Manager Business Systems at Britam

Job Purpose and Key responsibilities

Job Purpose

• The job holder will be responsible for the technical design, planning, implementation, and the highest level of performance tuning and recovery procedures for mission critical enterprise business systems.
• The role holder will recommend the redesign and configuration of operating systems and system applications as well as investigate and analyse feasibility of system requirements and develop systems specifications to help drive the business forward.

Key responsibilities

• Develops new system and application implementation plans, custom scripts and testing procedures to ensure operational reliability. Trains technical staff in how to use new software and hardware developed and/or acquired.
• Supervises Operations staff. May guide or provide work direction to technical staff, contract staff and/or student employees. Determines appropriate coverage for all hours of operation.
• Performs troubleshooting as required. As such, leads problem-solving efforts often involving outside vendors and other support personnel and/or organizations.
• Establishes, maintains and manages user’s directory services (domain services, group policies and exchange services). Installs, modifies and maintains systems and utility software on server computer systems. Provides server support related to other software.
• Ensures high availability and acceptable levels of performance of mission critical host server’s resources.
• Develops procedures to maintain security and protect systems from unauthorized use, acts of nature and user abuse.
• Develops procedures, programs and documentation for backup and restoration of host operating systems and host-based applications.
• Develops and coordinates project directions and schedules to maximize benefits and minimize impacts on the customer organizations. Provides leadership in planning and implementation of projects for computer operations and enterprise systems administration.
• Develops tools, procedures, and training sessions for Operations, Client Support and Systems Development staff to assist with work.

Key Performance Measures

• As described in your Personal Scorecard

Knowledge, experience and qualifications required

• Degree in Science/Engineering/Computer Science
• ITIL intermediate
• Qualification in TOGAF
• Experience in Enterprise Architecture, design, setup and support
• Extensive Technical Knowledge with technologies such as Microsoft, Cisco and VMware, MPLS. They will also need to have experience with storage area networks, WAN acceleration, virtualization, firewalls, routers.
• Certification – a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert, Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert or Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer or have related certifications.
• Minimum of 4 – 6 years’ experience in a 24x7 service provider environment

Leadership category responsibility framework (Core Competencies) 

Change Leaders in Britam need to:

• Strategically lead a function to service customers from a sustainable and growing customer base whilst increasing profit;
• Continuously configure and adapt the functional area to most effectively suite the future view of the business;
• Introduce new concepts so that they are adopted appropriately at the right time (manage the rate of change);
• Be in touch with the changing industry, customer needs and international best practice; 
• Improve the efficiency of the function by appropriately challenging managers about operational and tactical issues; 
• Ensure the function has the most appropriate people capability through effective inspirational leadership, people development, and optimized succession planning; 
• Ensure clarity of expectations for individuals in the function and other stakeholders across the group;
• Facilitate functional integration; 
• Ensure the development and establishment of appropriate behavior and values (culture) within the function that aligns with the strategic direction and values of the business; 
• Coordinate between functions and divisions to ensure optimization of the value chain and resources; 
• Ensure alignment of strategy, objectives and deliverables within the function;
• Develop innovative partnerships and distribution channels to increase Britam’s market penetration;
• Ensure a seamless experience for clients;
• Appropriately allocate funds and capital to maximize shareholder value;
• Adequately manage operational risk;
• Increase operational efficiency; 
• Provide access to accurate and consistent information and services across all channels;
• Improve quality and speed of decision making across the business.

Technical/Functional competencies

• Familiarity with the principles and practice of system configuration management; experience using a declarative configuration management system and a broad understanding of the role of desired configuration as part of strategic organizational knowledge
• A solid understanding of networking/distributed computing environment concepts, including principles of routing, bridging and switching, client/ server programming, and the design of consistent network-wide file system layouts
• Ability to deal tactfully with employees and contractors who provide a broad spectrum of services.
• Can conform to shifting priorities in service level strategies, demands, and timelines through sound analytical capabilities.
• Persuasive, encouraging, and diplomatic, with conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to elicit cooperation from a wide variety of sources
• Detail oriented and process focused 
• Self-motivated, self-starter who works well in a fast pace, growth orientated entrepreneurial environment.