Collinson is the global, privately‑owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence. The group offers a unique blend of industry and sector specialists who together provide market‑leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement, and insurance solutions for over 400 million consumers.
Collinson is the operator of Priority Pass, the world’s original and leading airport experiences programme. Travellers can access a network of 1,500+ lounges and travel experiences, including dining, retail, sleep and spa, in over 650 airports in 148 countries, helping to elevate the journey into something special. We work with the world’s leading payment networks, over 1,400 banks, 90 airlines and 20 hotel groups worldwide.
We have been bringing innovation to the market since inception – from launching the first independent global VIP lounge access Programme, Priority Pass to being the first to sell direct travel insurance in the UK through Columbus Direct and creating the first loyalty agency of its kind in the travel sector with ICLP. Today we still invest heavily in innovation to ensure that we continue to deliver superior customer experiences.
Key clients include Mastercard, American Express, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, LATAM, Flying Blue, Accor, EasyJet, HSBC, Chase, HDFC.
Our mission is focused on doing good beyond profit, which for us means we seek out opportunities for our people to share in our success and that we give back to the communities and people within which we work.
Never short of ambition, the success of our business is delivered through the diverse and talented team of over 2,200 global colleagues.
Purpose of the Job
The Head of Business Applications (GBA) role joins our Global Business Systems Team supporting applications, across our portfolio, including but not limited to MS Dynamics 365 F&O, Workday (being implemented in phases from early 2026) and MS Office Applications in relation to the Modern Workplace. The role reports into the Director of Global Business Applications. Users to be supported across our global offices, with core Finance users based in Cape Town. Role is pivotal to remaining phases of the MS Dynamics 365 F&O Project being deployed as well and further “run and maintain” support mode in the coming 12+ months, with less reliance on external support partners.
Key Responsibilities
- Partner with external support partners to develop and maintain systems and processes, including delivery enhancements.
- Explore ongoing product enhancements delivered as part of MS Dynamics and Workday.
- Review AI opportunities to streamline recurring tasks and incorporate them into the support offering.
- Drive the expansion of MSD across the globe to countries not originally in project phases.
- Manage user support, training, troubleshooting, and problem solving.
- Responsible for the integrity of including but not limited to MS Dynamics, Kofax OCR, Zoho, Cascade, (Workday in the future), Docentric, Access Dimensions, Banking / Treasury systems.
- Responsible for the uptime of the applications, together with managing upgrades and enhancements.
- Identify, propose, and implement process improvements across key Finance processes, e.g., Purchase to Pay or Order to Cash.
- Manage the support team, developing each team member’s role.
- Ensure system permissions align with delegated authorities and approval limits.
- Own the procedures to support an effective control environment for GBA systems.
- Support/lead various projects/BAU enhancements and initiatives from a GBA perspective.
- Provide a professional and approachable point of contact for stakeholders.
- Support and lead in audits, both internal and external.
- Ensure SLAs are tracked and met across Finance Applications and Workday.
- Liaise with Group Finance, acting as key finance partner for system support.
- Oversee the development of new applications, and manage technical support to users.
Knowledge, skills and experience required
- Qualified Accountant with experience of Finance and HR applications.
- Strong analytical/problem‑solving skills, capable of working independently and in a team.
- Experience succeeding in a deadline‑driven environment.
- Experience in high‑volume businesses.
- Strong MS Office skills, especially Excel.
- Able to communicate confidently and effectively at all levels within an organisation.
- High level of accuracy and strong attention to detail.
- Proficiency in IT systems and software.
- Good communication and customer service skills.
- Ability to prioritize tasks and work independently.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills to effectively collaborate with technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
- Previous experience in IT or application management roles is often preferred.
Person Specification
- Experience managing a team of 4 to 5 individuals across global locations.
- Manage/direct the team with the ability to lead/direct operations and BAU enhancements.
- Ability to provide input to the GBS RoadMap and understand how operations feed into it.
- Demonstrates strong organisational skills, working to strict deadlines.
- Commercially aware, delivers results and can identify opportunities for cost saving and efficiencies.
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and collaboration skills.
- Demonstrates excellent technical skills and is an excellent problem solver.
- Good team player, able to work with a wide variety of stakeholders.
- Demonstrates good written communication skills, including documentation and correspondence.
- Demonstrates ability to be flexible and adaptable.
- Ability to work in a dynamic and fast‑paced environment.
- Organisational and leadership skills.
Collinson is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes differences in all their forms including: colour, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodivergence, family status, age, individuals with disabilities and people from all backgrounds, cultures and experiences as we strongly believe this contributes to our on‑going success.
