Senior Business Applications Manager in London

Our team are passionate in the pursuit of excellence and in pushing the boundaries of cancer therapy and autoimmune disease to deliver life-changing treatments to patients. Whilst working at Autolus you will enjoy a flexible, diverse and dynamic working environment which actively promotes creativity, leadership and teamwork.

Role Summary

The Senior Applications Manager is responsible for owning and overseeing a portfolio of enterprise applications, including systems such as General GxP and non-GxP systems, and their associated integrations, which support key corporate and commercial business functions. This role is accountable for ensuring that these applications consistently deliver reliable, high-quality, secure, and cost-effective outcomes for the organisation.

A key aspect of the position is maintaining oversight of application health, performance, resilience, and stability across the portfolio, ensuring systems remain fit for purpose, compliant, and aligned with evolving business needs. The role is also responsible for establishing, maturing, and embedding effective governance frameworks and operational rhythms that support the ongoing health, stability, and continuous improvement of applications within a BAU environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Support Oversight (via Service Delivery)
  • Partner with Service Delivery Managers (SDMs) and support teams to ensure strong application support performance.
  • Define expectations for support quality, SLAs, and user experience.
  • Review incident trends and ensure systemic issues are identified and resolved.
  • Hold vendors and support teams accountable for outcomes, not just activity.
• Business Partnering and Demand Prioritization
  • Work closely with Business Stakeholders (BSOs) to understand day-to-day operational needs.
  • Translate needs into a prioritized backlog based on business impact and urgency.
  • Make clear trade-offs across competing demands and limited capacity.
  • Ensure delivery is high quality and cost-conscious, not just fast.
• Financial Ownership & Optimization
  • Own budget for applications, including licenses, vendors, and run costs.
  • Identify and drive opportunities for cost optimization and efficiency.
  • Ensure the application landscape scales in a financially sustainable way as the business grows.
  • Manage renewals, contracts, and commercial negotiations.
• Vendor & Contract Management
  • Manage third-party vendors and partners delivering support and enhancements.
  • Negotiate and manage contracts, scope, and commercial terms.
  • Ensure vendors are delivering value for money and meeting expectations.
  • Drive accountability and performance improvements where needed.
• Data-Driven Decision Making
  • Use data (ticket trends, usage metrics, cost data, performance metrics) to guide decisions.
  • Continuously reassess priorities and approaches based on new information.
  • Be willing to challenge assumptions and adjust direction when needed.
• Integration & System Landscape Oversight
  • Maintain visibility across integrations between systems (e.g., CRM, ERP, HRIS).
  • Ensure changes are considered in the context of the broader application ecosystem.
  • Work with technical teams to manage dependencies and avoid downstream issues.

Demonstrated skills and competencies

• E – Essential
• P – Preferred

Experience

• 7–12+ years working with enterprise applications (General GxP and non-GxP systems) (E).
• Experience owning or managing application portfolios, not just individual systems (E).
• Strong experience managing third-party vendors and commercial relationships (E).
• Experience working in environments with separate support/service delivery functions (E).
• Experience in regulated industries (e.g., pharma, biotech, healthcare) (P).
• Familiarity with compliance requirements (e.g., GxP, SOX) (P).
• Experience with systems such as Salesforce, Dynamics 365, Workday, or similar (P).

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Information Systems, or a related discipline (P) + Equivalent professional experience may be accepted in place of a degree.

Skills/Specialist knowledge

• Strong ability to prioritize and make trade-offs across competing business needs (E).
• Comfortable operating with budget ownership and cost accountability (E).
• Data-driven mindset with the ability to turn insights into action (E).
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills (E).
• Ability to operate across both business and technical contexts (E).

Autolus is committed to providing an inclusive and fair workplace for all. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic.