designing services that meet business and user’s requirements, ensuring operational readiness and delivering end to end service transition processes within Digital IT Projects while adhering to Southern Waters governance frameworks.
What You Will Be Responsible For
* Service Design activities including:
o Define Roles and Responsibilities for Project and Business throughout Project Lifecycle.
o Review gathered requirements and consult with relevant teams to ascertain achievability.
o Work with support teams in ‘Kick off Meeting’ to Scope high level Support.
o Work with support teams to understand ongoing resource profile/skills needed.
o Develop the Service TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)
o Agree toolset needed to provide alerting/monitoring.
o Agree Service Level Agreements ensuring that the business requirements align with Digital’s/3rd Party support capability.
o Create and maintain the Service Design Package – to include consideration of capacity, availability, monitoring/alerting, resource and running costs throughout the service lifecycle.
o Ensure service designs meet business objectives, operational requirements, and user needs.
o Ensure service architecture aligns with existing Digital IT landscapes and operational capabilities.
o Identify and address gaps in service processes, systems, or resources to ensure successful delivery.
o Participate in design reviews to validate service readiness.
* Service Transition Activities including:
o Deliver and govern the end-to-end Service Transition process for allocated projects, ensuring compliance with agreed templates and governance frameworks.
o Ensure smooth handover of services from project delivery to operational support, avoiding gaps in service provision. (to include contingencies)
o Provide expert advice on Service Transition processes to Project Managers.
o Act as key point of contact between Project Managers and stakeholders to ensure alignment of service requirements.
o Identify, document, and help mitigate risks and issues related to service delivery, contributing to the Project and Risk register.
o Manage service Transition elements of the project RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies)
o Assure evidence from the Project Manager that testing against the business requirements has been completed and approved.
o Coordinate and manage Internal Service Acceptance Boards (SAB).
o Minute SAB decisions and track pre-and post-go-live actions.
o Support Early Life Support (ELS) with the project manager and all mandatory stakeholders.
o Manage the Acceptance into Service (AIS) process, ensuring post-go-live actions are fully addressed.
What You’ll Bring To The Role
* Self-starter able to work effectively with minimal supervision.
* Strong understanding of ITIL practices, particularly Service Design, Service Transition and Service Operations.
* Experience in delivering service design and transition activities within IT Projects.
* Expertise in developing Service Support Models, SLAs, OLAs and process workflows.
* Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and facilitation skills.
* Strong problem -solving and organisational abilities.
* Familiarity with project governance processes and RAID management.
* Experience with operational readiness assessments and service assurance activities.
* ITIL Foundation V3/V4.
* ITIL Service Design & Transition.
* Knowledge of IT Project Management methodologies.
Southern Water is at the forefront of transforming Britain’s water industry, investing significantly to enhance resilience, sustainability, and service excellence. With £7.8bn planned investment for 2025-30, this is an unparalleled opportunity to join a business committed to delivering a generational shift in the way water services are managed.
You will be joining at a time of significant change, working alongside a highly skilled leadership team with a clear vision for the future. We offer an environment where senior professionals can make a meaningful impact, influence major strategic decisions, and drive long-term value creation
"We understand that great talent comes in many forms. If this role excites you and you share our commitment to delivering sustainable solutions for our communities, please apply—even if your experience doesn’t perfectly match every requirement. We’ll support your growth and development."
If this role isn’t quite what you’re looking for but are keen to be contacted about opportunities at Southern Water, you can register your details here: Introduce Yourself (myworkdaysite.com- Introduce Yourself)
Our Commitment to Diversity
We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or any other protected characteristic. If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.