The Operational Readiness Specialist is responsible for ensuring that every new or
changed Maintel managed service is fully prepared for transition to live operations.
Working directly under the Operational Readiness Manager, the postholder owns
the production and validation of all service transition documentation, readiness
checklists, and operational handover packs for solutions across Maintel’s UC&C,
CX, and Security & Connectivity portfolio.
The Specialist acts as the key interface between the implementation team and
Customer Operations, Technology Operations & Platforms ensuring all supporting
materials, runbooks, and knowledge assets are complete, accurate, and approved
before any solution goes live. The role plays a critical part in protecting service
quality at the point of go-live and during the Early Life Support window. As a
member of the wider Operational Readiness team, the postholder is also expected
to cross-train and upskill into the duties of the Operational Readiness Specialist
(Secure Connectivity) role including support acceptance testing (SAT) and BAU
monitoring of data networking services to support team-wide coverage, resilience,
and flexibility across all Maintel managed service portfolios
Role Objectives
- Execute Maintel’s Operational Readiness process for assigned solutions
completing all defined criteria, checklists, and quality gates before readiness
sign-off is sought.
- Own the production and quality of all service transition documentation for
assigned solutions, ensuring handover packs are complete, accurate, and
approved before go-live.
- Coordinate with Customer Operations, Technology Operations & Platforms, and Service Desk teams to validate readiness and confirm capability to support each solution from day one.
- Support and manage the Early Life Support (ELS) window post go-live, ensuring heightened monitoring and rapid escalation pathways are in place during the stabilisation period.
- Drive continuous improvement in transition documentation quality, contributing to the standardisation of templates, checklists, and readiness frameworks across all solution types.
- Act as a reliable, organised, and detail-focused member of the Operational Readiness team cross-training and upskilling into the Operational Readiness Specialist (Secure Connectivity) duties (SAT and BAU monitoring of data networking services) to support team-wide coverage and resilience, and supporting the Manager in delivering a high-quality, right-first-time transition function.
Role Responsibilities
- Service Transition Documentation
- Produce and maintain Operational Readiness Packs and Service Transition
Packs for all assigned solutions, ensuring they are complete, accurate, and
approved prior to go-live.
- Develop and maintain solution-specific runbooks, standard operating
procedures (SOPs), escalation paths, and knowledge base articles for
handover to Customer Operations and Operations teams.
- Ensure monitoring configurations, alerting thresholds, and support tooling
are documented and validated as part of each readiness pack.
- Maintain and continuously improve the library of transition documentation
templates, ensuring consistency and quality across all solution types.
- Readiness Validation & Handover
- Complete operational readiness checklists for each assigned solution,
working through defined criteria and quality gates to confirm readiness
before sign-off is sought.
- Coordinate with Customer Operations, Technology Operations & Platforms,
and Service Desk teams to validate their capability and confidence to
support each solution from day one.
- Attend and contribute to readiness review meetings, providing clear status
updates on documentation completion and outstanding actions.
- Ensure all handover packs are formally accepted and signed off by
receiving teams before go-live, maintaining a clear audit trail.
- Early Life Support (ELS) Coordination
- Support the management of the Early Life Support window post go-live
tracking open issues, coordinating rapid escalation pathways, and ensuring
heightened monitoring is in place during the stabilisation period.
- and communicate any early-life incidents or near-misses,
contributing to lessons-learned reviews to drive continuous improvement in
transition quality.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Work closely with implementation and project delivery teams to obtain
accurate, timely technical information required to complete readiness
documentation.
· Liaise with the Network Provisioning and Solution Design teams to ensure connectivity and design details are accurately reflected in handover materials. · Support the Operational Readiness Manager in reporting on readiness KPIs, documentation completeness, and quality gate pass rates.
- Engage with Project Management / PMO to ensure readiness milestones are tracked within programme governance.
· Quality & Continuous Improvement · Identify gaps or inconsistencies in transition documentation standards and raise these with the Operational Readiness Manager.
- Contribute to the continuous improvement of readiness frameworks, checklists, and templates incorporating feedback from post-go-live reviews.
- Champion a right-first-time approach, ensuring documentation is accurate and complete before it reaches the handover stage.
Maintel is a communications managed services provider. We empower our clients across the public and private sector to deliver mission critical services and achieve their workplace, service and customer experience goals.
We consult on the design, deploy and manage network infrastructures, platforms and software, including our own, that keep ongoing operations running smoothly and dependably, protecting business as usual, at the same time being flexible enough to adapt.
When customer, employee, the general public and regulatory expectations are ever-changing, choose Maintel. We provide progressive, solid solutions that help you succeed in a demanding, dynamic world.
Maintel, founded in 1991 by Tim Mason and Angus McCaffery, started as a small operation providing telephone maintenance contracts.
Over the years, we have grown into a major player in communications technology, achieving significant milestones such as floating on the London Stock Exchange in 2004 and completing numerous strategic acquisitions.
These acquisitions, including Azzurri Communications and Intrinsic Technology, expanded our expertise in unified communications, cloud, and networking.
Today, Maintel continues to transform businesses with cutting-edge solutions like Cloud Contact Centres, Security & Connectivity and Unified Communications, positioning us as a leader in the digital-first era.
Using technology to create customer experiences, services and workplaces that inspire and empower people.
To be the first-choice technology services partner of ambitious brands and public services, chosen because of our dependable enablement of their vision and operations.
We become trusted insiders within our clients’ organisations. An embedded partner working in close collaboration to deliver their workplace, service and customer experience strategies.
We consult on the design, deploy and manage solid technology solutions – mission critical infrastructure, platforms and applications that ensure our clients businesses run efficiently and securely, achieving their ambitions, while always being ready to adapt.
Skills & Competencies
- Good understanding of ITIL service transition principles, including service
acceptance, early life support, and operational handover.
- Experience producing technical or operational documentation runbooks, SOPs,
handover packs, or knowledge articles within a managed services or IT delivery
environment.
- Ability to translate complex technical information into clear, structured
documentation accessible to operational and non-technical audiences.
- Strong attention to detail and accuracy able to identify gaps, inconsistencies, or
errors in documentation and process workflows.
- Organised and methodical, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent
workstreams and documentation deliverables.
- Good interpersonal and communication skills able to engage effectively with
implementation, operations, and technical teams to gather information and
validate readiness.
- Proficiency in standard office and documentation tooling (Microsoft Office / 365,
SharePoint, or equivalent).
- Able to work calmly and accurately under pressure, particularly at go-live when
documentation deadlines are time-critical, and willing to cross-train and upskill
into the Operational Readiness Specialist (Secure Connectivity) role duties
over time.
Experience & Qualifications
Essential
- Experience in a service transition, operational readiness, service delivery, or
technical documentation role within an MSP, IT services, or
telecommunications environment.
- Demonstrable track record of producing structured handover or readiness
documentation including runbooks, SOPs, or service acceptance packs.
- Experience working cross-functionally with operations, engineering, and/or
customer-facing teams.
- Familiarity with ITIL service management principles, particularly service
transition and early life support, and a demonstrable willingness to cross-train
into the Operational Readiness Specialist (Secure Connectivity) role covering SAT and BAU monitoring of data networking services. Desirable
- ITIL Foundation certification (or actively working towards it).
- Working knowledge of one or more Maintel solution areas: UC&C (Avaya, Mitel, RingCentral, Microsoft Teams), CX (Genesys Cloud, Zoom Contact Centre), or Security & Connectivity (SD-WAN, SASE).
- Experience of working within regulated verticals such as NHS/Healthcare, Financial Services, or Central/Local Government.
- Experience using service management or project tooling (e.g. Autotask, Salesforce, or equivalent).
- Degree in Business, IT, Telecommunications, or a related discipline.
