Role: Service Portfolio & Catalog Governance Manager
Location: Chicago, IL (Onsite)
Role level: Manager (Exp: 10-12 years)
Role Summary: The Service Portfolio Manager will own and govern the service portfolio and service catalog across the assigned scope. The role will establish lifecycle controls, maintain service definitions, drive service onboarding and continual improvement, and provide clear visibility of service performance, cost, risk, and supplier outcomes. The individual will partner with business, technology, operations, and vendor stakeholders to ensure services are well-defined, measurable, supportable, and aligned to business needs.
Key Responsibilities
Service Portfolio & Catalog Governance
- Own the service portfolio and service catalog, including service definitions, ownership, dependencies, support models, and lifecycle status.
- Define and govern service offerings, catalog standards, approval controls, and periodic portfolio reviews.
- Lead service onboarding, transition readiness, change coordination, and retirement governance.
- Maintain portfolio documentation and ensure service information remains accurate, current, and decision ready.
Performance, SLA & Continual Improvement
- Define and maintain the SLA, KPI, and operational performance framework for in-scope services.
- Coordinate service reviews and monthly business reviews, including performance trends, risks, issues, decisions, and improvement actions.
- Lead Continual Service Improvement initiatives using service data, stakeholder feedback, and operational insights.
- Drive support process standardization, shift-left opportunities, and self-service adoption.
Knowledge Management & Support Readiness
- Establish knowledge creation standards, ownership frameworks, quality controls, and governance routines.
- Govern the knowledge article about lifecycle, including creation, review, publication, maintenance, archival, and retirement.
- Ensure support readiness documentation, operating procedures, and knowledge assets are complete before service launch or material change.
Business, Financial & Vendor Governance
- Partner with business and technology stakeholders to translate needs into clear service offerings and measurable outcomes.
- Support service financial management, including cost transparency, consumption views, and chargeback or showback models where applicable.
- Coordinate vendor governance, operational reviews, commitments, escalations, and corrective actions.
- Prepare concise executive reporting covering portfolio health, service performance, risks, financials, and improvement priorities.
Required Qualifications & Experience
- Demonstrated experience in IT Service Management, service portfolio management, service catalog management, or service governance.
- Working knowledge of ITIL practices and service lifecycle governance.
- Hands-on experience with ServiceNow Service Catalog or a comparable enterprise service management platform.
- Experience defining and managing SLAs, KPIs, service reviews, and continual improvement plans.
- Experience with knowledge management governance, support readiness, and service onboarding.
- Ability to work across business, technology, operations, finance, and supplier stakeholders.
- Strong written communication, executive reporting, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills.
- Ability to convert complex operational information into clear decisions, priorities, and measurable actions.
Preferred Background
- ITSM / ITIL
- ServiceNow Service Catalog
- Knowledge Management
- Service Portfolio Management
- PMO / Business Operations
- Vendor Management
- Operational Excellence
- Continual Service Improvement (CSI)
Expected Deliverables
- Current and governed service portfolio and service catalog records.
- Service onboarding and lifecycle governance framework, including readiness criteria and controls.
- SLA/KPI framework, service performance dashboard requirements, and recurring service review materials.
- Knowledge management standards, ownership model, and article lifecycle controls.
- Continual Service Improvement backlog with owners, priorities, measures, and status.
- Executive portfolio reporting covering performance, risk, financials, vendor outcomes, and decisions required.
Success Measures
Measure | Expected outcome |
Portfolio quality | Service records are complete, accurate, owned, and reviewed on schedule. |
Operational performance | SLA/KPI performance is visible, governed, and supported by corrective actions. |
Service readiness | New or changed services meet agreed onboarding and support-readiness requirements. |
Knowledge effectiveness | Knowledge of content follows defined ownership, quality, and lifecycle standards. |
Improvement delivery | CSI actions are prioritized, tracked, and linked to measurable service outcomes. |
Stakeholder confidence | Business, technology, and supplier stakeholders receive clear reporting and timely decisions. |
