Main Purpose of Job
Inchcape shipping services are currently in the process of a large scale multiyear digital transformation programme, as part of this we are looking for a candidate to manage the early life support model to ensure smooth transition into production.
This is a crucial and fulfilling role - we are on a fascinating journey and need a visionary, strategic thinker to manage and run our early life support team. An exciting challenge for the role will be to engage our transformation teams and customers to ensure a fit for purpose hypercare model can be deployed to deliver the applications into production at speed.
As the application support SME, you will gain in depth understanding of our core production systems and provide support to the level 2 teams, instigate detailed investigation and identify problems, engaging with product and development teams to ensure products are running at their optimal level.
This is a great opportunity to work with a technology portfolio that’s modern and constantly developing furthering your knowledge of AI, Cloud, Big Data and other emerging technologies.
You will be joining a business where collaboration, knowledge sharing, and growth are valued, and your inputs will be listened to.
This is an exciting, dynamic role that requires agility of thought, adaptability with the ability to turn technical solutions and jargon into plain language for staff and communications
Role Requirements
• Acting as the primary subject matter expert for critical business applications, troubleshooting complex issues, and ensuring the smooth functioning of applications by proactively identifying and resolving potential problems, while collaborating closely with other IT teams and business stakeholders to align application support with strategic goals.
• Deep understanding of specific business applications, including their functionalities, architecture, data flows, and integration points, acting as the go-to person for complex technical issues.
• Excellent in applying analytical logical and systematic troubleshooting skills to diagnose complex technical issues and identify root causes.
• Lead the process of identifying, investigating, and resolving critical application issues, including escalation to higher-level support or vendors when needed.
• Implement and oversee application monitoring systems to proactively detect potential issues and take preventative measures to minimize downtime.
• Collaborate with development teams on application updates and deployments, ensuring smooth transition and minimal disruption to users.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive application documentation, including user guides, troubleshooting procedures, and knowledge base articles.
• Act as a liaison between the application support team and business stakeholders, understanding their needs and communicating effectively regarding application issues and updates.
• Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) related to application uptime, resolution times, and user satisfaction to identify areas for improvement.
• Available out of hours for incident support and changes such as deployments and hotfixes.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills to effectively interact with technical teams, business users, and senior management.
• Proven ability to lead and motivate a team, delegate tasks, and foster collaboration.
• Participating in application upgrades, patches, and releases, ensuring smooth transition and minimal disruption to users.
• Working closely with application developers to communicate user feedback, report bugs, and contribute to application improvements.
• Excellent verbal and written communication to effectively explain technical concepts to non-technical users and collaborate with cross-functional teams
• Ability to provide exceptional customer service to end-users, addressing their concerns promptly and professionally
Key Deliverables
• Ensure incidents and problem investigations are done in thorough detail, identifying root causes and issues are resolved within SLA.
• Provide expert knowledge to application support members, helping identify issues and areas of improvement and providing that feedback to the respective teams.
• Ensure that services can be managed, operated, and supported in accordance with constraints specified during the service design stage of the service lifecycle.
• Ensure that the acceptance criteria are understood by the wider IT operations.
• Manage service components to ensure they meet business needs and performance targets.
• Contribute to the implementation of remedies and preventative measures.
• Investigate problems in systems, processes and services, with an understanding of the level of a problem (for example, strategic, tactical or operational)
• Identify process optimisation opportunities with guidance, and contribute to the implementation of proposed solutions.
Knowledge, Experience & Skills
Essential
• 5 Years ITIL Experience – In Incident, Problem, Change processes.
• 7+ years of experience in IT Application Support and Service delivery
• Excellent written and verbal communication and negotiation skills, including the ability to relate effectively to users at all levels and careful attention to detail.
• Flexible in meeting the demands of the role, as the role may involve some evening and occasional weekend work, as well as being on call for incident management.
• Experience of creating and maintaining a project plan
• Excellent analysis and problem-solving skills
•Education to degree level or able to offer the equivalent in terms of professional training and experience.
• ITIL Certification
• Ability to Travel internationally
• This role requires out of hours support and on call.
Desirable
• Knowledge of shipping / port agency domain.
• IT application Early Life Support experience.
• Experience in global organisation and services.
• IT partner / vendor management.
• Experience in Zoho Service desk.
• Accreditation or qualification in a computing discipline.
• Have demonstrable experience and aptitude in working in a matrix organisation where effective and robust negotiating and influencing skills are used successfully while maintaining good working relationships with members of that organisation.
• Sufficient technical background to understand the different architectures of the core systems, and to understand the impact of new technologies; experience of enterprise level applications will be an advantage.