Application Development Manager

Recruiter: Golden Rule

Job Ref: GDR03832

Date posted: Thursday, September 10, 2026

Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

Salary: Negotiable

SUMMARY: Job description: As an Application Development Manager, you will bridge people leadership, technical delivery and business outcomes across multiple agile squads operating within the company's Agile Delivery Model (ADM). You will manage cloud-native development programmes on the Azure platform, lead a cross-functional te...

POSITION INFO: Job description: As an Application Development Manager, you will bridge people leadership, technical delivery and business outcomes across multiple agile squads operating within the company's Agile Delivery Model (ADM). You will manage cloud-native development programmes on the Azure platform, lead a cross-functional team of Developers, Business Analysts, QA engineers and Scrum Masters, and contribute directly to the delivery of key digital initiatives reshaping the adviser and client experience.  Key Responsibilities: People Delivery Lead developers, BAs, QA engineers and Scrum Masters, including performance, development and hiring. Lead sprint and release planning, capacity, resource allocation and backlog prioritisation. Align business stakeholders and delivery teams on priorities and delivery commitments. Manage blockers, escalations, delivery metrics and 3rd-party vendor relationships. Ensure applications and operational processes adapt to evolving business and client needs. Technical Governance Act as technical owner for defined applications within the Company portfolio. Govern technical standards, code reviews, Definition of Done and technology decisions. Maintain knowledge of C# .NET, Azure Functions and Azure Service Bus. Govern Azure cost management, security and compliance, and drive cloud migration. Participate in architecture decisions and sign off application designs. Ensure CI/CD, testing and technology changes meet quality, security and release standards. Manage audit, risk and compliance requirements, including POPIA, FAIS and the company's group standards. Strategic Contribution Contribute to the company IT and business strategy and drive continuous improvement. Embed AI-assisted development tooling, including GitHub Copilot and Azure AI services. Support the the company's digital transformation agenda across platform, digital channels and integration programmes. Minimum requirements: B.Com Informatics / B.Engineering / B.Sc. Computer Science or equivalent. 5+ years’ software development experience with at least 2 years in a technical leadership or management role. Hands-on experience with agile delivery tooling for source control, sprint tracking and automated build and release pipelines. Strong understanding of CI/CD, cloud-native architecture and modern software delivery practices. Excellent stakeholder communication skills at both technical and business executive levels. Advantageous: Experience in financial services or a regulated environment (POPIA, FAIS, FSP-regulated). Azure DevOps experience: boards, repositories and pipelines.