Service Strategy and Design Lead

About us: 

The TfL Technology and Data Directorate develop and maintain complex Payment Systems that collect circa £5Bn in revenue each year. This opportunity has arisen to join the TfL Payment Team and be involved in the ongoing development and operation of the expanding payment systems that deliver innovation for its customers by delivering world class solutions using cutting edge technologies. 

Our Payment Systems and Services operate across a vast array of platforms, from devices installed at Stations, on Buses, Pass Agents to on premises Tier 3 Data Centres, Cloud Hosting Services and include Oyster, Contactless Payment, ITSO and Cycle Hire as limited examples. 

The Payment Systems are constantly evolving with new Services being developed. Such development is undertaken by a mixture of in house solution, infrastructure and network architects, agile delivery specialists, software developers, Cloud and external third parties.  

About the Role: 

The Service Design Lead will manage new or changed payment Services, with specific focus towards supporting Product and Project Managers establishing the non functional requirements and assure the delivery of the change throughout the project gateway processes, through transition into BAU operation. The role also involves working closely with a Transition Lead or in some cases leading the design through transition to acceptance into live operation. 

Working within a small multitasked team of specialists your role will be to work with the various internal and external technical and project management teams to shape the design and development of solutions but with a service operation, compliance and assurance view point. 

Key responsibilities: 

• To establish and document the non functional service requirements for any new or changed services and represent these at all project gateways to assure that these requirements are being delivered.
• Establish and document the service acceptance criteria that a project must achieve prior to be accepted into BAU operation.
• Ensure that all changes are assessed and managed in accordance to the various Contracts TfL has with third parties and that all changes comply with the mandatory standards and security requirements.
• Ensure and assure that for each change the appropriate technical and operational documentation is produced, assured and deposited in the TfL data room.
• Update the business and service catalogues as necessary for a new or changed service.
• Establish and maintain payment system architecture designs and best practises that shall be operated compliant to for any new or changed Service.
• Shall work with service specialist to assure the design and implementation of any new or changed service to the payment system and ensure that the service functional and non functional requirements are documented with appropriate test cases.
• You will lead from a Service Design perspective for any technical change, engaging with the technical teams to ensure that options analysis, proof-of-concepts and system impact assessments have been completed satisfactorily for the entire life cycle of the Service not just the delivery stages.
• You will work directly with the operating business, product and project managers to understand what the end user is seeking to achieve and convey key messages of service design and success to the technical teams.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships across the Directorate, Suppliers and TfL operating businesses.
• You will communicate and present your projects to a range of stakeholders, seeking approval/guidance/feedback as required 

About you: 

Given the broad nature of the role and skills/experience required it is likely you will have a successful background in a service design role involved in the development and management of complex IT Systems with extensive infrastructure knowledge and experience. You will be resourceful and self motivated with excellent communication and collaboration skills to be the bridge between the various technical teams, product managers, project managers, stake holders and service operations. We are looking to build a long term service strategy and design / transition capability in house, as such we are keen to hear from people who although may not have the complete skill set will bring enthusiasm and a desire to develop in a new area. 

Knowledge: 

- Payment System knowledge and experience is desirable, but not essential. 
- Understand payment and IT System security and mandatory standard compliance. 
- Understand infrastructure architecture design and operation and their contribution to the overall software development process and reliable delivery of the Services. 
- Understand network design and operation to securely transfer Data with high availability, low latency. 
- IT System architecture and life cycle management best practises and controls. 
- Understand how large corporate organisations operate at the business process execution level. How departmental boundaries and internal politics impact behaviours and decisions. 
- Degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant subject area is desirable 
- Understand how systems and services should be monitored and managed with demonstrable delivery. 
- Understand demand and system capacity requirements. 

Skills: 

- You will analyse complex business/technical problems, synthesise solutions, and communicate options to a wide group of partners 
- You will translate a set of approved business requirements and build a structured conceptual service design non functional requirements, gaining consensus for own and other ideas 
- You will collaborate with all development, client and project management teams directly to evolve pragmatic service design solutions, ensuring concepts and designs remain practical and that feedback is acted on. 
- You will ensure that all design architectures of changes are assured by the key parties including, data, scalability, capacity, demand, performance, operation, security, standard and license compliance, disaster recovery, monitoring and life cycle as part of the service design process. 
- You will represent the service requirements and risks at all gateway meetings and assure the delivery of the non functional requirements against the service acceptance criteria defined for each change, through test, transition, vanguard into BAU operation. 

Experience: 

You are likely to have fulfilled a service design role in a complex IT service management company, operating a complex service model. 
It is likely that your experience will have involved some of the following: 
- ITIL qualified practitioner, intermediate to expert. 
- Fulfilled a service design role involving complex IT services. 
- Demonstrable experience in managing technical changes and documenting non functional requirements. 
- Demonstrable experience of working within complex service models with system and service integration between third parties in the delivery of the end to end services. 

Equality, diversity and inclusion 

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to represent the city we serve, which will help us become a more innovative and efficient organisation. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria. We also use anonymising software that removes identifying information from CVs and cover letters to make the process fair. 
  

Benefits 

In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow. Rewards vary according to the level of role but mostly include the below: 
 

• Final salary pension scheme 
• Free travel for you on the TfL network 
• Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home
• 29/30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays (Delete one) 
• TfL is committed to work-life balance, operating a hybrid working approach where business and role requirements allow
• Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional) (Delete if not applicable – LU spot grades/Q grades) 
• Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme 
• Retail, health, leisure and travel offers  
• Discounted Eurostar travel 
    

We will make every effort to give you as much notice as possible, however some interviews/assessments could be organised at short notice. 

Vetting Process 

At Transport for London, safety, trust and fairness sit at the heart of how we recruit. Our Vetting Charter (https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/careers/our-vetting-process) explains the checks we carry out before you join us, helping ensure we create a safe, inclusive and reliable network for everyone who depends on our services. We simply ask that the information you provide is honest and accurate so we can progress your application smoothly. If something doesn’t match or can’t be verified, we may not be able to move forward with your application, but we’ll always treat you with transparency, respect, and clear communication throughout.