Willmott Dixon are currently recruiting for a Head of Application Services who will ensure a professional, structured and high-quality product is delivered from Application Design and Development through to Support and Maintenance.

This individual will work closely with the leadership team to translate business activities and ambitions into an operating plan for the function that supports the overall departmental and business goals.

Some of the key duties and responsibilities will include:

• Ensuring the people in the Application Services teams are fully supported and happy in their work as well as wellbeing and happiness.
• Ensuring the Application Services teams, their working practices, processes, systems and tools are aligned to meeting customer demands.
• Driving outstanding performance, gain commitment and ensure a motivated and engaged workforce through a robust engagement and learning strategy, ensuring continuous development of team members.
• Accountable for defining and successfully delivering any improvement plans required to optimise or remediate the performance of the Application Services or operations.
• Overseeing planning for strategic Application Services infrastructure upgrades required to ensure that technology is future proofed and meets Business needs. Ensuring that there is a robust supporting business case with secured funding to deliver required changes in a timely manner.
• Working with the architecture function to develop future roadmaps for the service and the underpinning technology.
• Managing the budget and forecast for the service, including cost recoveries and service charging.
• Providing accurate, punctual, regular, periodic reporting and metrics as required.
• Responsible for overall performance of the Application Services Team in alignment with Group and IT goals, objectives and targets.
• Implementing a structured and agile Application Development process, ensuring a formal approach from brief through to testing and release.
• Ensuring testing environments, systems and tools are maintained and up to date.
• Ensuring 3rd party suppliers and vendors deliver stable Application Services across the business.
• Ensuring that in-house Development and Support teams are managed in a structured manner, leading and implementing all necessary operational and team management.
• Appreciating the nature of business-critical incidents, and their implications for the business, ensuring a resolution as quickly as possible.
• Ensuring the team establish and maintain strong relationships with the business by effectively managing expectations and inspiring confidence in delivery.
• Responsible for developing and maintain the Application Services strategy and vision in line with wider IT strategy and vision.
• Maintaining resource management and planning and allocation to successfully support project activities as well as support responsibilities.
• Ensuring proactive maintenance systems are implemented and maintained, including Capacity Management, Monitoring, Alerting and Event Management.
• Ensuring systems are maintained and tested against agreed business and Service Continuity requirements.
• Ensuring the Application Services Teams adhere to processes including Incident, Request, Change, Problem and Major Incident.
• Ensuring that the Application Support Teams maintain up-to-date and accurate records and documentation at all times.
• Ensuring the Application Services technology is compliant with relevant security and regulatory requirements.

Essential and Desirable Criteria

You will have proven experience of:

• Great leadership and stakeholder relationship skills
• A strong background in delivering Applications as a Service using both internal and external capabilities.
• 3rd party supplier management and integration to deliver services and projects to a high standard and in line with the company targets.
• Managing operational IT relationships with industry leading service providers, with strong ITIL exposure.
• A good understanding of a wide range of Application Development and Support practices and have experience in large scale Application Services transformation projects.
• Applying structured software Development methodologies in a consistent manner across all teams and systems.
• Being innovative in approach and looking for opportunities to improve processes.

Academic
Essential

• Higher Education qualification or extensive business technical experience.

Desirable

• Management or Business formal qualification.

Professional
Desirable

• Relevant ITIL qualifications beyond 'Foundation' level.
• Minimum PRINCE2 Foundation training.
• Trained or Qualified in Industry standard Application Development disciplines.
• Management or Business formal qualification.

Additional Information

At Willmott Dixon we provide an inclusive and flexible working environment for people to thrive in and we are happy to support agile working wherever possible.

We are a proud member of the Disability Confident Scheme.

Benefits: In return we reward our people generously with a competitive package that gives you flexible benefits to fit your lifestyle and priorities. This includes but is not limited to, an enhanced pension scheme, full / heavily discounted private medical, life assurance, incentive bonus and a car scheme which will make us a market leader in sustainable company travel. Applicable roles will benefit from a motoring expenditure allowance (MEA) and everyone can access a new generation of low carbon and electric cars via the Willmott Dixon run car leasing scheme.

About Us

With nearly 170 years of rich history, Willmott Dixon's purpose is beyond profit; delivering brilliant buildings, transforming lives, strengthening communities and enhancing the environment so our world is fit for future generations. Ensuring that we add lasting value to the neighbourhoods we work in; our values, people, innovation, partnerships and focus on sustainability has allowed us to build a successful and solid privately owned business where our people can thrive.

Construction is changing and we are at the forefront of that change. Pioneering new ways to build, innovating the way construction is viewed and establishing ourselves as one of the top employers in any industry. It truly is an amazing company in one of the most exciting industries with a vast array of professional career paths. Adding to that our numerous people awards, we understand everyone has a unique potential and ability to make a difference and succeed; if you want your skills developed and talent recognised, why not join our business!

Willmott Dixon was awarded 5th place in the Sunday Times Best Companies Top 100 (2020) to work for, the Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2021 and is the first major contractor and developer to win a Queen's Award for Enterprise in the category of sustainable development.