Application Support Manager - Department of Information Technology Services at University of Pretoria/Universiteit van Pretoria

JOB PURPOSE:

• Supervise and ensure the effective and efficient operational management, coordination, planning, provisioning, maintenance (installation, configuration, upgrade and patching), user support, problem solving, availability, performance/monitoring, backups, disaster recovery and support (also after-hours) of all the applications, databases and supporting software that are supported by the ITS Application Support division;
• Manage the budget and all software and services contracts, requisitions and invoices pertaining to the corporate UP software within the responsibility of the ITS Application Support division;
• Supervise the participation of the ITS Application Support division in UP and ITS project activities and ensure that project goals are met.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

The successful candidate’s responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Manage Application Support division:
  • Manage the ITS Application Support division and subordinates;
  • Establish strategic goals for the ITS Application Support division (in line with the UP and ITS strategies), and ensure that those goals are met by compiling related action plans to be executed by the division;
  • Stay abreast of technological advancements of the software supported by the division;
  • Participate in investigations into new software in order to improve the efficiency of the division/ITS department and the service delivered to the UP community;
  • Co-ordinate activities across the ITS Application Support environment and third-party vendors/service providers;
  • Establish a systems management regime to ensure the reliability, availability, maintainability, testability and security (RAMTS) of the corporate databases and applications within the responsibility of the ITS Application Support division;
  • Establish processes and procedures for the timeous and effective patching and upgrading of software, with the minimum interruption to business processes. Liaise with vendors, users and stakeholders in order to build and enhance the Application Support strategy, and to plan and implement software upgrades and migrations;
  • Ensure that the backup and recovery processes are functional;
  • Provide input and support with regard to the integration between applications, to optimise the benefit derived from them, and to reduce and simplify support and management requirements;
  • Establish and maintain a compliant environment through the conformance to legislation and UP rules, the development of appropriate policies and procedures, and the application of best practice;
  • Ensure that an effective Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and procedures exist with regard to all software environments within the responsibility of the ITS Application Support division, and that effective and successful disaster recovery tests are conducted;
  • Ensure proactive monitoring and problem solving within the database and application environments and the identification of the need for extra hardware/software resources;
  • Implement and enforce standards and control of the deployment, migration and integrity of databases and applications;
  • Enforce change control procedures with regard to the deployment of changes to all system software;
  • Ensure that all operational problems, as reported via the designated support channels, are solved in a timely and efficient manner;
  • Establish, maintain and manage SLA’s within the Application Support division and with the vendors responsible for providing software support to UP; 
  • Ensure that standards are implemented for secure access to databases and applications;
  • Establish standards, documentation and configuration management, and implement best practice procedures for the administration, maintenance, monitoring, tuning, backup and recovery of databases and applications;
  • Supervise the participation of the ITS Application Support division in UP and ITS project activities, and ensure that project goals are met;
  • Provide statistics and other information to ITS Management with regard to the availability and management of the software within the responsibility of the ITS Application Support division;
  • Adhere to the following:
    • IT policies and procedures;
    • Business processes and rules;
    • Configuration management and documentation procedures;
    • System security techniques and methods;
  • Perform administrative duties e.g. filing, documenting, reporting, etc.;

• Financial management:
  • Define a clear costing structure of the services provided;
  • Plan, compile, manage and execute the budget pertaining to all software under the responsibility of the ITS Application Support division;
  • Provide IT management with the necessary information and assistance to produce management reports;
  • Liaise with vendors and UP stakeholders to establish software and services contracts within the responsibility of the ITS Application Support division, and ensure the timeous renewal or cancellation of such contracts;
  • Ensure the timeous payment of software and services contracts by managing the placement of requisitions and obtaining invoices from vendors and submitting such to the UP-Finance department within the prescribed time frames;

• Human Resources Management:
  • Plan and execute personnel management strategy, including personnel development and recruitment;
  • Implement effective performance management in accordance with University policy, to develop and enhance the performance of staff members and thus contributing to the overall performance of the University;
  • Coordinate division’s after-hours support and task management;
  • Manage the allocation of resources, or resource time, to projects conducted within UP and ITS;
  • Improve performance by defining and executing an individual performance development plan; build proficiency levels for current position and future advancement by participating in formal and informal training opportunities.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• An Honours degree in Information Systems / Technology or relevant field; WITH
• A total of six years’ experience, which includes a minimum of:
  • Five years’ experience in Database maintenance, and;
  • Three years’ experience in Application Development, and;
  • Two years’ experience in Systems Integration, and;
  • Three to five years’ experience in Unix/Windows operating systems, networking protocols and system software;

OR

• A Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems / Technology or relevant field; WITH
  • A total of eight years’ experience, which includes a minimum of:
  • Six years’ experience in Database maintenance, and;
  • Four years’ experience in Application Development, and;
  • Three years’ experience in Systems Integration, and;
  • Four to six years’ experience in Unix/Windows operating systems, networking protocols and system software.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES (SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIOURAL ATTRIBUTES):

• Knowledge competencies:
  • Knowledge and understanding of:
    • Proper documentation of all relevant databases;
    • The underlying data model;
    • Systems and Database life-cycle management;
    • Project management;
  • Conflict management;
  • General computing principles;
  • Installation and technical administration of databases and applications;
  • Installation and technical administration of system software;
  • Negotiating skills;
  • Organizational skills;
  • Time management;
  • Usage of diagnostic and monitoring software;
  • Windows, Linux and other Unix operating systems;

• Technical competencies:
  • Troubleshooting within an IT software environment;

Behavioural competencies:

Must be able to:

• Effectively manage staff;
• Communicate clearly and effectively with all stakeholders (both verbal and written, both inside and outside the university);
• Work under pressure and adhere to strict deadlines;
• Follow instructions, guidelines, policies and procedures;
• Identify specific needs and solve problems effectively;
• Manage time and resources effectively;
• Manage and control change;
• Attend to a variety of tasks simultaneously;
• Maintain a high level of professionalism;
• Work in multi-disciplinary team environment;
• Effectively write reports, motivations, business cases etc.;
• Effectively organize the division and its activities;

Must have the correct tendency to:

• Investigate and implement relevant best practices and guidelines;
• Investigate new technologies and methodologies;
• Share knowledge with others and assist with development. 

ADDED ADVANTAGES AND PREFERENCES:

• Master’s degree (Information Systems / Technology);

Three years’ experience in:

• General management;
• Proper documentation of all relevant databases;
• The underlying data model;
• Systems and Database life-cycle management;
• Project management.