ServiceNow Data and CMDB Specialist

About the role

Our client, a leading global firm, is looking for a ServiceNow Data and CMDB Specialist to own the quality, governance and continued development of the data on its ServiceNow platform. That covers the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), service data, and the reporting and insight built on it.

You’ll make sure Configuration Items (CIs), their relationships and the supporting service data are accurate, complete and current. Teams across the business rely on this data for service management, operational decisions, risk management, automation and the rollout of new services and technology.

You’ll also oversee the quality of data that other systems feed into ServiceNow. You won’t own those source systems. Instead, you’ll set clear ownership, agree data standards and put controls in place. You’ll also coordinate the fix when data issues appear.

The platform is enterprise-wide, serving most business functions. It runs across one production and four sub-production instances, with a broad range of ServiceNow products, custom scoped applications and integrations, and a Service Portal open to all users.

What you’ll do

CMDB and service data

• Own the governance, quality and maturity of the CMDB, keeping CI data and relationships accurate, complete and current
• Maintain the data model, CI classes, attributes, relationships and lifecycle standards in line with ServiceNow best practice and the Common Service Data Model (CSDM)
• Own the service mapping data model and standards, working with service owners and Platform Engineering so business applications, services and infrastructure are related at the right level
• Agree ownership and responsibilities with service, application, infrastructure and data owners, and maintain controls for creating, updating, reconciling, retiring and deleting CIs
• Run regular CMDB health reviews covering completeness, correctness, compliance, duplication, stale records and missing relationships, then investigate root causes and track corrective action
• Support the use of Discovery, Service Mapping and other tools that populate the CMDB
• Keep configuration and asset data aligned with asset owners, without owning the asset management process

Data governance and integrations

• Set governance standards for data supplied by other systems, including authoritative sources, ownership, definitions, quality expectations and update frequency
• Keep a clear record of the main data sources, owners, integration dependencies and agreed controls
• Monitor and reconcile inbound feeds and integrations, and coordinate corrective action where issues arise
• Work with the ServiceNow development and platform team so integrations, discovery sources, imports and automated feeds update data correctly
• Define and validate CMDB and data requirements for platform changes and new integrations

Reporting and insight

• Own the standards and governance for ServiceNow reporting
• Build shared, cross-platform and management reports, dashboards and performance measures
• Agree KPI definitions and calculation methods, and validate reports against the underlying data before release
• Analyse platform and service management data to identify trends, risks and opportunities
• Consolidate or retire duplicated and outdated reports and dashboards
• Support controlled use of ServiceNow data in Power BI or Microsoft Fabric, with consistent definitions and quality controls

AI readiness and ways of working

• Build the data quality and governance foundations that ServiceNow AI capabilities such as Now Assist depend on
• Represent CMDB, data governance and reporting in project, design and change discussions
• Promote the use of CMDB and service data across Incident, Problem, Change and Asset processes
• Maintain documentation for the data model, data sources, ownership, standards, reporting definitions and procedures
• Help users get the most from ServiceNow data, reports and dashboards
• Follow information security, data protection and records-management policies, and report any security risks or events

What you’ll bring

Experience

• Typically, 5+ years of relevant ServiceNow experience, including hands-on CMDB, configuration management and platform data work
• Strong working knowledge of the ServiceNow CMDB: CI classes, relationships, lifecycle management, data quality and governance
• A good understanding of CSDM and how service, application and infrastructure data should be structured and related
• Experience with ServiceNow Discovery, Service Mapping, Identification and Reconciliation Engine principles, imports and integration data sources
• Experience maintaining or improving a CMDB in a medium-to-large organisation, including reconciliation, data-quality controls and remediation
• Practical experience building ServiceNow reports and dashboards, turning business requirements into meaningful measures and checking their accuracy
• A solid grasp of data models, ownership, authoritative sources and data-quality management
• Experience with Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, SQL or a similar reporting and analytics tool
• A good understanding of IT service management and how reliable configuration data supports Incident, Problem, Change, Asset and Service Level Management
• Experience governing data exchanged between multiple systems
• A track record of working with technical and non-technical data owners to resolve data-quality issues and improve accountability
• Advantageous: an understanding of the data foundations behind ServiceNow AI capabilities such as Now Assist

Qualifications

• Practical ServiceNow CMDB, data governance and reporting experience matters more than ticking every qualification box
• ServiceNow Certified System Administrator (or equivalent hands-on experience) is beneficial
• ServiceNow training or certification in CMDB, CSDM, Discovery, Service Mapping, Performance Analytics or reporting is beneficial

Skills

• Clear written and verbal communication, able to explain data and CMDB concepts to technical and non-technical audiences
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to investigate complex data issues and recommend practical solutions
• Ownership, follow-through and sound, evidence-based judgement
• Integrity in handling data, presenting results and raising risks or non-compliance
• A collaborative approach and a positive response to change
• A willingness to share knowledge and help colleagues use ServiceNow data effectively

Working arrangements

• Location: Johannesburg
• Hybrid: up to 40% remote, 60% in office
• Standard hours: 35 hours a week, 9:30am to 5:30pm, with some flexibility and occasional additional hours
• The employer is open to agile and flexible working patterns