[6373] Senior Project Transition Manager

Start date: Negotiable
Clearance: NATO Secret
Location: Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany


Skills, Knowledge & Experience:

• Minimum 8 years of combined experience in IT service management and project management, of which at least 3 years in a senior role.
• Proven experience (minimum 5 years) in IT service management in a Service Delivery Manager, IT Operations Manager or similar role, including incident, problem, change and service level management.
• Proven experience (minimum 5 years) in project management, delivering complex IT/CIS projects to time, cost and quality.
• Demonstrable track record of transitioning projects or new capabilities into live operational service.
• Proven experience engaging, influencing and briefing senior stakeholders at executive (C-level) or General/Flag Officer level.
• Experience managing IT infrastructure (networks, data centres, servers, end-user and communications systems) in an operational environment.
• Experience in budget and cost management, including forecasting, cost control and financial reporting.
• Proven experience managing vendors and contractors against contractual and service level obligations.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams in an international environment.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to make data-driven decisions under pressure.
• ITIL 4 Foundation (or ITIL v3 Foundation).
• Project management certification: PMP (PMI / PMBOK) or PRINCE2 Practitioner.

Desirable Qualifications:

• Experience in NATO, military, defence or other international organisations.
• Experience with deployable CIS or mission-critical communications services.
• ITIL 4 Managing Professional or Strategic Leader; MSP or PgMP; SIAM certification.
• Experience with ITSM tools (e.g. ServiceNow, BMC Remedy, Jira Service Management).
• Knowledge of NATO procurement and financial processes.
• Working knowledge of German.


Duties & Role:

Project Transition to Operations:

• Leads the transition of projects and capabilities into operational service, from early engagement in project planning through to formal handover and early life support.
• Defines and agrees transition plans, entry and exit criteria, service acceptance criteria and handover deliverables with Project Managers, Service Owners and customers.
• Ensures operational readiness prior to go-live: support model, staffing, training, documentation, spares, underpinning contracts, monitoring and configuration data are in place.
• Evaluates project outputs against agreed service acceptance criteria and formally recommends acceptance, conditional acceptance or rejection.
• Identifies, manages and escalates transition risks, issues and dependencies, and ensures residual risks are understood and owned by operations.
• Manages early life support and closes transition only when agreed service performance has been demonstrated.
• Captures and applies lessons identified to improve future transitions.

Local Operations Management (Wiesbaden):

• Takes accountability for the day-to-day delivery of NCIA services at the location, including service performance, customer satisfaction and compliance with security and safety requirements.
• Leads and coordinates local technical, support and contractor personnel, setting clear priorities, standards and direction.
• Oversees the local infrastructure (facilities, networks, data centre / server rooms, end-user and deployable CIS assets) and ensures it is maintained, secured and fit for purpose.
• Ensures asset and configuration management records for the location are accurate and complete.
• Coordinates local business continuity and service recovery arrangements.

Incident and Problem Management:

• Ensures incidents are logged, prioritised, diagnosed and resolved according to agreed procedures and service levels.
• Leads the resolution of major incidents, coordinating technical teams, vendors and customers, and provides timely, accurate communication to senior stakeholders.
• Escalates unresolved incidents and facilitates recovery following resolution.
• Initiates and monitors problem investigations, drives root cause analysis and ensures preventive measures are implemented.
• Analyses incident and problem trends to reduce recurrence and improve service stability.

Change Management:

• Manages the change control process for services and assets at the location and for services in transition.
• Assesses changes for risk, impact, cost and resource requirements, and represents the location in Change Advisory Boards.
• Ensures changes are planned, communicated, tested, implemented and reviewed in a controlled manner, minimizing disruption to operations.

Service Level Management:

• Negotiates service level requirements and agreed service levels with customers, and contributes to Service Level Agreements, Operational Level Agreements and underpinning contracts.
• Monitors service performance and key performance indicators, diagnoses service delivery problems and initiates improvement actions.
• Provides accurate and regular performance reporting to NCIA management and customers.
• Drives continual service improvement across processes, tools and third-party delivery.

Cost, Resource and Vendor Management:

• Manages the operational and transition budget for the location, including cost planning, forecasting, tracking and variance reporting.
• Provides inputs to customer budget processes, cost models and service rates, ensuring the full cost of operating transitioned services is identified and funded.
• Identifies cost optimisation opportunities without compromising service levels or security.
• Manages vendor and contractor performance against contractual obligations, statements of work and service levels, and supports procurement activities as required.