AIS Lead
Likely
Sponsorship likelihood
This employer has issued visas recently
Not disclosed
Salary
Not disclosed by employer
£55,000
Going rate
Skilled Worker going rate
This role likely qualifies for a Skilled Worker visa
SOC 2132 (80% match) is an eligible occupation, with a going rate of £55,000, and Cognizant is a licensed sponsor. That is our reading of the rules. Whether they issue a Certificate of Sponsorship is still their call.
In 2025, Cognizant assigned 115 or more Certificates of Sponsorship for SOC 2132 jobs, according to the Home Office.
This could also be SOC 2131 (IT project managers, Role coordinates IT projects and transitions, could be project management focused) or SOC 2440 (Business and financial project management professionals, Service transition management could be business project management). We read the code off the advert, so it is our best guess, not the employer's.
New graduate or PhD holder? Pick one of the lower rates.
What each route needs for this job
| Occupation code | New entrant 70% of going rate | STEM PhD 80% of going rate | Relevant PhD 90% of going rate | Standard rate 100% of going rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2132 IT managers Most likely code | £38,500 | £44,000 | £49,500 | £55,000 |
2131 IT project managers Also possible | £40,700 | £46,600 | £52,400 | £58,200 |
2440 Business and financial project management professionals Also possible | £39,500 | £45,200 | £50,800 | £56,500 |
We use the lowest threshold across the plausible codes. Likelihood is Possible at most when the pay clears only a lower rate, or only under a less likely code. How the Home Office picks the code
About the role
The role will work closely with Project, Service Support, Business, Architecture, and Operational Service Support teams to ensure that solutions are fit for purpose, recoverable, maintainable, and meet all agreed Service Acceptance Criteria (SAC) and mandatory exit requirements before Go-Live.
The ideal candidate should have strong experience in IT Service Transition, Service Acceptance, Go-Live readiness, operational readiness, ITIL processes, and stakeholder management, with the ability to drive transition activities across multiple teams.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and facilitate Service Transition activities from project initiation through successful transition into BAU.
- Review projects against Mandatory Exit Criteria and drive closure of all transition requirements.
- Ensure solutions are operationally supportable, recoverable, maintainable, and fit for purpose before Go-Live.
- Review and validate Service Acceptance Criteria (SAC) and ensure all agreed criteria are completed before transition.
- Coordinate with Project, Support, Business, Architecture, and Operational Service Support teams to ensure transition readiness.
- Define and coordinate service acceptance requirements, ensuring sufficient time is available for review and closure.
- Review and validate NFR (Non-Functional Requirements) and FR (Functional Requirements) templates in collaboration with relevant teams.
- Ensure transition deliverables are completed and accepted before services move into the operational environment.
- Facilitate Service Rehearsals, including remediation and closure of failed workflows or identified gaps.
- Strong experience in IT Service Transition / Service Management.
- Experience working as a Service Transition Lead, AIS Lead, Transition Manager, or IT Service Management Lead.
- Strong knowledge of ITIL / IT Service Management processes.
- Experience managing end-to-end service transition and Go-Live readiness.
- Hands-on experience with Service Acceptance Criteria (SAC) and operational acceptance.
- Experience with Mandatory Exit Criteria and transition governance.
- Strong understanding of BAU handover and operational readiness.
- ITIL certification.
- Experience in large-scale enterprise service transitions.
- Experience working in managed services / IT infrastructure / application services environments.
- Knowledge of Change Management, Incident Management, Problem Management and Configuration Management.
- Experience with ServiceNow, CMDB, monitoring and operational support tools.
- Experience handling commercial agreements, WOs and CCNs.
- Experience in cloud / infrastructure / application deployment transitions.
This description is the source posting as it read when we added it. We are not affiliated with Cognizant, so check their own site for the current details.
Where this offer sits in the market
IT managers (SOC 2132) · UK · ONS ASHE 2025 · basic pay · ~224k in sample- Middle half £43,316–71,396
- Median £56,056
- Going rate £55,000
- Threshold £41,700
- New entrant £38,500–49,500
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About sponsorship for this role
Does this job guarantee visa sponsorship?
Not necessarily. Cognizant holds a sponsor licence, but sponsorship for a specific hire is always the employer's decision. In 2025, Cognizant assigned 115 or more Certificates of Sponsorship for SOC 2132 jobs, according to the Home Office. Be upfront in your application that you'll require it.
What salary is needed for this role to be eligible?
The offer must clear both the general threshold and the SOC 2132 going rate of £55,000. New-entrant and shortage discounts can lower it.