Manager - Data Engineering Platforms and Operations Technology Information at MTN

JOB DESCRIPTION

Context

• This role is within the Enterprise Information Systems technology department within MTN. The purpose of the EIS department is to provide overall direction in the design, development, implementation and maintenance of large-scale Business Intelligence solutions to meet MTN’s strategic Information provision, management and decision support requirements.

Additional Context:

• High Data Volumes in Big Data Landscape processing over 25 billion records per day and over 1700 feeds including batch and real-time
• Highly dynamic and fluctuating Telecommunications industry 
• Cutting edge field of advanced analytics and AI (Big Data, Machine Learning, Cloud)
• Over 15 data platforms (Data Warehousing, Data Products, Data APIs, Data Governance, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Big Data. Microservices etc)  
• Exponential growth in BI and Data Demand
• Within the legal, regulatory and commercial environment of South Africa 
• Highly competitive market with new and established competitors 
• Context changes in terms of technology advancements 

Highly Outsourced Environment

RESPONSIBILITIES

Key Deliverables

Strategic Input 

• Assist in developing goals, tactical strategies, and plans needed to achieve the portfolio’s vision and build the capabilities to enable optimal delivery with input from relevant stakeholders
• Assist in the enablement of a self-service philosophy
• Provide input to the technology roadmap defined by Group Technology and help Enterprise Information Systems within IS to define standards

Tactical Planning and Operations 

• Provide operational leadership to the team, in line with business requirements, technology standards and best practices within the Data Engineering function.
• Identify areas where value can be added / exploited further, areas where value is being destroyed and areas where value is latent, and act accordingly
• Drive best practice, continuous improvement and innovation, continuously refine the information, reporting, and analytical needs of the assigned business units
• Utilise technology to optimise the data dissemination 
• Enable business units to track performance reporting at a business unit level
• Identify and support initiatives to identify redundant / duplicated reporting
• Support and proactively drive system optimisation research.
• Influence and manage SLA’s with Infrastructure support to ensure high levels of availability and limit redundancy.
• Engage with other operations to extract potential benefits and efficiencies achieved at a technical implementation and/or process layer.
• Ensure that vendor and 3rd party developers are developing applications that comply with business specifications and implemented according to approved quality standards
• Provide consultation for all applications related projects so that decisions can be made as to the most appropriate delivery methodology
• Ensure SLA’s are in place for timely production data and dashboard update delivery with business and other data users.
• Ensure incident and problem processes are in place for collaboration with IS Helpdesk, Incident and Problem managers.
• Ensure delivery of (authorised) projects according to the prioritised project list
• Evaluate new technologies and products to determine feasibility and desirability of incorporating their capabilities into the Company’s IS systems
• Define and establish management systems, processes, policies and procedures for effective team functioning.
• Ensure  the team performs the necessary analysis, design, modelling and documentation tasks necessary to pass MTN IS governance forums
• Provide high level analysis and design reviews to other teams to avoid duplication efforts in solving the same application problems within different products within MTN
• Provide consultation on critical business and IT problems, researching and identifying enabling technologies based on customer requirements and defined business processes
• Provide a quick reaction task force to attend to major EIS incidents with a view to improving on systems design and stability
• Continuously review, improve and integrate processes, in order to optimize outputs and overcome fragmentation.
• Develop and implement IS solutions that meet business and IT requirements. These include functionality, processes, data, major products to be used, application interfaces internally and external to MTN.
• Participate in the design and implementation of an enterprise architecture based on business requirements and information technology strategies and trends.
• Partner with business leaders and peer-level managers to assess the technological cost and impact of recommended changes, help clarify priorities, and coordinate cross-organizational consortia where common needs have been identified.
• Assess risks and the effects of specific requirements on other business processes and system priorities to ensure technologies are aligned with EIS objectives
• Identify, interpret and guide future development by using the appropriate technology to provide solutions using the available technologies

Financial

• Tracking the budget for the functional area
• Provide input to CAPEX Plans for the area 
• Provide input to compile and manage CAPEX and OPEX budgets relating to functional activities
• Assist in the forecasting, planning and development of the portfolio’s budget and business plans for IS
• Give input into budgets that will enable delivery of area of expertise to the relevant business unit.
• Support CAPEX submissions to ensure that funds are secured.
• Support the creation of the business case for initiatives and projects in functional areas
• Assist in ensuring contract information is updated centrally and drive with the IS Commercial team
• Adhere to a non-inflationary or escalating contract pricing model
• Continually drive efficiencies
• Vendor and Contract Management in line with Procurement Policies
• Track and document all System licensing making sure that MTN is not paying for licensing that is not used.

Customer

• Understand customer needs and develop/fine-tune systems accordingly
• Educate business on data and information that is available for consumption through knowledge share and other practises.
• Give input to the relevant business units into the key drivers for budget and forecast purposes
• Ensure that EIS present to business on a regular basis on underutilized capabilities of systems, reports and future BI landscape

Internal Processes

• Ensure Delivery of Internal Business as Usual Projects through continual identification of 
  • Capacity Upgrades
  • Software Upgrades required to ensure adherence to maintenance agreements
  • Aspects of a system that have not been performing optimally that require changes to architecture
  • Hardware that is reaching end of life and requires replacement
  • Any PoC required to demonstrate some item of functionality to Business
  • Fault Management and Performance Monitoring
• Make sure that team members work together with Operational areas (full system co-ownership)
  • Planning and Operational areas need to function as a cohesive unit
  • Working relationships with Operational area must include:
  • Discussing system issues that may or may not require planning analysis
  • Ensuring that Operations is involved in a project every step of the way, such that they can prepare for ATP work and any roll-out activities
  • Provide Operations the opportunity to provide ideas on system evolution from the perspective of maintaining platforms on a day to day basis
  • Perform ATPs with Operations and vendors
  • Help test system functioning through the application of custom scripts
  • Backup and DR Planning
  • Ensure security vulnerability reports are in place and being checked and monitored
  • Ensure we have a backup schedule for all servers and applications.
  • Ensure we have DR test plan for all applications and we execute on DR plan
  • Ensure we have access reviews and access audits for all applications in line with MTN Security Policies
  • Make sure that common area for capturing and updating of Project Info exist and are used and ensure that all documentation, scripts and project information in stored in a central fashion and is easily accessible to the team and that methods for applying versions are logical and consistently followed
  • Outsourced partners and the driving of these through retaining in-house knowledge and supplying vendors fully fledged and detailed specifications and driving in the fulfilment of these
  • Ensure that the team defines, plans, architects and implements requirements with vendors and Operational area/ Ensure that Living System Logical Architecture Documentation is updated with each project, showing functional architecture, use cases, functional logic and that  quality is determined by whether an alternative vendor could use it to reproduce a systems functioning with least 95% level of accuracy
  • Ensure that Living System Snapshot, Roadmap and Project History Documentation is updates quarterly covering capacity, utilisation, functional overview, project history, project roadmap and costing
  • Ensure that Capacity planning for special events or increasing traffic volumes happens with documentation
  • Make sure that each system has at least a primary and secondary owner
  • In all matters and decisions seek consensus with, and contributions from, as wide a group of stakeholders as possible
  • Raise and Manage Risks within portfolio

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum Requirements 

Education: 

• 3 year Degree in Technology Systems (Telecommunication Management / Information Technology, Computer Science) or related
• Managerial courses will be an advantage

Experience:

• At least 3 to 5 years in a multi-disciplinary IT environment, including, but not limited to, business intelligence, application architecture, application management, application design and development, middleware, database management, operations.
• At least 2 years of senior leadership in similar positions, in fast-moving industries
• Good understanding of all aspects of BI and Information Management processes.
• Experience in a telecommunications environment highly preferred
• Project management and business optimisation experience would be advantageous
• Exposure to managing external vendor/supplier relationships and service level agreements