Senior IT Service Manager

As the Senior IT Service Manager (Service Transition), you lead the end-to-end transition of new and significantly changed digital and technology services into live operation across the Crown Prosecution Service. You ensure that services are operationally ready, supported by an appropriate service model, and accepted into service through clear governance, assurance and formal sign-off

Working across project, commercial, architecture, security, operations and supplier teams, you define transition plans and acceptance criteria; assure support arrangements, documentation, testing, knowledge transfer and service readiness; and identify and manage risks to service continuity. You also coordinate early-life support and controlled handover into business-as-usual service management.

You work in a complex, multi-supplier environment and provide clear advice and recommendations to senior stakeholders on service readiness, operational impacts and fitness for live service. You promote consistent service transition methods, support continual improvement through post-implementation reviews, and help ensure that services remain responsive to user needs and meet agreed standards. This is an opportunity to shape reliable, sustainable support arrangements for business-critical CPS technology services while developing a strong culture of collaboration, accountability and user-focused service management.

The Crown Prosecution Service is based in England and Wales. If you’re applying for this role and live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you must let us know when accepting this offer as you need permission to work from your home address if hybrid working is part of your role. There’s no guarantee that we will grant this approval.

You must be aged 16 or over at the point of starting in this role. The expected start date is approximately 8–12 weeks after the application closing date. You are expected to commence employment as soon as possible following the expiry of your notice period. Requests for significantly later start dates may not be accommodated.

Your roles and responsibilities:

• You lead end-to-end transition planning and implementation for new, changed and exiting digital services, from initial requirements through operational acceptance and handover to live service, including an increasing portfolio of software developed in-house alongside supplier-delivered and externally hosted services.
• You define and assure service models, operational-readiness criteria and acceptance deliverables, including support processes, documentation, knowledge transfer, training, testing, contingency and rollback arrangements.
• You establish and operate proportionate transition governance, represent Service Management at programme and project forums, and provide clear readiness, risk and progress reporting to senior stakeholders, working across an environment that uses both agile and waterfall delivery approaches.
• You work closely with development teams, CPS teams, delivery partners and suppliers throughout the delivery lifecycle to resolve transition issues, protect service continuity and ensure incident, problem, change, release, asset and configuration arrangements are fit for purpose.
• You ensure that in-house developed applications are designed and delivered with effective operational support in mind, helping development and delivery teams understand service management, supportability and operational-readiness requirements before services transition into live operation.
• You manage early-life support and post-implementation reviews, embedding lessons learned, corrective actions and consistent continual-improvement practices.

A copy of the full job description is attached.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

Recruitment process

The recruitment process consists of an online application, assessment and interview.

Personal statement

We ask you to complete a personal statement of no more than 750 words. You need to address the core behaviours for this role, which are:

• Managing a Quality Service (Lead Behaviour)
• Seeing the Big Picture

You also need to demonstrate the following experience required for this role:

• Have substantial experience of leading service transition or operational-readiness activity for new or significantly changed digital/ICT services in a complex environment, including in-house developed software and services delivered through external suppliers or partners.
• Have experience of working within a software development environment, collaborating with developers, technical teams, delivery teams and service management colleagues to ensure that operational and support requirements are considered throughout the development lifecycle.
• Demonstrate experience of working with both agile and waterfall delivery approaches, with the ability to adapt service-transition and governance activities appropriately to different delivery methods.
• Demonstrate strong IT service management knowledge, including practical application of service acceptance, incident, problem, change, release, asset/configuration management and continual improvement.
• Be able to develop and assure transition plans, service/support models, readiness criteria, knowledge-transfer arrangements and controlled handover into business-as-usual operations.
• Have strong stakeholder, supplier and conflict-resolution skills, with the ability to communicate service risks, impacts and recommendations clearly to senior governance forums.
• Demonstrate effective leadership, sound judgement, user focus and the ability to deliver quality outcomes to agreed timescales.

In addition, you need to demonstrate the Crown Prosecution Service or Civil Service values.

The panel has the right to assess the Essential Experience first. If the standard on this behaviour isn’t met, the other behaviours won’t be considered and your application won’t progress. The panel also has the right to raise the minimum standard pass mark. The panel may also refer to the lead behaviour at the interview stage to determine merit order.

CV

You’re not required to upload your CV. However, when submitting your application there is a ‘CV section’. You are required to provide information about your employment and/or academic history for the past three years, skills, and qualification details. The CV section will be assessed.

It’s your responsibility to provide the specified information in the requested format to ensure that you're considered for the post.

If you're unable to cover three years through employment or academic history, you must provide a character reference for clearance purposes.

Interview and Assessment

The interviews and assessments are expected to take place on w/c 23 November 2026.

Your interview takes place online through Microsoft Teams. A member of our recruitment team will be in touch with guidance. If you have any queries about this, contact dimitra.siakvara@cps.gov.uk

You should keep this week free or notify us if you're not available. We'll make every effort to accommodate your date preferences but we can't guarantee it.

We ask you to complete an assessment as part of the recruitment process for this role. We will provide details upon invitation to the interview and assessment stage.

We use behaviours to help us understand your experience, to see if you're a good fit for the role. You are assessed against SEO in the Civil Service success profiles behaviours framework. We are assessing 5 behaviours at interview and assessment stage:

• Managing a Quality Service – interview and assessment
• Seeing the Big Picture – interview
• Communicating and Influencing – interview and assessment
• Working Together – interview
• Making Effective Decisions – interview and assessment

Essential Experience - assessed at interview

Strengths

Strengths are tested at interview stage - the strengths tested are not shared before the interview.

Other

This is a full-time post. We do consider requests for flexible, part-time working and job share, always considering the operational needs of the department.

Please note that the CPS is unable to offer visa sponsorship. If you require visa sponsorship to work in the UK, you will not meet the eligibility criteria for this role.

Clearance

If successful, you are required to secure a Disclosure and Barring Service check, for which you must have a current valid UK address.

If successfully appointed, we ask you to complete a character enquiry form, and nationality and immigration questionnaire.

If you're a Crown Prosecution Service member of staff, you won’t need to do a Disclosure and Barring Service check as you already hold this clearance.

The job you’re applying for is covered by Article 3(a) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, consequently Section 4(2) of that Act doesn’t apply. You’re required to disclose all previous convictions and cautions including spent convictions. Failing to make a full declaration will result in withdrawing your offer of employment if our checks reveal convictions that haven’t been disclosed.

Reserve list

If you're recommended by the selection panel but not appointed to the current vacancies, you’re put on a reserve list for 12 months. You may be offered another Senior IT Service Manager post in the CPS if a vacancy comes up during this period. We may also approach candidates on the waiting list to fill other roles that require similar knowledge and experience.

Civil Service Commission

If you’re dissatisfied with the recruitment process and wish to make a complaint, please contact Strategic.Resourcing@cps.gov.uk with your concerns.

If you remain dissatisfied and wish to make a further complaint, please click on the following link to the Civil Service Commission complaints page Recruitment Complaints - Civil Service Commission

Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles can be found at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/

Details of the Civil Service Nationality Rules are located at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

Candidates are subject to UK immigration requirements. For the most up-to-date information on the requirements of working in the UK, please go to the UK Visas and Immigration website at https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.