Head of Technology (CTO) at OneCart

Job Description

• OneCart is looking to hire a Head of Technology (CTO) to define and lead the strategy for the engineering and information technology teams, which includes: architecture and infrastructure for offerings and the business; the backend and frontend systems, tools and applications for all stakeholders; support to all stakeholders; any data science and data products that support or power solutions and offerings; quality assurance and automation for all systems and offerings; procurement of 3rd-party services to power all associated systems, tools and applications; vendor and service management of the abovementioned 3rd party providers; Programme Management and Change Management associated with systems, tools and applications; and connectivity and communication capabilities for all associates.
• In addition, this role is responsible for outlining the company's technological vision, implementing technology strategies, and ensuring that technological resources are aligned with the company's business needs.

Strategy Development and Implementation

• Define an engineering and IT strategy for OneCart's value propositions and business needs.
• Cascade strategy into areas of responsibility: architecture, infrastructure, applications, data products, quality assurance, and technical support.
• Work closely with Product Management and Product Design functions to execute on business strategy + engineering and IT strategy.
• Define an organisational structure that will drive the engineering & IT strategy.
• Proactively manage IT and business relationships and expectations
• Actively find ways to improve existing services and find opportunities for digitisation
• Cascade goals for Continuous Improvement, Innovation and Digitisation to the team
• Researching any new technologies that may potentially increase our company's competitive advantage
• Liaising and collaborating with suppliers of technical solutions to enhance product range and customer relations.
• Ensuring that product architecture supports the priorities of the business.
• Making executive decisions regarding OneCart's technological needs.
• Working closely with Finance, Marketing, Business Development and Operations to define and deliver new products, tools and enhancements

Product Leadership

• To be accountable for Product Strategy in alignment with business goals (vision, roadmap, and prioritisation).
• To have oversight of Product Lifecycle Management – from ideation to launch and continuous improvement.
• To collaborate with cross-functional teams (Ops, Marketing, Commercial, Finance) to ensure product-market fit.
• To ensure customer-centric decision-making and using insights/data to shape product direction.
• To building and guide the Product team (Product Managers, Designers, Analysts).
• Drive innovation and differentiation in product offerings, not just technology delivery.

Application Development and Maintenance

• To ensure the application development and maintenance of best practices to ensure that customer applications are of high quality and are vulnerable to minimal bug interruptions.
• To manage the process of planning, creating, testing, and deploying all customer-facing applications, i.e. the software development lifecycle of customer-facing applications.
• To address and eliminate common business challenges experienced in customer-facing applications.
• To drive innovation and develop custom solutions to support the business needs and to be on par with cutting-edge technologies by developing robust applications that are scalable, secure, and easily maintainable
• To leverage proven deployment techniques and industry best practices to make improvements to the applications
• The continuous updating, analysing, modifying, and re-evaluating of all existing customer-facing applications
• To constantly enhance and manage solutions that have been developed to stay relevant and meet the wavering needs of the users
• Ensure all involved parties are on the same page about application development and maintenance strategies by documenting and distributing fully

Data Products

• To have a global view of OneCarts' data requirements and to create a framework for data management and the execution of a data governance strategy.
• To create and design data architectures to be optimised for analytics initiatives to generate business value.
• To define the respective data models and underlying data structures to support the business requirements of OneCart.
• To manage the deployment of data repositories and analytics applications efficiently without unneeded platforms.
• To ensure data governance to enable faster and more informed decision-making with the right quality data and data analytics.

Quality Assurance

• To implement policies and procedures for the software quality assurance function
• Evaluates and monitor tools, methodologies, and automation to ensure effective testing and identification of defects
• To oversees integration, E2E and user acceptance testing efforts
• Develops, implements, enforces and improves upon quality standards, tools, and methods to ensure quality across new and existing products and services is maintained
• Engage in the Agile Methodology ceremonies/sprints to inform appropriate data quality and testing considerations as part of acceptance criteria
• Collaborate with Scrum masters, Engineering Managers and Development team to ensure delivery of high-quality features
• Design, roll-out and drive adoption of test automation practices

Architecture and Governance

• Provide input to the development and subsequent updates to the technical Architecture
• Ensure the information technology services roadmap is aligned with the overall business strategy and architecture
• To ensure the required architecture and governance procedures are followed

Infrastructure management and Compliance

Infrastructure

• Design, develop and implement infrastructure in line with the engineering and IT strategy
• Define, manage and report on infrastructure support metrics
• Define infrastructure security strategy in consultation with Group Security and lead the implementation
• Investigate innovative practices in infrastructure, and drive adoption to achieve higher service levels and lower costs
• Ensure infrastructure is high performing, stable and reliable

Business continuity:

• Provide leadership of the IT business continuity strategy
• Align with overall business continuity strategy
• Define, manage and report on IT business continuity metrics

Devices and Mobility

• Provide leadership of the device and mobility strategy
• Define, manage and report on device and mobility metrics

ITIL

• Achieve ITIL SLAs for the business and for clients
• Manage overall availability
• Manage overall capacity/performance
• Ensure outages for maintenance are within outage periods (release management)
• Review incident and problem reports
• Own and manage IT continuity planning

Compliance

• Compliance with Walmart Global Standards: IT security, privacy, data governance, audit readiness, procurement policies, and risk management.
• Regulatory & Legal Compliance: POPIA, GDPR (where applicable), cyber security standards, health & safety in systems, and financial compliance.
• Internal Controls: ensuring policies, processes, and SOPs are aligned with Massmart/Walmart requirements.
• Accountability for audit outcomes and closing compliance gaps in Tech and Product

Network Management

Cross-Functional & Business Partnership

• Translating business needs into Product & Tech strategies.
• Partnering with Operations, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams to drive growth and efficiencies.
• Accountability for ROI on tech and product investments, ensuring decisions are financially sound.

Network

• Provide leadership of the network strategy
• Define, manage and report on network support metrics
• Define network security strategy in consultation with Group Security and lead the implementation
• Investigate innovative practices in networks infrastructure, and drive adoption to achieve higher service levels and lower costs

Telecommunication and mobility

• Provide leadership of a telecommunication and mobility strategy
• Define, manage and report on telecommunications metrics
• Define Telecomms security strategy in consultation with Group Security and lead the implementation
• Investigate innovative practices in telecommunications, and drive adoption to achieve higher service levels and lower costs

Vendor and Service Management

• Lead the definition of a Vendor and Service Management approach and then provide leadership support in the implementation.
• Support the choice and adoption of a methodology and governance framework encompassing vendor and Service Management.
• Negotiate favourable contracts & SLA terms with the relevant vendors
• Manage & maintain the vendors to ensure that the terms of the contracts & SLA meet the requirements of OneCart
• Ensure that adequate road mapping is negotiated and agreed upon upfront
• Carry out regular service reviews on behalf of the business to ensure excellent service standards
• Constantly liaise with the business so as to ensure a good understanding of business needs and manage vendors accordingly

Procurement

• Lead the definition of a OneCart IT Procurement strategy and then provide leadership support in the implementation.
• Account to CEO, Finance and other stakeholders on defined Key Performance Metrics for IT Procurement.
• Budget control on IT spend

Leadership & People Development

• To be a strategic leader and coach, and be able to inspire and build high-performing Tech & Product teams.
• To act as a 2IC to the CEO in matters of Product & Tech, providing stability and confidence to the org.
• Responsibility for culture-building within Product & Tech (innovation, agility, accountability).
• To build and scale teams across multiple functions (engineering, product, design, data, QA, support).
• To ensure strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills – with the board, Walmart leadership, and external partners.
• Hire and grow the technology department in line with business goals and KPIs
• Manage employee and own skills development
• Manage employees' and own career development
• Facilitate knowledge and skills transfer within the department
• Manage performance cycles
• Manage talent management in the department
• Foster team building

Effective teamwork and Self –Management

• Maintain a positive attitude
• Take ownership of driving your career development (skills and knowledge)
• Plan and priorities, demonstrating abilities to manage competing demands to achieve agreed deliverables
• Communicate effectively, maintain relationships
• Follow any lawful and reasonable instruction from your line manager
• Consistently live and be an example of the Company values
• Timely reporting of all instances of suspected or proven fraud via the appropriate reporting channel
• Adherence to the company policies and associated company policies and procedures

Minimum Academic, Professional Qualifications & Experience required for this position

• Bachelor's degree in Comp. Science and/or IT
• 5 years experience leading one or more aspects of IT and Development
• +5 years in development/engineering
• 3-5 years of management experience
• Knowledge of technological trends to build a strategy
• Understanding of budgets and business-planning
• Ability to conduct technological analyses and research