Job purpose
Responsible for leading a team that supports & maintains all Digital Channels & Customer Experience IT systems within Britam Group to ensure optimal operation & utility at all times.
The role is also responsible for continuous service improvement across all these IT platforms taking advantage of regular OEM system updates to unlock additional value for the business based on the annual support/maintenance contracts.
Key responsibilities
1. Service Operations:
Lead a team of 1st level, 2nd level & 3rd level service request fulfilment staff to respond to customer issues and resolve within agreed SLAs;
Act as the problem manager responsible for managing the lifecycle of all problems. The primary objective here is to prevent incidents from happening and to minimize the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented. The incumbent will also maintain a database of all known errors and workarounds;
Act as the access manager responsible for granting authorized users the right to use a service, while preventing access to non-authorized users. This will all be done within the confines of the policies defined in IT Security Management;
Create, maintain and regularly update technical documents and procedures;
Deliver regular and customised training to teams within IT and business to help unlock system value and reduce support tickets;
Prepare maintenance plans and upgrade schedules for the organisation’s systems then subsequently manage execution of the same to ensure production systems are always up to date;
Develop operational reports for teams across the business & IT; and
Support the rollout of new applications
2. Service Transition:
Act as the software release manager responsible for planning, scheduling, and controlling the movement of releases from test to live environments. The primary objective is to ensure that the integrity of the live environment is protected and that only the correct components are released into production per the approved change management process;
Act as the configuration manager responsible for maintaining information about configuration items that are required to deliver IT services; and
Maintain a logical model containing ALL the components of the IT infrastructure (CIs) and their associations at all levels. This should cover the entire technology stack from the end user device all the way down to the back-end hardware and storage equipment at both the production and DR/back-up sites.
3. Service Design:
Maintain a service catalogue covering all IT services provided within their area of responsibility;
Participate in the technical design of new IT services within their area of responsibility. The incumbent will be a signatory in all service design documents and is primarily responsible for the non-functional requirements including but not limited to; technology to be used, application architecture, data structures, security, performance, capacity, availability and service continuity;
Participate in the definition and negotiation of service level agreements with business leaders on a regular basis. This is for both new and existing services; and
Participate in vendor contract negotiations and subsequent vendor/supplier management to ensure maximum value is obtained from the Money paid to suppliers. Ensure that contracts with suppliers support the needs of the business, and that all suppliers meet their contractual commitments.
4. Continual Service Improvement:
Assess the effectiveness of existing platforms and processing systems in order to plan for improvements, growth and future changes within the organization;
Assist in the development of technology innovation plans which ensure that new and existing technologies are tested & utilized to create operational efficiencies and enable the achievement of Britam Group goals. This will be an outcome-based metric assessed at the end of each year; and
Develop and maintain third-party vendor relationships to strengthen and support Information Systems and enterprise architecture.
Knowledge, experience and qualifications required
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/ Technology
Certification in ITIL V3 and above is a mandatory requirement.
Intimate knowledge of Britam’s computing systems
Ability to explain complex ideas to those with limited IT and systems knowledge
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills - Excellent communicator.
Listening ability and patience
Extraordinary customer service and relationship management experience
8. Critical thinking skills
9. 5 -10 years’ experience in IT Service Operations roles 3 of which should be in a technical solutions implementation position.
Essential competencies
Deciding and Initiating Action- Ensures key departmental objectives are met, takes responsibility for decisions, actions, projects and people while focusing on achievement of departmental results; takes initiative and works under own direction; initiates and generates activity; makes quick, clear decisions with limited information available which may include tough choices or considered risks; decisions and actions take into account possible impact on all parts of the business.
Leading and Supervising- Provides the department with a clear direction based on the overall strategic intent of the organisation; Building high expectations about the success of the department; motivates and empowers others with a clear sense of purpose; creates a positive departmental climate that fosters learning and development; acknowledges high potential talent; Recognize the potential of individuals sets and articulates the vision and values through own personal behaviour; Push autonomy and empowerment downwards through the department.
Persuading and Influencing- Gains clear agreement and commitment from others by persuading, convincing and negotiating to the benefit of the department; promotes the organisational strategy during departmental conversations; makes effective use of political processes to influence and persuade others; promotes ideas on behalf of the department and the organisation; makes a strong personal impact on others; takes care to manage the department’s impression and brand on others.
Planning and Organising- Sets clearly defined departmental objectives; plans activities and projects well in advance and takes account of possible changing organisational and market circumstances; identifies and organises resources needed to accomplish projects; manages time effectively; monitors departmental performance against deadlines and milestones.
Relating and Networking- Easily establishes, as well as assists others in building meaningful relationships with customers and staff across all levels of the organisation, inside and outside of the department; relates well to people at all levels; facilitates the resolutions of conflict and manages disagreements with tact and diplomacy.
Creating and Innovating- Promotes departmental improvement within relevant scope of influence; produces and encourages new ideas, approaches, or insights; creates the environment for innovative products or designs; produces a range of solutions to the strategic benefit of the department.
