IT Change & Configuration Management Specialist

Position Summary: We are seeking a highly skilled Specialist to lead IT change governance and configuration management processes. This role is responsible for facilitating Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings, conducting rigorous risk assessments, and ensuring that IT changes are implemented with minimal disruption to public sector operations.Salary Range: $63,000 to $67,000/YearlyHourly Rate: $30.00 to $35.70/ on W2Key Responsibilities:Change Leadership & Governance:Lead and facilitate Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings to ensure proper governance and stakeholder participation.Evaluate, prioritize, and approve or reject change requests based on detailed risk assessments and organizational priorities.Develop and enforce change management policies and standards aligned with ITIL v4 frameworks.Oversee emergency change processes, including documentation and post-implementation reviews.Maintain the master change calendar to coordinate scheduling and minimize service conflicts.Risk Mitigation & Impact Analysis:Conduct thorough risk assessments for proposed changes to IT infrastructure, applications, and services.Analyze dependencies across interconnected systems to identify potential service impacts.Collaborate with technical teams to develop robust rollback plans and mitigation strategies.Review change implementation plans to ensure adequate testing and validation procedures are in place.Stakeholder Coordination & Communication:Partner with application owners, infrastructure teams, and security personnel to coordinate complex change activities.Communicate schedules, impacts, and status updates clearly to stakeholders across the organization.Provide guidance and training to technical staff on change management best practices.Align change management activities with Project Managers, DevOps, and Agile methodologies.Documentation, Reporting, and CMDB:Maintain accurate records of all changes within ServiceNow or equivalent ITSM tools.Ensure the accuracy and currency of the Configuration Management Database (CMDB).Produce regular reports on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including success rates and failed change trends.Conduct root cause analysis for failed changes and document lessons learned for continuous process improvement.Candidate Requirements:Technical & Functional Skills:Change & Release Management: Minimum of 6 years of experience performing change, release, and configuration management activities.ITSM Tooling: At least 5 years of hands-on experience with ServiceNow or similar ITSM platforms.Governance: 5+ years of experience facilitating CAB meetings and managing formal governance processes.Configuration Management: 6 years of experience with hardware/software configuration and maintaining CMDB integrity.Standards & Documentation: Proven ability to write and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and post-implementation reviews.Behavioral Skills:Collaborative Leadership: Ability to work independently while effectively leading diverse, cross-functional teams.Communication: Native or bilingual English proficiency with a focus on drafting clear technical and stakeholder communications.Analytical Thinking: Strong ability to conduct root cause analysis and identify trends through metrics and KPIs.Education & Certifications:Education: Bachelor's degree in Information Technology or a related field (or equivalent professional experience).Required Certification: ITIL v4 Foundation certification.Preferred Certification: ITIL v4 Managing Professional or Strategic Leader.Additional Details:Residency: Preference for residents of the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area.Experience: Experience within government IT operations (Federal, State, or Local) is highly desired.