Head: Application Development

Head: Application Development | Centurion, Gauteng | Permanent

Drive the strategic evolution of enterprise applications at a critical national institution. This is a role for a seasoned technology leader who can elevate systems capability, enable business performance, and shape the future of a complex, multi-platform application environment.

As the Head of Application Development, you will lead the delivery, enhancement and optimisation of business-critical software systems, including SAP and bespoke applications. You will own the full application development lifecycle, set the strategic direction for application capability, and guide a team of onshore and offshore engineering specialists. Your work will directly support the organisation's ability to continuously improve, remain operationally resilient, and deliver modern, data-driven services across the business.

Our client is a respected national financial institution within the agricultural sector, playing a long-standing role in enabling sustainable growth and supporting emerging and commercial farmers across South Africa. The organisation is modernising rapidly, with a strong focus on systems optimisation, process improvement and data-driven decision making.

What You'll Do

• Develop and execute the application development and delivery strategy.

• Oversee planning across people, process and technology for all enterprise applications.

• Advance software quality by strengthening development practices, skills and tooling.

• Collaborate with Infrastructure and Architecture teams to ensure appropriate hosting and system readiness.

• Lead testing and deployment services, including data migration, release management and compatibility assurance.

• Analyse business requirements to design testing strategies that reduce risk and minimise system defects.

• Manage and mature the organisation's Business Intelligence environment, ensuring data availability for authorised users.

• Drive continuous improvement across business processes and ensure alignment with SAP and other core systems.

• Maintain comprehensive technical documentation including blueprints, specifications and test packs.

• Establish and monitor application maintenance strategies, including patching, cataloguing and rationalisation.

• Ensure ICT quality management processes support performance, compliance and customer satisfaction.

• Lead and develop the application team, ensuring strong performance, capacity planning and knowledge transfer.

• Manage budgets, financial planning and governance across application delivery and change initiatives.

What You Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Technology or related field (postgraduate advantageous).

• ITIL Foundation Certification essential; COBIT certifications advantageous.

• 6–8 years' experience managing teams responsible for application development and support.

• 6–8 years' experience managing a Business Intelligence environment.

• Strong experience in systems analysis, solution design, database principles and data management.

• Proven track record in managing IT projects and delivering large-scale application change.

• Strong grounding in IT governance, compliance, cyber security, continuity planning and financial management.

• Experience with SAP environments and enterprise business applications.

What Success Looks Like

• A strengthened application landscape aligned to architectural standards and business needs.

• Reliable, well-governed BI capability delivering accurate, timely insights.

• High-performing engineering teams with robust development, testing and deployment practices.

• Reduced defects, outages and operational risk across core systems.

• Effective planning, budgeting and resource allocation to enable ongoing delivery.

• Improved business processes supported by stable, well-documented technical solutions.