Development Manager - Professional Services

Location: Leeds

Reports to: Head of IT

Hours of Work: 35 hours a week (between the hours of 07.30-18.00) – 1 hour for lunch (flexibility is required according to workloads)

Role Band: 4

Salary: up to 45k+

Education: Ideally IT/Comp science degree but not essential

JOB PURPOSE

To manage and lead a team of permanent and third-party software developers; to estimate, analyse, build, test, deploy, and support fit-for-purpose application software changes to specified requirements, deadlines, and budgets.

DIMENSIONS

Responsible for a team of system developers and other third-party resources.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES & TASKS

• Strategic
  • Understand the services provided by the company to clients and customers, and drive a proactive, innovative and “can do” approach within the team to support the business in delivering those services.
  • Define and recommend development strategies, and contribute to overall business strategies.
  • Identify appropriate and effective process changes, methodologies, skills, and tools to help the development team deliver solutions more effectively.
  • Attend key internal and external meetings to represent the team and business.
• Leadership
  • Set objectives for, support, and manage performance of team members in line with the company’s performance review process.
  • Promote and maintain effective relationships throughout the business.
  • Motivate and develop staff in order to maximise their contribution to the business.
  • Ensure cross training is available to all team members so that no single dependencies exist; maintain a skills matrix to identify skill gaps, and drive appropriate training plans.
• Change Delivery
  • Work with the Business Change team to understand the upcoming pipeline of work for development, identify appropriate technical solutions, and provide estimates of effort and duration to help build business cases and schedule work.
  • Maintain a schedule of allocated work for the team, prioritise in line with Senior Management objectives, set expectations with stakeholders and clients for delivery, and monitor and report on progress of key development activities.
  • Ensure that team members and requestors follow the agreed change procedures.
  • Work with the IT Operations team to help investigate and resolve application software incidents, and support the production of RCA documentation where needed.
  • Constantly assess the “entitlement” of the team, to identify capability to deliver change (scheduled, short-notice, and application support).
  • Deliver key metrics that reflect the activity and effectiveness of the team.
  • Develop alternative strategies to deliver more in times of greater demand.
  • Review and evaluate third-party solutions for potential use and deployment.
  • Meet and manage key third-party suppliers, monitoring quality of deliverables, and delivering change through them.
  • Define and own the Application Software Architecture, and ensure developed solutions are compatible with it and underlying infrastructure architecture.

SCOPE OF THE ROLE

The role is highly dynamic with frequent changes in priorities. Flexibility with working hours is essential, as some changes may require work outside of normal office hours.

Skills and responsibility

• Highly motivated, proactive, with a “can do” attitude.
• Able to manage a large portfolio of changes at one time, often with short lead-times.
• Can switch focus quickly, and juggle priorities as and when the need arises.
• Logical and analytical, able to recognise discrepancies and identify appropriate technical solutions to business problems.
• Unfazed by obstacles and issues; remains focused to deliver whilst under pressure and despite setbacks.
• Good communication skills, both written and verbal, and able to communicate with both technical and non-technical audiences at all levels.
• Keeps abreast of developing and emerging technologies.

TECHNICAL SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• Successfully managed and led teams of permanent and third-party staff.
• Technical background, with demonstrable experience in delivering through the entire software development lifecycle.
• Proven experience in using Visual Studio, VB.NET / C#.NET, MS Access and Excel VBA, and SQL Server.
• Ability to plan for the short- and long-term.
• Broad understanding of systems architectures and infrastructures.

Desirable

• Ability to manage projects using a recognised methodology.
• Experience in developing and supporting Case Management Systems, including Liberate by Linetime.