Senior Zscaler Service Transition Manager/Operational Readiness Lead - OUTSIDE IR35 at Costello & Reyes Group Limited, Remote & On site, 12 Months, £Contract Rate

Costello & Reyes Group Limited has been instructed by its client, a global SI, to identify a Senior Zscaler Service Transition Manager for an initial 12 month engagement.

1. Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Zscaler Service Transition Manager/Operational Readiness Lead to support a major financial services organisation in accelerating its transition towards an internally owned, managed and sustainable Zscaler security service.

The engagement forms part of a wider initiative to evolve existing Zscaler capabilities into a consistent, resilient and well-governed Run The Bank (RTB) operating model, with a particular emphasis on service transition, operational readiness, knowledge transfer, stakeholder alignment and the progressive insourcing of service management and operational capabilities.

The successful candidate will take ownership of the end-to-end service transition process, ensuring that Zscaler services can be effectively supported, maintained, governed and continuously improved by internal operational teams.

This will involve working across Programme Management, Security Engineering, Network Infrastructure, Service Management, Technology Operations, third-party suppliers and L1/L2/L3 support functions to coordinate the transfer of operational responsibilities and establish clear service ownership.

The individual will play a central role in ensuring that the transition is not simply a technical handover, but delivers a sustainable operating model supported by appropriate processes, governance, documentation, knowledge, skills and accountability.

This is not a purely technical Zscaler engineering role.

We are seeking an experienced Service Transition Manager who combines strong ITSM/ITIL expertise, programme delivery capability, excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills, and sufficient technical understanding of network and security services to engage confidently with engineering teams and challenge the readiness of services entering production.

The position is anticipated to be a minimum 12-month engagement, with the potential for the successful candidate to transition into a permanent role during the contract term, subject to mutual agreement.

2. Engagement Objectives

The principal objective is to accelerate the organisation's Zscaler insourcing strategy while establishing a consistent, scalable and operationally effective Run The Bank service model.

The engagement will focus on six key outcomes:

1. Accelerate Service Insourcing: Coordinate the progressive transition of Zscaler service responsibilities, knowledge and operational capabilities from existing delivery arrangements into the organisation's internal support and management functions.

2. Establish Operational Readiness: Ensure that all Zscaler services entering production or transitioning into internal ownership satisfy agreed operational acceptance criteria.

3. Develop a Sustainable RTB Operating Model: Establish clearly defined service ownership, support responsibilities, escalation routes, governance arrangements and operational processes.

4. Strengthen Service Management Integration: Ensure that Zscaler services are appropriately integrated into existing ITSM and ServiceNow processes, including Incident, Problem, Change, Request and Knowledge Management.

5. Enable Knowledge and Capability Transfer: Ensure internal operational teams possess the documentation, technical understanding, training and access required to support the service independently.

6. Improve Stakeholder Coordination and Governance: Establish effective engagement across internal teams and external suppliers, supported by transparent reporting, risk management and clear accountability.

The successful candidate will be expected to deliver measurable progress against these objectives throughout the engagement.

3. Key Responsibilities

3.1 End-to-End Service Transition Management

Take ownership of the planning, coordination, governance and execution of the Zscaler service transition programme.

Responsibilities will include:

Develop and maintain a comprehensive service transition strategy and delivery plan.

Define the transition scope, objectives, milestones, dependencies and acceptance criteria.

Establish a structured approach to transferring Zscaler services into internal operational ownership.

Coordinate the transition of existing and newly implemented Zscaler capabilities into the Run The Bank operating model.

Develop service transition workstreams covering people, processes, technology, suppliers and governance.

Define transition entry and exit criteria, including operational readiness and service acceptance requirements.

Establish transition checkpoints and formal approval gates.

Coordinate operational handover from project and engineering teams into production support.

Identify incomplete transition activities and ensure appropriate remediation before service acceptance.

Maintain a consolidated transition plan with clear owners, milestones and completion dates.

Support the controlled closure of transition activities and formal acceptance into business-as-usual operations.

Expected Outcome: A structured, controlled and auditable service transition that enables the organisation to assume operational ownership of Zscaler services with minimal disruption.

3.2 Zscaler Insourcing and Operating Model Development

Support the development and implementation of an internally managed Zscaler operating model.

Responsibilities will include:

Assess the existing service delivery and support arrangements.

Identify current responsibilities held by external suppliers, engineering teams and internal operational functions.

Define the target-state Run The Bank operating model.

Support the progressive transfer of service responsibilities from third-party providers to internal teams.

Develop a clear responsibility and accountability framework, including RACI matrices.

Define operational ownership across Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA), Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) and associated services, where applicable.

Identify capability, resource and knowledge gaps that could inhibit successful insourcing.

Work with operational leadership to establish appropriate support structures and service ownership.

Coordinate the transfer of operational knowledge, documentation, processes and support responsibilities.

Identify residual supplier dependencies and establish appropriate management arrangements.

Support workforce readiness, skills development and longer-term operational sustainability.

Ensure the target operating model aligns with wider Technology Operations and Security Engineering practices.

Expected Outcome: A clearly defined and operationally sustainable Zscaler service model with appropriate internal ownership, accountability and support capabilities.

3.3 Operational Readiness and Production Service Acceptance

Establish and manage the operational readiness framework for Zscaler services.

Responsibilities will include:

Define service readiness criteria and acceptance checklists.

Establish minimum operational requirements before production handover.

Validate that appropriate service support arrangements are in place.

Confirm that service ownership and support responsibilities have been agreed.

Ensure monitoring, alerting and operational reporting requirements are documented and implemented.

Verify that incident response, escalation and major incident procedures are established.

Confirm that support teams have appropriate system access, permissions and tools.

Validate the completeness and usability of operational runbooks and technical support documentation.

Coordinate operational readiness reviews with relevant stakeholders.

Identify readiness gaps and ensure remediation actions are assigned and tracked.

Manage formal service acceptance and handover approvals.

Coordinate early-life support and hypercare arrangements where appropriate.

Expected Outcome: Zscaler services are accepted into production operations only when agreed support, governance and operational readiness requirements have been satisfied, or where formally approved exceptions exist.

3.4 ITSM/ITIL and ServiceNow Integration

Ensure Zscaler services are integrated into the organisation's existing IT Service Management framework.

Responsibilities will include:

Review current ITSM processes and identify integration requirements for Zscaler services.

Coordinate integration into ServiceNow service management workflows.

Ensure Incident Management processes appropriately support Zscaler-related incidents.

Establish Problem Management processes for recurring or complex service issues.

Define Change Enablement and change approval requirements.

Support the establishment of appropriate Service Request and fulfilment processes.

Ensure operational knowledge is captured within the relevant knowledge management systems.

Coordinate service and configuration item information within the CMDB, where applicable.

Establish clear ticket routing, assignment groups and escalation paths.

Define support boundaries and handoffs between L1, L2 and L3 teams.

Support the establishment of service performance reporting.

Coordinate the definition and implementation of Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Service Level Objectives (SLOs) and relevant operational performance measures.

Validate that ServiceNow workflows accurately reflect the agreed operating model.

Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency and reduce manual intervention.

Expected Outcome: Zscaler services are integrated into existing ITSM and ServiceNow processes, with clear support ownership, effective workflows and measurable service performance.

3.5 Stakeholder and Supplier Management

Act as the principal coordination point across the various stakeholders involved in Zscaler service transition.

Responsibilities will include:

Establish and maintain effective relationships with Security Engineering, Network Engineering, Technology Operations and Service Management teams.

Coordinate activities across project delivery, engineering and operational support functions.

Engage with existing managed service providers and technology suppliers.

Facilitate workshops to establish responsibilities, dependencies and operational requirements.

Ensure clear communication between technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Resolve ownership ambiguities and operational handover disputes.

Coordinate decisions and escalate blockers where required.

Support the alignment of project delivery timelines with operational readiness requirements.

Establish regular stakeholder engagement and governance forums.

Ensure all parties understand their responsibilities and required contributions.

Maintain effective relationships with senior management and service owners.

Expected Outcome: Strong stakeholder alignment, clear accountability and effective coordination across internal teams and external suppliers.

3.6 Knowledge Transfer, Training and Documentation

Ensure internal teams acquire the knowledge, skills and operational information necessary to support Zscaler services.

Responsibilities will include:

Develop and maintain a structured knowledge transfer plan.

Identify required technical and operational documentation.

Coordinate the development and review of support runbooks.

Ensure troubleshooting procedures and escalation guides are documented.

Establish appropriate operational knowledge articles.

Coordinate knowledge transfer sessions between engineering teams, suppliers and internal support teams.

Identify training requirements for L1, L2 and L3 support personnel.

Ensure operational teams understand service dependencies, common failure scenarios and escalation procedures.

Validate the effectiveness of knowledge transfer through practical walkthroughs or readiness exercises.

Identify remaining skills or capability gaps.

Ensure documentation is stored in approved repositories and assigned appropriate owners.

Establish ongoing documentation maintenance responsibilities.

Expected Outcome: Internal operational teams are equipped with the knowledge, documentation, access and skills required to support the service effectively.

3.7 Programme Coordination, RAID and Dependency Management

Maintain effective programme controls throughout the transition.

Responsibilities will include:

Develop and maintain a consolidated transition RAID register.

Identify and assess risks associated with service handover and insourcing.

Track operational dependencies, including technical, supplier, resource and process dependencies.

Establish mitigation plans for identified risks.

Escalate material issues affecting delivery, operational readiness or service stability.

Track outstanding actions and ensure timely closure.

Coordinate dependencies between engineering implementation and service transition activities.

Monitor delivery against agreed milestones and transition plans.

Identify potential delays and develop recovery actions.

Ensure decisions, exceptions and outstanding risks are documented and appropriately approved.

Support programme governance and reporting requirements.

Expected Outcome: Transparent and proactive management of transition risks, issues, dependencies and delivery commitments.

3.8 Service Governance, Reporting and Continuous Improvement

Establish effective reporting and governance arrangements to demonstrate transition progress and operational readiness.

Responsibilities will include:

Develop regular transition status reports for programme and operational leadership.

Provide clear visibility of progress against agreed milestones.

Maintain operational readiness scorecards and service acceptance trackers.

Report on outstanding risks, dependencies, issues and decisions.

Track the completion of knowledge transfer, documentation and training activities.

Monitor progress against the insourcing roadmap.

Identify opportunities to improve service transition processes and operational efficiency.

Coordinate lessons-learned reviews and continuous improvement activities.

Provide clear management information to support informed decision-making.

Ensure transition outcomes are documented and communicated to relevant stakeholders.

Expected Outcome: Consistent, evidence-based reporting that enables stakeholders to understand progress, address blockers and make timely decisions.

4. Essential Skills and Experience

4.1 Service Transition and Operational Readiness - Mandatory

Candidates must demonstrate substantial experience in:

Leading complex IT service transition programmes.

Transitioning technology services from project delivery into production operations.

Supporting the insourcing or transition of services between internal teams and external suppliers.

Developing service transition strategies, plans and operational readiness frameworks.

Establishing service acceptance criteria and production handover processes.

Defining and implementing operational support models.

Coordinating multi-team and multi-supplier service transitions.

Managing early-life support and operational stabilisation.

Developing service ownership and accountability frameworks.

Delivering sustainable transition outcomes within complex enterprise environments.

4.2 ITSM/ITIL Expertise - Mandatory

Strong understanding of ITIL service management principles and practices.

Experience with Incident, Problem, Change Enablement, Request and Knowledge Management.

Experience developing service support models and operational processes.

Understanding of SLA, SLO and service performance governance.

Experience defining operational responsibilities and escalation procedures.

Knowledge of CMDB and configuration management principles.

Experience integrating new or evolving services into existing ITSM frameworks.

Ability to assess and improve service management maturity.

4.3 Stakeholder and Programme Management - Mandatory

Excellent stakeholder management and relationship-building skills.

Experience coordinating engineering, project, operational and supplier teams.

Strong programme planning and delivery coordination capabilities.

Experience maintaining RAID registers and managing complex dependencies.

Ability to influence stakeholders without direct line-management authority.

Strong workshop facilitation and requirements-gathering skills.

Experience producing management reporting and executive updates.

Ability to manage competing priorities and resolve cross-functional delivery issues.

Strong written and verbal communication skills.

4.4 Network and Security Services - Highly Desirable

Good understanding of enterprise network and security services.

Familiarity with Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) and Zscaler Private Access (ZPA).

Understanding of Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).

Knowledge of secure web gateways, proxies, VPNs and remote access technologies.

Familiarity with enterprise network infrastructure and cloud connectivity.

Understanding of security operations, monitoring and incident escalation.

Awareness of the operational dependencies associated with cloud-delivered security services.

Ability to engage confidently with network and security engineers.

The successful candidate is not expected to act as the primary Zscaler implementation engineer. However, they must possess sufficient technical understanding to challenge operational assumptions, identify service dependencies and ensure appropriate readiness for production support.

4.5 ServiceNow - Highly Desirable

Experience working with ServiceNow IT Service Management.

Familiarity with Incident, Problem, Change and Request Management workflows.

Experience defining assignment groups, escalation routes and operational support processes.

Understanding of CMDB and service configuration data.

Experience coordinating ServiceNow process changes or service onboarding.

Ability to translate operational requirements into ServiceNow workflow and configuration requirements.

Direct ServiceNow development or platform administration experience is not essential.

5. Professional Experience

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

Significant experience in IT Service Management, Service Transition or Technology Operations.

A strong track record of leading enterprise service transitions.

Previous experience within financial services, banking or similarly regulated environments.

Experience supporting technology insourcing, outsourcing transitions or supplier exit programmes.

Proven experience coordinating complex technical and operational workstreams.

Strong understanding of enterprise service governance.

Experience working with geographically distributed teams and external suppliers.

Demonstrable success establishing operational readiness and sustainable support models.

Experience engaging with senior stakeholders and influencing operational decisions.

Previous experience transitioning network security, cloud security or Zscaler services would be particularly advantageous.

6. Qualifications and Certifications

Highly Desirable

ITIL 4 Foundation or higher-level ITIL qualifications.

PRINCE2 Practitioner, AgilePM, PMP or comparable project management qualifications.

Relevant ServiceNow training or certification.

Experience with recognised service management and operational governance frameworks.

Relevant network or cybersecurity training.

Formal qualifications are beneficial; however, proven delivery experience, strong stakeholder management and successful service transition outcomes will carry greater weight.

7. Indicative 12-Month Engagement Structure

The following represents an indicative delivery approach, subject to the client's programme priorities, existing maturity and insourcing timetable.

Months 1-3: Discovery, Mobilisation and Transition Planning

Establish stakeholder relationships and governance arrangements.

Assess existing Zscaler service delivery and support models.

Identify current supplier responsibilities and operational dependencies.

Define the target RTB operating model.

Establish the service transition strategy and detailed delivery plan.

Agree operational readiness and acceptance criteria.

Identify knowledge, skills, documentation and resource gaps.

Establish reporting, RAID management and transition controls.

Milestone: Approved transition strategy, target operating model and prioritised transition plan.

Months 4-6: Operational Model Development and Service Integration

Coordinate development of operational support processes.

Establish L1/L2/L3 responsibilities and escalation routes.

Support integration with ServiceNow and existing ITSM processes.

Coordinate development of operational runbooks and knowledge articles.

Establish service monitoring, reporting and governance requirements.

Begin structured knowledge transfer and training activities.

This is an immediate need, should you feel you are qualified and have the relevant skills, please do submit your profile and get in touch.

Costello & Reyes Group Ltd operates as a recruitment partner for its clients.