Role Description
The Application Development & Support Manager is accountable for the technical delivery, engineering quality and operational management of the Deposit Applications. Working alongside the Product Manager, this role leads the cross-functional delivery team and is responsible for turning business requirements into secure, reliable and supportable solutions.
The Application Development & Support Manager is the accountable owner for the Deposit Applications and their end-to-end support and maintenance. This includes service availability, operational support, monitoring, patching, upgrades, vulnerability management, incident and problem resolution, change and release management, resilience, supplier management, technology life cycle management and continual service improvement, working closely with IT Operations and other control functions.
This individual will apply proven team management, communication skills, problem-solving skills, and knowledge of best practices to guide the team on issues related to the design, development, and deployment of mission-critical information and software systems. The Development Manager will be required to work closely with and manage suppliers and partners to deliver high quality solutions to the business.
My Priorities - what I will deliver
Own the technical delivery and operational management of the Deposit Applications, leading a cross-functional Agile team to deliver backlog priorities whilst ensuring the applications remain secure, resilient, supportable and compliant.
The current primary applications and platforms hosted on Azure Cloud which this role will be responsible for are as follows:
- Deposits Verification Services Portal (Microsoft.NET-based)
- Deposits Payment Portal (Microsoft.NET-based)
- Siebel CRM with Open UI
- Application/Data Integration using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) and API's
Application Delivery and Continuous Improvement
- Work with the Product Manager to understand business priorities and translate backlog items into deliverable technical solutions.
- Lead the technical delivery of product backlog items through Agile sprint cycles, ensuring delivery commitments, dependencies, quality standards and operational requirements are effectively managed.
- Manage the prioritisation and delivery of technical debt reduction, maintenance, service improvements, regulatory changes, defects and support activities.
- Drive continuous improvement of engineering practices, development processes, automation and operational support capabilities.
- Ensure technical solutions align with architecture, security, supportability and operational resilience standards.
Agile Delivery and Engineering Leadership
- Lead a cross-functional Agile delivery team comprising engineers, architects, business analysts, testers and suppliers
- Own the technical delivery of backlog items through sprint planning, estimation, dependency management and release planning
- Provide technical leadership and direction to the team, ensuring solutions are secure, supportable and aligned with engineering standards
- Drive DevOps and CI/CD practices, including automated testing, release pipelines, environment management and deployment automation
- Ensure solution quality through effective engineering, testing and review practices.
- Manage delivery risks, technical debt and dependencies impacting successful delivery
Operational Management
- Act as the accountable service owner for the Deposit Applications, with end-to-end responsibility for their operational performance, supportability, maintainability, security and resilience.
- Own the application support model, operational processes, service documentation and supplier support arrangements, ensuring effective service delivery and clear accountability.
- Lead application patching, upgrades and life cycle management, ensuring systems remain secure, supported, compliant and fit for purpose.
- Own vulnerability management activities, ensuring security vulnerabilities are identified, prioritised, remediated and tracked to closure in line with FSCS policies and service level requirements.
- Manage application monitoring, availability, performance and capacity, proactively identifying risks and driving continual service improvement.
- Lead application incident, problem and defect management, including root cause analysis and the implementation of preventative and corrective actions.
- Ensure all application changes and releases are appropriately governed, tested, approved and deployed in accordance with FSCS change and release management processes.
- Ensure the Deposit Applications meet all applicable security, data protection, regulatory and operational resilience requirements, including disaster recovery, business continuity and third-party service obligations.
Management of team
- Manage and provide direction for the Development Team in support of business operations
- Deliver regular reviews of progress against objectives for team members and take action to address issues when required
- Provide technical guidance and support to help the team comply with established procedures and requirements.
- Plan and allocate resources to maintain continuity of service
- Display and promote working and personal behaviours that accord with the Scheme's Values acting as a professional role model for all staff
- Ensure alignment with FSCS vision, mission, values and strategic priorities
CDITO Team
- Develop and maintain effective working relationships with other teams in the CDITO
- Provide a positive contribution to enable the wider CDITO objectives to be achieved
- Clearly communicate cross-organisation decisions, standards, and discussions to IT staff and relevant suppliers
- Assume the role of Supplier Manager' and manage allocated suppliers
- Actively promote and embody FSCS values
Information Security and Data Protection related responsibilities
- Adhere to FSCS policies including Information Security, Data Protection, Acceptable Use as well as relevant supporting documents
- Ensure that procedures for Information Security and Data Handling
- Ensure that Data Handling is handled securely and in accordance with its classification
- Report any security breaches and/or incidents identified to the relevant team
My Knowledge - what I need to know
- Extensive knowledge and experience of managing the application development life cycle from requirements through to delivery and acceptance
- Extensive knowledge of implementing and supporting CRM/Case Management applications and integrating these with web and Back Office applications in a high data volume environment
- In-depth technical knowledge including application architecture, data management and database architectures
- Extensive knowledge of Agile development methodology, and proficient in the application of SCRUM framework
- Extensive knowledge on CI/CD practice and the various components that are required to achieve it: version control, branching strategies, builds, release pipelines, automated testing, infrastructure as code and configuration as code
- Working knowledge of Azure Cloud Resource Management, Cost Management, Development and Data services
Skills
- Exceptional analytical, conceptual, and problem-solving abilities
- Strong interpersonal and consultative skills
- Excellent communication and presentation skills
- Ability to conduct research into emerging technologies and trends, standards, and products as required
- Able to prioritise and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment