Head of Application Management at Absa 2023;- With over 100 years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise, a career with our family offers the opportunity to be part of this exciting growth journey, to reset our future and shape our destiny as a proudly African group.
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Job Summary
Manages a Team which Supports, manages, and delivers the implementation, maintenance, and enhancement of all Applications systems (Core Banking and Business application) both Cloud and on-premises, to enable the use of appropriate platform technology, as an integral and reliable component of business process within country
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Job Description
Main Accountability
- Drive convergence of technologies, ensure delivery of technology projects associated with Applications and liaise and negotiate with internal customers and technology vendors.
- Manage the daily applications effective operations such as for Core Banking applications, Digital Channels, Payment’s applications, and back-office enterprise applications in accordance with ITIL processes.
- Ensure license management on all enterprise applications.
- Create and maintain up to date Production Systems Architecture diagrams for each application within the portfolio in accordance with the standard IT documentation throughout the application lifecycle.
- Organize and maintain a regular availability review process with both key business and IT representatives.
- Initiate, agree and coordinate appropriate actions required to maintain or improve availability of applications.
- Act as a coordination point for changes to availability levels of applications when needed.
- Determine the availability requirements from the business for new or enhanced IT applications
- Establish measures and reporting that reflect business, user, and IT support requirements with regards to application availability
- Participate in Change Control meetings to assess and authorize changes from an availability perspective
- Define the key targets of availability required for the applications and their components that underpin a new or enhanced IT application as the basis for an SLA agreement
- Analyse and review actual availability levels achieved against SLAs and OLAs.
- Maintain an awareness of technology advancements and best practices that support application availability and highest degree of benefit to the end users.
- Lead initiatives on Cost saving Setup and implementation.
- Identify issues with cost, risk, inter-dependencies, impact on current business activities and the strategic benefits to be realized.
- Develop, lead, and coach a high performing team in managing the IT Service Delivery and ensure growth to full potential.
- Determine and analyses the developments needs of the team and establish the succession plan for the entire unit.
- Provide regular reports on availability to the Chief Information Officer.
- Building up relationship with business, country IT Risk and governance team and provide the support wherever required.
- Ensure availability of tested Business Continuity Management, ready to support the business and participate in testing periodically.
- Agree appropriate actions to maintain or improve availability levels.
- Apply critical thinking, design thinking and problem solving skills to solve technical problems on existing applications
- Implement all configuration, optimization (e.g. upgrades) & maintenance activity (e.g. regular maintenance patches) for enterprise wide applications
- Provide efficient and effective support of applications including continued development of the application and security, software patches, reliability, disaster recovery and ensure the application meets the business needs
Application Monitoring & Performance Management
- Monitor application modification requests and ensure best practices are being utilise• Conduct diagnostic investigations of program errors, and implement or recommend solutions or methodologies for resolution.
- Maintain metrics of operational performance and evaluate trends
- Analyse business systems to determine effectiveness, identify inadequacies, inefficiencies and problems and recommend solutions
Governance, Risk & Control
- Enhance methods and procedures for collecting, analysing, and documenting application issues, and completing user change requests.
- Enhance IT processes for transitioning completed configurations from development to production.
- Plan and coordinate the processes for the provision of user applications and systems necessary for business operations.
- Define and maintain application assessment, development, and support standards, and work with other IT and business stakeholders to establish configuration and use guidelines.
- Provide inputs to availability and capacity management process for effective planning.
Technical skills / Competencies
- Bachelor Degree in Computer Science or Engineering or related fields and certification in related technologies such as Java development, database Management and Web Services is mandatory.
- Strong DataCentres systems technical skills.
- SLA and vendor management skills.
- Operating Systems knowledge Linux / Unix, Redhat, Windows OS, CenterOS
- Databases Management Postgresql, MySQL, SQL Database.
- Middleware and File Transfers Technologies MQ etc
- Proficiency with SQL server and query scripting.
- Knowledge on Load Balance, Container platforms such as Open shift, docker,
- Cloud Computing (AWS, Azure etc)
Knowledge, Expertise and Experience
- Minimum of 10years experience in work related to Data Centre.
- Robust Knowledge on Core Banking Systems, IT Service Management systems, Business Networking
- Strategic Thinking
- ITIL – Governance Framework
- Communication Skills
- SLA and vendor Management skills.
- Subject matter expertise
- Understand the IT service delivery within a corporate environment
- Conceptual thinking skills
- Ability to analyse, make decision and initiate act.
- Good understanding of ITIL processes and associated concepts.
- Working within a Global or Regional role.
Education
Bachelor’s Degree: Information Technology