Head: Application Development

(Land Bank) is South Africa's only specialist agricultural bank established in 1912, the bank's sole objective is to serve South African commercial and emerging farmers and bring specially designed financial services within their reach. These services enable farmers to finance land, equipment, improve assets and obtain production credit. The Land Bank provides financial services that have moved with the times and continues to provide services to agri-business and constantly reviews its offerings to ensure that they match the needs of an industry. As change has swept across the sector in South Africa the socio-economic makeup of agriculture has altered, bringing new entrants from historically disadvantaged backgrounds on to the land, these new farmers, facing the challenges of establishing sustainable agri-businesses across the agricultural value chain, Land Bank has been a commercial lifeline offering appropriately designed financial products that facilitate personal and commercial viability in a sector that is vital to the sustainability of South Africa and its people.

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE JOB

The Head of Application Development function is a senior management roles in within Information Technology and Operations. Head of Application Development is responsible for the delivery and subsequent enhancement of the Landbank's business-critical software applications. This role is responsible for but not limited to:

• Managing the configuration / development of all applications –including SAP / solutions in line with required technical requirements and GRC and policies, procedures, standards and frameworks.
• Development and maintenance of a robust Business Intelligence environment to support the reporting needs of the Land Bank.
• Supporting and training business process owners and power users of on all Land Bank business applications (Including SAP) while continually reviewing and improving business processes.
• Provide second line application support.
• Collaborate with IT Architect responsible for application for the architecture of project solutuons by defining the technical pattern and providing team members with guidance on how to implement solutions.
• Lead a team of on and off-shore engineering resources working to deliver multiple concurrent project.
• Collaborate cross-functionally within IT team, as well as with necessary internal and external business partners.
• Work with leadership to recommend scheduling, prioritization and resource allocation to deliver best-in-class technical solutions.
• Lead the development of bespoke software solutions and web applications in line with the Landbank's architecture blueprint and also ensuring that, data and interfacing architecture standards are complied with.

1. Develop, Implement and Monitor Application Development and Delivery Strategy

• Develop the application development strategy
• Ensure adequate planning (including people, process & technology) for Landbank's application systems
• Improve software quality by advancing application development capability through the development of skills, processes and tools used to design build and test systems
• Collaborate with Head of Infrustructure and IT Architect responsbilbe for application & infrastructure for preparation relevant infrastructure for hosting Landbank applications.

2. Deliver Application Testing and Deployment Services

• Develop and implement data migration plan & post migriation testing
• Ensure the implementation application deployment strategies
• Manage the administration of testing scripts (including unit, integration, capacity, system, user acceptance and release) to maintain compatibility with existing applications, hardware and devices
• Analyse detailed business requirements specifications (BRS) to develop testing strategies that reduce the risk of system outages and identify system defects

3. Development of Business Intelligence Solutions & Technical Business Applications

• Lead, manage & oversee the develop and implement a robust Business Intelligence and Technical Applications environment that supports the needs of the Land Bank
• Manage the associated data is available to authorised users within agreed timeframes
• Collaborate with Head of Infrustructure and IT Architect responsbilbe for application & infrastructure for preparation relevant infrastructure for hosting Landbank BI & Technical solutions.

4. Support and Develop Business Process Improvement

• Support business liaison team in putting up plans and approaches to enable business process changes, improvements or initiatives to improve customer service delivery
• Support business efforts in continuous process improvements and create alignment to all business applications including SAP
• Design, document and maintain business process documentation management approach for accurate maintenance of all technical documentation including blue prints, functional specifications, test packs etc.

5. Develop, Implement and Monitor Application Maintenance Strategy

• Ensure that all application patch management is carried out timeously
• Collaborate with IT Architect responsible for application to develop application catelgoes, application rationalisation and related maintenance.
• Maintain the information, technology and communication (ICT) quality management policies and processes that drive improvements in performance and customer satisfaction

6. People Management

• Participate in the selection and appointment of new team members.
• Ensure application development divisional performance management and capacity planning
• Coach and train team members to perform optimally in their roles.
• Manage and drive high performance
• Enable successful knowledge transfer between Enterprise Architecture team members.

7. Budget & Financial Management

• Governance, budgeting, and management of change delivery in the application development including the oversight of incremental changes and major change and upgrade programmes.
• Analyse the business plan to determine the financial requirements within area of responsibility.
• Conduct the budget reviews as prescribed by Finance and adjust budget where necessary.
• Approve expenditure within the delegation of authority level.
• Effective use of budget and resources – no wastage
• Analyse the costs, value, and risks of information technology to advise management and suggest actions.
• Monitor expenditure against the approved budget, reporting on any deviations within the reporting and approval hierarchy.
• Adhere to financial guidelines and thus ensure proper control over expenditure.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum:

• Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems/ Technology / Computer Science or related field
• ITIL Foundation Certification

Ideal:

Post graudate Degree in Information Systems/ Technology / Computer Science or related field

ITIL Foundation Certification,

COBIT Foundation, Design and Implementation, COBIT Assessor

Minimum time spent in job

• 6-8 Years Hands on management of a team responsible for Development & Support of IT Applications
• 6-8 Years Significant experience in managing a Business Intelligence (BI) environment
• 6-8 Years Sound working experience in business systems analysis and design
• 6-8 Years Solid experience of database design and data management principles
• 6-8 Years Experience in managing IT projects

• IT Governance, Compliance and Reporting
• Strategic IT Policies & Governance & Security Solutions Delivery
• People Leadership
• Cyber Security Management
• Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Planning Management
• Budget & Financial Management

• Knowledge/Experience of Recruitment Tools

• Knowledge of PFMA

.