Head: Information Technology and Services at Discovery Limited

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES OF THE ROLE

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and drive the strategic IT&S agenda for the client.
• Oversee development and implementation of appropriate policies, business processes and standard operating procedures for the department.
• Create an action plan aligned with the company’s strategy, customer requirements and expectations, including monitoring performance.
• Provide strategic direction in respect of all the units and participate in the strategic planning processes of the organisation:
• Provide information for the compilation of the strategic and operational plans for IT&S and Operations.
• Ensure that budget processes are aligned to strategic planning processes and performance outputs.
• Provide timely and accurate flow of financial and other operational information necessary for strategic decision making.
• Enhance the department’s performance and make recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness.
• Drive the implementation of service delivery improvement programmes.
• Manage the development of the organisation’s performance framework.
• Ensure departmental heads are aware of their duties, responsibilities, and performance targets in accordance with the strategic plan.
• Ensure that there is full compliance by the client with relevant legislation, policies, and guidelines.
• Provide reports on IT&S as required by internal and external stakeholders.

IT&S Departmental Oversight

• Manage and supervise the overall performance of staff in the IT&S department.
• Ensure that the IT&S staff members’ training and development needs are reasonably met.
• Manage and approve the purchasing of all IT&S related resources and ensure that the procurement is done in line with the client’s procurement policy.
• Plan, schedule and distribute resources around operational activities and projects to ensure that they are used effectively and in an efficient timely manner.
• Provide administrative direction and support for daily operational activities of the IT&S department.

Information Technology and Computer Systems Management

• Plan, organise, direct, control and evaluate the operation of information systems and electronic data processing.
• Develop and implement policies and procedures for electronic data processing and computer systems operations and development.
• Meet with respective managers to discuss system requirements, specifications, costs, and timelines.
• Approve all change requests received by the departments that have to be addressed by the IT&S department.
• Prepare personal analysis and recommendations on key measures, e.g., critical business indicators and changes to these, and guide management through feedback and recommendations.

Vendor Management

• Manage all engagements with external vendors and outsourced contracts and their staff, in line with the client’s Procurement Policy.
• Coordinate and maintain relations with all external IT&S related service providers and suppliers.
• Develop and maintain service level agreements with all IT&S suppliers and service providers.
• Manage and oversee that agreed service level agreements between the IT&S department and its users, are met.
• Responsible for the safekeeping of all product registrations, SSL certificates, maintenance agreements, service contracts, etc.

ICT Governance

• Provide advice and expertise to the RFA management and the Board of Directors.
• Ensure robust ICT governance processes are developed and implemented in order that the RFA complies with all statutory requirements.
• Compile the IT&S governance framework which should include:
• Business continuity and disaster recovery
• Regulatory compliance
• IT&S service management
• Risk management
• IT&S Project governance
• Participate in industry and professional networks/bodies to ensure awareness of industry standards, trends, and best practice to strengthen organisation and technical knowledge.

Financial Planning and Controls

• Interpret and monitor trends associated with operations and service delivery with the aim of maintaining and increasing business levels.
• Review the OPEX budgets and monitor operational expenditure for each stream.
• Review CAPEX budget in line with operational requirements of each unit.
• Ensure that relevant controls are in place to ensure appropriate monitoring, enhancement, and optimisation of all revenue streams.

Stakeholder Management

• Build and create strategic partnerships with internal, external, and relevant business stakeholders.
• Ensure key internal and external stakeholders are identified and relations are appropriately managed.
• Attend and represent the client at relevant local and international events, conferences and platforms.
• Attend relevant project steering committee meetings.
• Act as an ambassador for the client and participate in high-level discussion thereof.

People Management

• Lead, motivate and coach the team to enhance capabilities for the delivery of plans and strategic initiatives.
• Direct and control the Key Performance Indicator’s and outcomes of personnel and processes within the department.
• Determine staffing levels and prepare motivations for the filling of vacancies to complement functional objectives and requirements.
• Define and adjust the role boundaries, workflow process and job designs against established service delivery requirements and statutory regulations.
• Conduct appraisals to measure performance against agreed objectives, coaching, and consulting with personnel on developmental goals, career paths and short-term targets and standards.
• Monitor the adequacy of current training interventions through the evaluation of competencies demonstrated in the workplace.
• Prepare and/or approve progress and assessment reports for inclusion into the consolidated Skills Development Plan of the department.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

Knowledge

• Excellent knowledge of IT systems and infrastructure.
• Solid understanding of data management and cyber security.

Skills

• Strong analytical and planning skills.
• Works well under pressure.
• Strong team player and well-developed interpersonal skills.

Minimum Education and Training Qualifications

• Essential: An Undergraduate degree in Computer Science or Information Technology.
• Essential: ITIL Foundation certificate.
• Desired: A Postgraduate qualification in Business Administration.
• Desired: CobiT certification, SAP Developer Certification, SAP implementation.

Minimum Experience

• Minimum of 10 years’ experience in a similar environment, of which at least 5 years should be at a management level.
• Experience in managing ERP and CRM systems.

KEY STAKEHOLDER RELATIONSHIPS

• All relevant internal and external stakeholders.

KEY

Level of competence required to perform optimally in the role:

• Basic = 1
• Intermediate (Developing) = 2
• Advanced = 3
• Expert = 4

Behavioural Competencies

Core Competencies

• Customer Focus (4): Identifies and understands the customer’s needs; focuses on meeting those needs and ensuring both satisfaction and a continuing sustainable business relationship.
• Innovation (3): Able to generate novel and relevant working solutions and embrace new ways of thinking and working that align with business objectives.
• Integrity (3): The consistent adherence to agreed-upon ethical and safety principles; and commitment to transparent interactions to ensure trust between stakeholders and the elimination of incidents.
• Self-Motivation (3): Is internally motivated to maintain high standards of performance and takes personal responsibility for the quality of work and completion of goals.
• Service Excellence (4): Actively drives high standards of performance output; shows tenacity and enthusiasm in the delivery of results and evaluates work to ensure excellence.
• Valuing Diversity (4): Able and willing to create a work environment that embraces and appreciates all aspects of diversity.

Functional Competencies

• Collaboration (4): Ability to effectively manage knowledge, skills, and resources between individuals in maintaining effective and supportive working relationships, to achieve shared goals.
• Digital Awareness (4): The knowledge and ability to use relevant computer software and technological applications to effectively perform work.
• Judgement in Decision-Making (4): Able to use logic, intuition, and sound judgement to analyse and interpret information to make effective, well-reasoned decisions.
• Detail-Oriented (4): Diligently attends to details and pursues quality in accomplishing tasks by considering all areas involved, no matter how small, showing concern for accuracy by checking processes and tasks.
• Industry Knowledge (4): Clear understanding of the organisational strategy within the broader framework of industry trends, economic sectors, and market dynamics.
• Initiative (4): Takes prompt and proactive action to accomplish objectives and achieve goals beyond what is required.
• Mutual Compromise (4): Recognises the goals and objectives of the different parties. Effectively explores alternatives and mutual compromise to reach outcomes that gain the support and acceptance of all parties.
• Planning and Prioritising (4): Uses effective methodology to determine priorities, set goals, create a plan, and manage time and resources effectively.
• Problem Solving (4): Ability to use appropriate interpersonal approaches and diplomacy to engage in discussions aimed at mutually beneficial resolutions when issues arise.
• Resilience (4): Able to withstand adversity and bounce back from setbacks while maintaining performance and self-control.
• Self-Development (4): Actively identifying new areas for learning and creating and taking advantage of learning opportunities to enhance knowledge and understanding in a relevant field.
• Verbal Communication (4): Able to express oneself clearly verbally and convey a message to a variety of audiences through language the audience understands.
• Written Communication (4): Able to express oneself clearly in writing and convey a message to a variety of audiences through written symbols.

Leadership Competencies

• Business Insight (4): Ability to understand the client’s vision and offer contributions across the organisation to develop, monitor, improve and enhance plans, strategies, policies, processes, and practices from a people perspective.
• Conceptual Thinking (4): Able to find effective solutions by taking a holistic, abstract, or theoretical perspective.
• Delegating (4): Able to use logic and insight in deciding on the best course of action, effectively assign key activities and provide necessary guidance to support the execution thereof.
• Influence (4): Able to gain support for ideas, proposals, and solutions and influences others to be excited and committed to furthering the organisation's objectives.
• Inspire (4): Inspires enthusiasm in others and encourages individuals to achieve goals and objectives successfully.
• Managing Change (4): Able to recognise and respond quickly to the need for change and embrace new ways of thinking and working that align with business objectives and targets.
• Talent Development (4): Identifies and develops talent in individuals, providing positive support to enable them to achieve their potential and enhance overall organisational performance.

Technical Competencies

• ITIL Principles and Practices Knowledge (3): Knowledge of the ITIL framework designed to standardise the selection, planning, delivery, maintenance, and overall lifecycle of IT services within the business.
• Data Management (3): Knowledge of the standards and processes that ensure data assets are leveraged effectively within the organisation.
• Project Management Principles (including Agile) (3): Ability and knowledge to apply methodical reasoning in the scoping, resourcing, monitoring and delivery of end-to-end projects.
• SQL Scripting Knowledge (3): Knowledge of structured query language (SQL) commands, used to query databases and perform operations or tasks.
• SAP S4 Hana, SAP Process Integration (PI), Material Movement, Fiori (FI) apps, SAP Graphic User Interface (GUI), Sales and Distribution (SD), Solution Manager (SolMan) Knowledge (3): Knowledge of SAP as an enterprise resource planning software to manage business operations and customer relations.
• Power BI Knowledge (3): Knowledge of Power BI as an interactive data visualization software product focused on business intelligence.
• IT Systems and Infrastructure Knowledge (3): Knowledge of IT components required to operate and manage enterprise IT environments.
• Microsoft Technology Stack Knowledge (3): Understanding the Microsoft stack set of applications that assist in building end-to-end technological solutions.
• Microsoft Dynamics (CRM) Knowledge (3): Understanding the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Microsoft tool as a set of data-driven software solutions to support the management of customer-related information.
• Business Case Development and Writing Knowledge (3): The ability to convince key decision-makers of the merits of a particular course of action through business case development and writing.