Job Openings at Old Mutual Kenya

Job Description

This role is within the application development and support section of the ICT organisation but specifically focusing on software applications design, development, build, release, deployment, configuration and operations support activities to digital platforms in production.

KEY TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Deployment and Release management

• Leads deployment and release planning for solutions in the delivery pipeline.
• Builds automated deployments using configuration management technology
• Deploys new modules, upgrades and fixes to the production environment.
• verifies the functionality of components and services and ensures deployment meets customer and business expectations.
• Testing and quality assurance of release candidate software
• Manages entire software release process, updating documentation and assembling release notes

Digital Applications Support

• Managing support ecosystem of digital applications, including close engagement with business and vendors to guarantee post-release application stability.
• Plans and performs ongoing routine application maintenance tasks.
• Assists in establishing requirements, methods and procedures for routine maintenance.
• Monitors digital applications for platform security and health using automated toolsets.

Design, Development and Testing

• Design and development of solutions to fix bugs and new feature requests for digital applications.
• Perform automated and manual testing of applications

Digital Infrastructure administration

• Design, setup, and maintain core infrastructures that run the business’s online platforms.
• Design and build automation frameworks for testing, deployment, management, and monitoring of digital business services and platform
• Maintain the business’s configuration and deployment tools on Microsoft Azure and AWS
• Producing documentation for digital infrastructure and automated processes.

DevOps Engineering Thought Leadership

• Leverage your DevOps skills and knowledge combined with research to bring to the fore innovative DevOps practices
• Scale DevOps practice to the rest of IT delivery practices using automated tools, processes and people.
• Demonstrate practical improvements in software delivery in terms of developer productivity, speed and quality through the use of DevOps

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in software engineering, computer science or equivalent.
• 5+ years of strong and demonstrated experience in development of web and mobile solutions is desired. Desired languages – PHP, Python,Java, CSS, HTML 5, JavaScript (JS), JQuery and JS frameworks such as Node.js, React.js or Vue.js.
• Experience working with relational databases (MS SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL) and non-relation databases
• 1+ years of strong and demonstrated experience in design and implementation of continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelines
• Knowledge and demonstrated experience with either Azure cloud or AWS
• Experience in microservice architecture patterns and deployment of such solutions to cloud.
• Proficiency in version control, specifically in Git and Git workflows
• Experience with software test automation tools such as selenium will be an added advantage.
• 2+ years of strong and demonstrated experience in solution architecture design for web and mobile based solutions.
• Proficiency in making and presenting reports
• Exceptional analytical, risk assessment, and planning skill

Skills

• Automation Frameworks
• Build Automation
• Software Delivery

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Job Description

This role is responsible for developing, in conjunction with the Project Sponsor, a definition of the project. The Project Manager ensures that the project is delivered on time, to budget and to the required quality standard. He/she ensures the project is effectively resourced and manages relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. He/she will potentially work on multiple medium – high complexity projects simultaneously.

Key Result Area

Project Scoping

• Interrogate the business requirements/brief and objectives/benefits for a new project
• Engage with the project sponsor to agree parameters that define the technical and business scope of the project.
• With the required background research, consultation and analysis, scope the project initiation document (PID)
• Rigorously manage the project to the agreed scope, ensuring that change control is applied to any potential changes in scope

Change request & Change control

• Manage the integrated change control process by undertaking the following:
  • Review and evaluate the merits and impacts of potential project changes. 
  • Analyse and/or investigate and present options/ alternatives to project steering committee/ sponsor in terms of suggested changes.
  • Analyse and highlight  the direct impact of changes on the business case with the sponsor
  • Negotiate  and facilitate the approval of necessary changes that still adhere to the Minimum Viable Product
  • Re-baseline changes to project schedule, plan, business case/benefits plan and costs
  • Ensure change log is updated.

Project planning & integration

• Facilitate initiation engagement and agreement with SME’s/business owners surrounding how the business case translates into a project in terms of the project components, approach, key stakeholders etc.
• Establishes the target plans across multiple projects. 
• Undertake required analysis to formulate and sign-off the project schedule including:
  • Estimate effort for work breakdown (tasks, activities, timelines, costs, resources, sequencing of tasks, dependencies, constraints etc.)
  • Develop the project schedule and define the critical path and key assumptions
  • Present and iterate changes with project sponsor, if required
• Utilise the outcome from the engagement session with Business owners/Sponsor as well as the project schedule to augment the Charter
• Monitor, control and manage the execution of the project according to the plan. 
  • Monitor and control delivery of all the different project components, dependencies and critical path.
  • If required, adjust plan to manage constraints, dependencies, risks and changes whilst balancing the need to deliver value to the business
  • Facilitate project meetings and undertake required reporting on project status and performance

Quality Management

• Determine the approach to achieving quality including quality standards, controls and governances, processes and measures and build these into the project plan. 
• Execute on quality components through duration of the project. Correct and/or escalate non-compliance to quality components timeously. 

Project Expense & Benefits Management

• Undertake sound cost and benefits management and controls of the different projects through;
• Sound cost estimation based on effort estimation (project scoping).
• Refine cost options and engage with sponsor to finalise the budget
• Establish a baseline to control the costs of the project throughout the project life cycle
• Undertake cost-benefit analysis to determine ROI for projects.
• Define and track benefit metrics as agreed with sponsor
• Leverage costs saving and optimisation opportunities across projects, identifying and maximising re-use
• Co-create and update/maintain the project business case.
  • Update business case with changing scenarios and plans. 
• Create a robust project budget. 
  • Manage budget and monitor expenses and costs.
  • Undertake forecasting and reporting on projected project costs. 
  • Undertake monthly budget reconciliations, BVARS, Journals, corrections etc. 
• Instil and drive practices, culture and processes for cost saving and efficiency through the project life cycle

Risk, Opportunity & Issue Management

• Undertake ongoing identification, assessment and monitoring of all project risks/opportunities/issues to determine their relevance and impact on the project
• Communicate and create awareness of any relevant issues/risks/opportunity with the project team
• Plan and recommend innovative risk mitigation and contingency solutions with key project individual according to the escalation process, and influence and drive its implementation
• Plan and recommend innovative risk mitigation and contingency solutions with project sponsor/ Steering committee and influence and drive its implementation
• Monitor and drive these solutions to ensure their effective implementation, and update project plans if required. 

Stakeholder Engagement

• Based on the overall stakeholder management plan, effectively interact with key stakeholders to ensure they are committed to project outcomes, facilitate required decision making and are kept abreast of project progress
• Monitor the levels of commitment of different stakeholders to assess if, when and how to engage and influence them
• Undertake formal and informal engagement with individuals that have concerns or are resistant to influence and gain their commitment
• Manage competing demands from stakeholders and negotiate conflicts to find workable solutions
• Assist in defining governance structures and  ensure adherence to all governance structures and approval protocols for project decisions
• Plan and execute proper project communication processes/ management, within and outside of the project structure, over the course of the project life cycle including communication channels and methods that will be used to share the project performance data, project progress. 
• Work closely with the Change Manager to give input into the creation of a robust and aligned change management plan. 
• Assess the ongoing effectiveness of the change management processes and recommend changes if required.

Procurement & contract management

• Based on the project plan, identify and spec which components need to be procured externally
  • Facilitate the process to identify suitable vendors to quote and run timeous & compliant RFP processes
  • In collaboration with support resources (departments), screen and select appropriate vendors
  • Understand and decide on best contract to be used, and follow the correct governances (finance and procurement) to negotiate correct terms of the contract with the vendor
• Undertake ongoing vendor and contract management (at a management level) oversight for the duration of the contract on the project. 

Team effectiveness

• Build and manage an effective project team in terms of;
  • Positive team culture, dynamics and values. 
  • Identify systemic issues/conflicts that may be hindering the effectiveness of the team and institute corrective actions
  • Resource allocation, skills identification and development
  • Contracting, monitoring, management and delivery of project tasks and outcomes
  • Recognition, motivation and support (wellness)
• Coach and supervise junior and intermediate PMs

Skills

• Project Budgeting
• Project Costs
• Project Management

Education

• Bachelors Degree (B), Diploma (Dip)