Transition Manager - Manufacturing

NTT DATA•Plano, TX

About The Position

The Application Managed Service Transition Manager (Manufacturing) is responsible for leading the transition of manufacturing and enterprise applications into a Managed Services (AMS) operating model. This role ensures operational continuity across plants and supply chains while transitioning critical applications that support production, quality, logistics, and enterprise functions. The Transition Manager works closely with IT, plant operations, engineering, and vendors to deliver stable, secure, and scalable application support services. (What this person will do on a daily/weekly basis) Lead end-to-end transition of manufacturing and enterprise applications into Managed Services, including ERP, MES, PLM, SCM, WMS, QMS, and custom manufacturing systems. Develop and execute detailed transition plans across multi-site, multi-plant, and global manufacturing environments. Manage structured knowledge transfer from internal IT teams, plant engineering teams, system integrators, and incumbent vendors to AMS support teams. Plan and execute transition cutover activities with minimal disruption to production schedules, plant operations, and supply chain continuity. Act as the primary interface between IT, manufacturing operations, plant leadership, engineering, supply chain, and vendors during the transition lifecycle. Conduct transition governance meetings, readiness reviews, and provide executive-level status reporting. Ensure AMS teams are operationally ready with required tools, access, environments, and plant-specific processes. Define and implement support models for 24x7 plant operations, shift-based coverage, and critical incident response. Establish and govern ITIL-based service management processes aligned with manufacturing operational priorities, including Incident, Problem, Change, and Release Management. Identify and mitigate risks related to production downtime, safety, data integrity, and system availability. Validate business continuity, disaster recovery, and high-availability requirements for manufacturing systems. Define entry and exit criteria for transition completion and steady-state operations. Define, monitor, and report on SLAs, OLAs, and KPIs aligned with manufacturing outcomes such as uptime, throughput, and incident response times. Establish escalation paths and manage critical incidents impacting plant operations. Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance system reliability, performance, and cost efficiency. Ensure creation, validation, and maintenance of manufacturing-specific documentation including runbooks, SOPs, interface diagrams, and plant workflows. Maintain accurate documentation for integrations between enterprise systems and shop-floor applications.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or equivalent work experience.
Minimum 6-10+ years of overall IT experience with strong exposure to Manufacturing IT and Application Managed Services.
Minimum 3+ years of experience managing transitions of manufacturing or enterprise applications into AMS or outsourced support models.
Strong knowledge of ITIL-based service management and transition frameworks.
Experience defining manufacturing-aligned SLAs, OLAs, and governance models.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience with manufacturing platforms such as SAP (ECC/S/4HANA), Oracle ERP, Siemens Opcenter, Rockwell FactoryTalk, Dassault DELMIA Apriso, or similar systems.
Understanding of manufacturing execution, production planning, quality management, and supply chain processes.
Familiarity with OT-IT integration, shop-floor systems, and industrial interfaces.
Exposure to cloud platforms, integration technologies, and data analytics in manufacturing environments.
Experience with DevOps and release management in controlled production environments.
Strong communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills across geographically distributed teams.

Responsibilities

Lead end-to-end transition of manufacturing and enterprise applications into Managed Services, including ERP, MES, PLM, SCM, WMS, QMS, and custom manufacturing systems.
Develop and execute detailed transition plans across multi-site, multi-plant, and global manufacturing environments.
Manage structured knowledge transfer from internal IT teams, plant engineering teams, system integrators, and incumbent vendors to AMS support teams.
Plan and execute transition cutover activities with minimal disruption to production schedules, plant operations, and supply chain continuity.
Act as the primary interface between IT, manufacturing operations, plant leadership, engineering, supply chain, and vendors during the transition lifecycle.
Conduct transition governance meetings, readiness reviews, and provide executive-level status reporting.
Ensure AMS teams are operationally ready with required tools, access, environments, and plant-specific processes.
Define and implement support models for 24x7 plant operations, shift-based coverage, and critical incident response.
Establish and govern ITIL-based service management processes aligned with manufacturing operational priorities, including Incident, Problem, Change, and Release Management.
Identify and mitigate risks related to production downtime, safety, data integrity, and system availability.
Validate business continuity, disaster recovery, and high-availability requirements for manufacturing systems.
Define entry and exit criteria for transition completion and steady-state operations.
Define, monitor, and report on SLAs, OLAs, and KPIs aligned with manufacturing outcomes such as uptime, throughput, and incident response times.
Establish escalation paths and manage critical incidents impacting plant operations.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance system reliability, performance, and cost efficiency.
Ensure creation, validation, and maintenance of manufacturing-specific documentation including runbooks, SOPs, interface diagrams, and plant workflows.
Maintain accurate documentation for integrations between enterprise systems and shop-floor applications.