Apply now: Operational Readiness Analyst, Hybrid (Lake Forest, IL). Start date is ASAP for this 12+ month contract position.

Job Title:

Operational Readiness Analyst Location-Type:

Hybrid, Lake Forest, IL (onsite Tuesday-Thursday)

Start Date:

ASAP, target October 19th

Duration:

12+

Month Contract Compensation Range:

$46-52/hr

Benefits:

Eligible for Health, Dental, Vision, and 401

K Visa Sponsorship:

Not eligible for visa sponsorship The Operational Readiness Analyst ensures that applications and technology initiatives are fully prepared for handoff to IT operations, supporting a multi-year program dedicated to redesigning, replacing, and retiring applications across the organization. Job Summary Own and manage a 26-task operational readiness process that governs each application handoff to IT operations support. Track readiness milestones, collect required documentation and templates from technology owners, and follow up on outstanding items. Identify handoff risks and ensure funding and resource needs for supporting new applications are addressed before go-live. Coordinate production support handoffs between project delivery teams and operations, verifying service acceptance criteria are met. Review and validate operational documentation, including runbooks, SOPs, knowledge articles, and service recovery procedures. Maintain ServiceNow dashboards, status reports, and readiness trackers, and provide stakeholder reporting on readiness status and risks. Participate in daily program meetings, communicate progress and blockers, and keep readiness work moving between meetings.

Minimum Requirements:

3-5 years of experience in IT operations, IT service management, operational readiness, or service transition. Hands-on ServiceNow experience, including building service requests, knowledge articles, reports, charts, and dashboards independently. Demonstrated experience preparing applications for production handoff and understanding what an operations team needs to sustain ongoing support. Familiarity with ITIL-based service management, particularly incident management and change management. Strong coordination and follow-through skills, with the ability to gather materials from multiple owners, identify risks, and proactively close gaps without waiting for direction. Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Administration, or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications:

ITIL Foundation certification. Project management or project coordination experience. Proficiency in Power BI and Excel for tracking and reporting. Experience with OnePlan or similar project management platforms. Background in the insurance or benefits industry, or experience in regulated, ITIL-governed environments.