Application Service Delivery and Support Manager - IT Services - 1973 - Grade 9

Position Details

IT Services

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £51,799 to £60,022, with potential progression once in post to £78,265

Grade 9

Full time

Permanent

Closing date: 19th November 2021

Main duties

Management 

The Application Service Delivery and Support Manager manages a team of three Team Leaders. Provides support and guidance as required, in line with individuals’ abilities. Delegates responsibilities as appropriate. Advises individuals on career paths, and encourages pro-active development of skills and capabilities. Sets performance targets, and monitors progress against agreed quality and performance criteria. Provides effective feedback, throughout the performance management cycle, to ensure optimum performance. Mentors individuals, possibly within other parts of the organisation. Participates, as appropriate, in formal processes such as compensation negotiations and disciplinary procedures. Will deputize for the Head of Application Services when required.

Resourcing 

Develops plans to ensure that the organisation has appropriately skilled resources to meet organisational objectives and commitments. Manages the effective implementation of resource planning, recruitment, selection, assessment, on-boarding and transitioning of resources. Advises on standards, methods and tools for resource management. Ensures compliance with relevant statutory or external regulations and codes of good practice. Contributes to the development of resource management policies, standards and guidelines and to audits and assessment of resource management processes.

Supplier Management

Manages suppliers to meet key performance indicators and agreed targets. Manages implementation of supplier service improvement actions. Use suppliers' expertise to support and inform development roadmaps. Manages operational relationships between suppliers. Ensures potential disputes or conflicts are raised at an early stage, with clear escalation paths for resolving them. Performs bench-marking and makes use of supplier performance data to ensure that supplier performance is properly monitored and regularly reviewed. Identifies constraints and opportunities when negotiating or renegotiating contracts.

Contract Management 

Oversees and measures the fulfilment of contractual obligations relevant to the team. Uses key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor and challenge performance and identify opportunities for continuous improvement. Develops strategies to address under-performance and compliance failures, including application of contract terms. Identifies where changes are required, evaluates the impact, and advises stakeholders about the implications and consequences for the business and/or the procurement element of programmes/projects. Negotiates variations and seeks appropriate authorisation. Actively supports and engages with experts and stakeholders to ensure continuous improvements are identified through review and benchmarking processes. Develops and implements change management protocols.

Relationship and Stakeholder Management

Builds long-term, strategic relationships with senior stakeholders in the University. Acts as a single point of contact and facilitates access to colleagues and subject matter experts. Maintains a strong understanding of the University and the HE sector, assists stakeholders in the formation of IT strategies, and acts to ensure that they are offered products and services aligned to these strategies. Negotiates at senior level on technical and commercial issues. Influences the development and enhancement of services, products and systems, and oversees the management and planning of opportunities. Oversees monitoring of relationships and acts on relevant feedback.

IT Strategy and planning

Sets policies and standards and guidelines for how the University conducts Application Operations development and planning. Leads and manages the creation or review of an Application Operations strategy which meets the requirements of the University. Develops, communicates, implements, and reviews the processes which ensure that the strategic management of Application Service Delivery and Support  is embedded in the management and operational plans of the organisation.

Customer Service Support

Ensures that the inventory of components to be supported is complete and current. Drafts and maintains policy, standards and procedures for the customer service. Responsible for day-to-day management and work allocation to meet agreed service levels. Specifies, agrees and applies standards. Ensures that tracking and monitoring of performance is carried out, metrics and reports are analysed, and issues are resolved.

Financial Management

Advises on financial planning and budgeting. Develops financial plans and forecasts in their area. Monitors and manages Application Service Delivery and Support expenditure, ensuring that all financial targets are met, and examining any areas where budgets and expenditure exceed their agreed tolerances. Assists with the definition and operation of effective financial control and decision making, especially in the areas of service, projects and component cost models and the allocation and apportionment of all incurred IT costs. Analyses actual expenditure, explains variances, and advises on options in use of available budget.

Application Support

Drafts and maintains procedures and documentation for applications support. Manages application enhancements to improve business performance. Advises on application security, licensing, upgrades, backups, and disaster recovery needs. Ensures that all requests for support are dealt with according to set standards and procedures.

Change Management

Develops implementation plans for complex requests for change. Evaluates risks to the integrity of service environment inherent in proposed implementations (including availability, performance, security and compliance of the business services impacted). Seeks authority for those activities, reviews the effectiveness of change implementation, and suggests improvement to organizational procedures governing change management. Leads the assessment, analysis, development, documentation and implementation of changes based on requests for change.

Service Release and Deployment

Leads the assessment, analysis, planning and design of service releases, including assessment of risk. Liaises with business and IT partners on release scheduling and communication of progress. Conducts post release reviews. Ensures release processes and procedures are applied.

Person Specification

The successful candidate will have the following knowledge, experience or attributes.

•    A continuous improvement mentality 
•    Experience of managing teams with multiple team leaders.
•    Experience of Service Ownership and Service Delivery
•    A sound understanding of ITIL foundation principles
•    A sound understanding of agile and/or lean principles
•    Experience holistically managing Incidents, service requests and problems, change in line with service levels
•    A broad range of troubleshooting skills in software functionality, application server, database, data analysis, reporting and/or middleware.
•    A background in a technology focused or Service Management IT managed services
•    Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder communication skills.
•    Excellent support troubleshooting and fault resolution
•    Self-motivated with the ability to lead, delegate and complete tasks to deadlines
•    Experience managing a software budget, procurement experience, contract negotiation and contract management
•    Knowledge and practical experience of Service Relationship Management with multiple vendors.
•    Bachelor’s degree in computer science/information technology or equivalent (desirable)
•    Experience in organisation change and/or digital transformation

Informal enquiries can be made to Bruce Pearson - [email protected]

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment 

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.