ITIL Roles in Product and Service Management
Overview
ITIL management practices each define specific roles with distinct responsibilities. Beyond practice-specific roles, organizations need generic roles for managing digital products and services, though titles may vary by organizational culture and framework adoption.
Generic Product and Service Management Roles
Practice Owner / Practice Manager
Established for: Management, coordination, and improvement of a specific management practice.
Also known as: Practice owner, Practice manager, Process owner, Process manager, Capability manager.
Responsibilities:
- Establishing and improving the practice
- Ensuring policies and processes are followed by practitioners
- Integrating the practice with other practices and value streams
- Maintaining relevance to organizational priorities
- Securing necessary resources
- Ensuring compliance with requirements
Product Owner / Service Owner
Established for: Management and improvement of digital products or services throughout lifecycle.
Also known as: Product owner, Product manager, Service owner, Service manager.
Responsibilities:
- Defining and communicating product vision
- Developing and owning product roadmap
- Representing customer voice and ensuring problems are solved
- Conducting user research and persona development
- Prioritizing features based on value and feasibility
- Creating and managing product backlog
- Managing team cooperation internally and externally
- Ensuring product quality throughout lifecycle
- Managing stakeholder relationships
Head of Product and Service Management
Established for: Organization, management, and continual improvement of the organization's product and service management system.
Also known as: Chief product officer, Head of product, Chief digital officer, Chief information officer, IT governance board.
Responsibilities:
- Establishing objectives and policies for digital product and service management
- Selecting and adopting relevant frameworks and tools
- Defining and implementing digital operating model
- Leading organizational changes
- Ensuring effective governance of management practices
- Ensuring compliance with internal and external requirements
Sustainability Officer
Established for: Alignment with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles.
Also known as: Chief sustainability officer, Digital sustainability lead, Green IT manager, ESG manager.
Responsibilities:
- Developing sustainability strategy aligned with business goals
- Defining and monitoring ESG goals and KPIs
- Promoting sustainable practices
- Collaborating with procurement on supplier standards
- Supporting environmental regulation compliance
- Integrating sustainability into design
- Reporting on sustainability performance
- Training colleagues on sustainable practices
- Coordinating sustainability certifications
Risk and Compliance Manager
Established for: Compliance with laws, regulations, and internal policies; effective risk management.
Also known as: Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) manager.
Responsibilities:
- Developing and maintaining risk management frameworks
- Monitoring compliance with regulations and standards
- Conducting risk assessments and audits
- Supporting policy development for data protection and cybersecurity
- Tracking regulatory changes
- Reporting on risk and compliance status
- Supporting incident response investigations
- Raising risk and compliance awareness
Practice-Specific Roles (Summary)
Each of the 34 ITIL management practices defines specific roles:
| Practice | Key Specific Roles |
|---|---|
| Architecture Management | Architect, Architecture board |
| Availability Management | Availability manager |
| Capacity and Performance Management | Capacity manager |
| Change Enablement | Change manager, Change authority |
| Incident Management | Incident manager, Major incident manager |
| Information Security Management | CISO, Information security manager |
| Knowledge Management | Knowledge manager |
| Monitoring and Event Management | Monitoring analyst |
| Problem Management | Problem manager |
| Release Management | Release manager |
| Service Configuration Management | Configuration manager |
| Service Desk | Service desk manager, Service desk agent |
| Service Level Management | Service level manager, Business relationship manager |
| Strategy Management | Strategy manager |
| Supplier Management | Supplier manager |
Role vs person note: In ITIL, a role is a set of responsibilities and competencies. One person may hold multiple roles, and one role may be shared by multiple people depending on the size and structure of the organization.
Consumer-Side Roles
| Role | Definition |
|---|---|
| Customer | Defines requirements for products and services; takes responsibility for consumption outcomes |
| User | Uses services |
| Sponsor | Authorizes budget for service consumption |