In 1998 Rand Merchant Bank Holdings and the financial services interests (First National Bank of Southern Africa Limited "FNB"? and Southern Life Limited) of Anglo-American were merged to form FirstRand Limited. FNB became a wholly owned subsidiary of FirstRand and currently trades as a division of FirstRand Bank Limited. FNB provides personal, ...
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Job Description
- To manage and guide Application Development teams by delivering secure, stable, and scalable digital platforms that support business strategy, customer outcomes, and operational resilience.
- The role is accountable for translating business requirements into technology solutions, driving modern engineering practices, embedding responsible AI usage, and ensuring high standards of delivery, governance, and people leadership.
- Experience within Transact and/or Unsecured Lending technology environments will be an advantage.
Hello future Application Development Manager,
- As part of our Personal and Private IT Team, you will be surrounded by unique talents, diverse minds, and an adaptable environment that lives up to the promise of staying curious. Now’s the time to imagine your potential in a team where experts come together and ignite effective change.
Are you someone who has:
- Degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline.
- 8+ years’ experience in application development, including leadership of development teams.
- Experience within financial services or regulated environments is advantageous.
- Exposure to Transact and Unsecured Lending systems and delivery models will be an added advantage.
Do you have experience in:
Financial & Planning Management
- Collate, analyse, and evaluate delivery and operational data to forecast expenditure and capacity requirements.
- Monitor budget performance and identify opportunities to optimise cost efficiency and resource utilisation.
- Use platform metrics and insights (including AI‑assisted reporting where applicable) to support informed decision‑making.
Customer & Business Focus
- Ensure a strong understanding of customer and business needs to deliver reliable, fit‑for‑purpose technology solutions.
- Align application delivery to business operational plans, organisational values, and service standards.
- Analyse customer and operational feedback to continuously improve digital journeys, service quality, and platform stability, particularly within high‑volume Transact and Unsecured Lending domains.
Stakeholder Engagement
- Build and maintain strong relationships that enable effective expectation management, knowledge sharing, and collaboration.
- Engage cross‑functionally with Product, Architecture, Operations, QA, Security, and Business teams to enable delivery.
- Communicate delivery plans, progress, risks, and dependencies clearly to all stakeholders.
- Act as a trusted technology partner, contributing insight and guidance to support business outcomes across Transact and Unsecured Lending platforms.
Delivery, Reporting & Insight
- Deliver application solutions across the full lifecycle, including build, release, and run.
- Provide accurate and timely delivery, operational, and risk reporting.
- Leverage dashboards, observability tools, and AI‑enabled insights to improve quality, predict issues, and drive continuous improvement.
- Ensure predictable delivery through effective planning, prioritisation, and execution discipline.
Strategy & Operational Planning
- Provide input into tactical and operational technology strategies aligned to broader business objectives.
- Develop and execute operational plans that support platform modernisation, resilience, and scalability.
- Contribute to roadmap planning and prioritisation to maximise value delivery in transaction heavily and unsecured lending environments.
People Leadership & Development
- Lead, manage, and develop multi‑disciplinary application development teams.
- Set clear performance expectations aligned to delivery outcomes and organisational priorities.
- Conduct performance reviews and support continuous development through coaching and feedback.
- Ensure each team member maintains a personal development plan aligned to current and future skill requirements.
- Support succession planning, cross‑skilling, and knowledge transfer initiatives.
- Foster an inclusive, high‑performance culture that encourages accountability, collaboration, and learning.
Engineering Community & Capability
- Lead or contribute to specialist communities of practice.
- Promote modern engineering standards, including cloud‑native development, automation, and platform thinking.
- Encourage responsible adoption of AI tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, AI‑assisted testing, and monitoring) to improve productivity, code quality, and operational effectiveness.
Governance, Risk & Control
- Ensure adherence to SDLC, change management, audit, and regulatory requirements.
- Proactively identify and manage delivery, operational, and technology risks.
- Take accountability for production stability, including incident management, root cause analysis, and preventative actions.
- Support internal and external audits with appropriate documentation and controls.
Technical Knowledge & Experience
- Strong software engineering background (Java ecosystem preferred).
- Experience delivering enterprise‑scale applications using modern architectures (APIs, microservices, cloud‑native platforms, containers).
- Exposure to CI/CD pipelines, DevSecOps practices, and automated testing.
- Practical experience using AI‑assisted development or engineering tools to improve efficiency and quality.
- Solid understanding of enterprise systems, integrations, and data flows.
- Experience supporting Transact and/or Unsecured Lending platforms will be an advantage.
Leadership & Behavioural Competencies
- Strong people leadership with a coaching and development mindset.
- Outcome‑focused, accountable, and delivery‑oriented.
- Clear communicator across both technical and non‑technical audiences.
- Comfortable operating in complex, regulated environments.
- Adaptive, collaborative, and committed to continuous learning.
End Date: May 18, 2026