Application Management Head (FULLY ONSITE)

JOB SUMMARY

The Application Management Head is responsible for providing overall leadership and strategic direction for the Association’s Application Management Department. The role oversees the full business application lifecycle across Business Process and Architecture, Application Development, Application Delivery and Management, and Application Controls and Configurations, ensuring end-to-end alignment of application services with business objectives, enterprise architecture, regulatory requirements, and IT strategy.

The position is accountable for ensuring the timely, secure, high-quality, and cost-efficient delivery and operation of all business applications supporting the Association’s process improvement and digital transformation initiatives.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic IT Leadership

• Assist the IT Group Head/ CIO in defining and executing enterprise IT strategies, architecture direction, and application roadmaps.

• Translate business strategies into application portfolio plans, digital solutions, and technology initiatives.

• Provide technical leadership and advisory support to Sr. Business Architects and Application Solutions Architect in identifying and implementing appropriate application solutions.

• Drive long-term modernization, rationalization, and transformation of the application landscape.

End-to-End Application Management Oversight

• Lead and oversee all four (4) functional areas of the AMD:

  Business Process & Architecture

  Application Development

  Application Delivery & Management

  Application Controls & Configurations

• Ensure seamless integration and coordination across all functions to deliver reliable and scalable applications/systems.

• Establish governance mechanisms to manage application lifecycle from planning to retirement.

• Monitor overall application portfolio performance, health, and alignment with business needs.

Application Development and Delivery Governance

• Oversee the successful delivery of all application development and maintenance initiatives across the department.

• Ensure all application developments and system enhancements are delivered within agreed scope, timeline, quality, and budget.

• Implement and enforce standardized software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices.

• Drive adoption of Agile, DevOps, CI/CD, and automation practices across all development teams.

• Ensure consistent delivery methodologies across all Application Development teams.

Business Process and Architecture

• Ensure that business processes are effectively translated into scalable and sustainable application architectures.

• Oversee enterprise and solution architecture alignment across all applications.

• Drive standardization of business process models and system design principles.

• Ensure all application solutions align with enterprise architecture frameworks and technology standards.

Application Delivery and Management

• Oversee application delivery, production support, and operational stability across all systems.

• Ensure high availability, performance, and reliability of all business-critical applications.

• Manage application-related incident, problem, change, and release management processes in alignment with IT service management standards.

• Ensure continuous service improvement and operational excellence across application services

Vendor and Financial Management

• Lead engagement with external vendors, IT partners, and consultants to ensure cost-effective and high-quality service delivery.

• Ensure compliance with contractual obligations, licensing agreements, and service level agreements (SLAs).

• Consolidate and secure approval for annual budgets and project funding for the department.

• Monitor financial performance and ensure optimal utilization of IT resources and investments for all business applications.

Policy Development

• Lead the development, maintenance, and implementation of application-related policies, standards, procedures and guidelines in collaboration with Program Management Department (PMD)-Systems and Methods and other relevant business units.

• Ensure application-related policies, standards, procedures, and guidelines are documented and regularly reviewed, and approved by the Board of Trustees (BOT) through appropriate Board-level Committees (IT Committee and Executive Committee), prior to implementation.

Governance and Reporting

• Provide regular reporting to the Executive Committee, IT Committee, and the Management, as necessary/ assigned.

• Escalate application-high-impact risks, incidents, and issues with potential business impact to IT leadership and Top-level Management.

• Collaborate with other IT Departments and other business units to ensure alignment of application services with organizational needs.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Strong leadership and people management skills with experience leading multiple IT teams/functions.

• Strong knowledge of enterprise application management, SDLC, Agile, DevOps, CI/CD, and IT Service Management (ITSM) practices.

• Solid understanding of enterprise architecture, systems integration, application controls, and technology governance.

• Proven experience in managing application development, delivery, maintenance, and support operations.

• Strong strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.

• Excellent stakeholder, vendor, and project management skills.

• Experience in IT budgeting, resource planning, and financial management.

• Strong communication, presentation, and executive reporting skills.

• Ability to drive digital transformation, process improvement, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Knowledge of banking operations, regulatory requirements, and information security practices is an advantage.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology (IT), Computer Science, Software Engineering or related field.

• Relevant exposure to banking operations and technologies is required.

• With at least eight (8) years of experience in the areas of information planning and systems application design, analysis, development and maintenance work.

• With working knowledge on software development, IT tools and methodology, and banking operations.