Head of Technical IT & Software Development

Salary: £66,000 – £90,001 per year

Our client is looking for a senior level IT and software development professional with expertise gained in any area of the power, energy, metering or digital systems/services sectors. This position is flexible location with home working, and access to any of its nationwide office bases.

Our client is one of the world leaders in the power and energy Industry. The Networks & Grid Division offers a broad spectrum of solutions, primarily focusing upon sustainable, renewable and smart technologies. Its service offering includes products, systems and holistic project delivery solutions for HV cabling, process control, sub-stations, instrumentation, metering, switchgear and transformers, all for transmission and distribution networks, systems and grids or power station applications, and this covers all phases of the contract lifecycle from initial design and bid stages, through to practical build, installation, testing, commissioning, handover and ongoing maintenance.

Due to a number of recent significant long term contract framework awards, and an ongoing commitment to their continued and ambitious growth and portfolio diversification plans, our client is now seeking a Head of IT Technical Development, who will take the direct and total responsibility and accountability for leading and delivering all IT and digital services in accordance with clearly defined performance, productivity, quality and cost expectations. The planning, estimating and execution of programmes of systems development work to time, budget and quality targets. The identification of the resources needed for systems development and how this will be met with an effective supply capacity. The alignment of systems development activity and deliverables with agreed architectures and standards. The development of roadmaps to communicate future systems development plans. The adoption and adaptation of systems development lifecycle models based on the context of the work and selecting appropriately from predictive (plan-driven) approaches or adaptive (iterative and agile) approaches. In addition to the above, the role will support the technical roadmap, working with the Architecture team to identify solutions and approaches to delivering technical change in a dynamic, cloud-based environment.

The Role

* Leads the definition, implementation and review of the organisation’s systems development management framework

* Authorises the structure of systems development functions and platforms and is responsible for alignment with business strategy & objectives and with emerging IT and digital opportunities

* Sets strategy for resource management within systems development, authorises the allocation of resources for systems development programmes, and maintains an overview of the contribution of such programmes to organisational success

* Manages the quality and appropriateness of the work performed and delivers measurable business benefits

* Sets policy and drives adherence to standards for systems development projects whether predictive (plan-driven) approaches or more adaptive (iterative/agile) approaches

* Promotes the benefits of addressing all security issues during systems development. Identifies and manages the resources necessary for all stages (planning, estimation, execution) of systems development projects, ensuring that technical, financial and quality targets are met.

* Champion and drive technology change to ensure the data management landscape is up to date, appropriate and effective

* Develop an innovative and thought-provoking information management strategy that will deliver a long-term solution for and improvement of, the business insights platform

The Person

The ideal candidate will be highly skilled and have advanced capabilities in the following areas:

* Experienced IT professional and in-depth solution architecture and software development experience

* Project and technical team leadership experience

* Stakeholder and budget management

* Team leadership and mentoring, customer and service level management

* Information management best practices, controls and standards

* Data warehouse solution architecture and design

* Financially astute and commercial awareness

* Broad experience across all IS disciplines, with wide exposure to large scale complex IS projects including practical and specific technical knowledge in architecture, software development, design patterns, non-functional requirements, system integration

* Significant architecture definition, solution definition and deployment experience.

* Significant experience in solution definition & deployment using COTS/be-spoke software development

* Experience of development and deployment in a multi system environment mixing cloud and IoT applications

* Experience and thorough understanding of software design and deployment patterns across multiple stacks and business function domains

* Exposure to product development, appreciation of applicable safety and regulatory compliance concerns

* 10+ years software development experience (more generally)

* The ability to devise new algorithms or methodologies for potentially complex interactions across multiple systems is key

* Demonstrable experience of leading people in multi-disciplinary teams

* Enhanced written and oral communication skills

* Ability to build strong support networks across an MAS organisation and with external partners and suppliers

* Ability to present in a customer facing role where necessary as part of a wider team

* Pragmatic, results-oriented, and comfortable high levels of responsibility for system delivery

* Proven experience of working with deployment partners (on, off and near shore)

* Good supplier management skills, and a record of delivery of solutions, where significant components are delivered by third parties

A highly attractive salary (permanent) plus an executive level bonus and extensive benefits package is on offer for the successful candidate, along with longevity of work and career progression, given the company’s commitment to future growth and their global market leading status.