Head of Applications Management

Head of Applications Management

Opportunity to join a highly successful multinational Transport & Logistics organisation as the Head of Applications, managing the Applications Management Tower of a centralised IT Shared Service function, which provides IT Services to group businesses internationally.

This is a large–scale, complex group organisation with many varying business operations and tens–of–thousands of employees spread globally. As such, the IT estate is varied, complex and constantly evolving. Your Applications Management department will provide technical operations and support, along with supporting projects across a varied portfolio of applications including ERP, CRM, bespoke industry operational systems, ecommerce, retail systems, standard back–office applications and more. Tech stack varies greatly, all the way from a few legacy Fortran to modern cloud native (AWS & Azure) systems.

You will manage various 3rd party's and a (growing) department of 15, split into specialist teams, taking responsibility for the management and delivery of the support function overall, supporting both BAU and projects whilst upholding customer experience in line with the business's values and expectations. Reporting directly to the IT Director, you will play a key role in shaping the strategy of the Applications Management function, supporting steady, significant technology and business change and continually improving Service Management and ways of working, including an immediate restructuring and focus on introducing more Agile ways of working.

Further responsibilities:

– Manage application enhancements and upgrades to improve overall function whilst advising on security, licensing, backups and disaster recovery

– Ensure that regular tasks are completed by the team and in line with SLAs

– Ensure that all team objectives are clear and adhered to

– Ensure that the transition from projects to service is as smooth as possible, identifying issues and resolving where necessary

– Provide input for the design, code and test of moderately complex programs and scripts

– Take financial responsibility, management of the IT services and delivery of projects in in budget

– Assist in the resolution of high severity/high priority project and customer issues

– Provide forecast planning to ensure that the team is sufficiently resourced at all times to support both project and BAU tasks

– Create and implement a test rigour and methodology for each application service

– Collaborate in the review of specifications

– Identify areas of improvement within the support team

– Develop strong relationships with stakeholders and enhancement of the IT division across the business as a whole

– Identify and improve compliance with standard processes

Ideally, you will hold an ITIL Expert qualification and possess a good amount of exposure and experience in managing a team that delivers application support and project work. Further requirements include:

– Experience delivering application support and budget control

– Strong negotiation and problem solving/resolution skills

– Extensive knowledge across all aspects of IT teams (including infrastructure, software, cloud, mobile etc.)

– Prior experience working in a leadership role coupled with the ability to lead organisational change

– Ability to provide detailed reports and deliver meetings/presentations

– Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to understand concerns, issues and agendas

This is an opportunity to have significant impact, shaping a modern, best–in–class Application Support function, supporting a continuous roadmap of major technology and business change. A long–standing company with an excellent work culture, promoting work–life–balance, evidenced by exceptional staff retention levels. A rare opening due to a retirement.

Offering up to GBP75,000 PA plus numerous corporate benefits.

Leicester, with flexible working