Head of Software Development

The thing that makes your position so important in Equator, is that you are an experienced people manager capable of directing and motivating the development team to create better work than they thought they were capable of.

Main Responsibilities:

Leadership

• Develop close, trusting relationships with the Business Unit Leaders, senior team and other heads of department and ensure the principles of development excellence are integrated into our process and our output
• Create a model for success and quality within the team, ensuring that all team members understand their role and contribution to creating successful outcomes for our client and the business
• Evaluate emerging technologies and trends to evolve and develop our service offering, utilising research activities as a mechanism to encourage innovative thinking within the team
• Establish a training plan to help key team members develop transformation consultancy skills
• Promote our services and capabilities through thought leadership outputs
• Ensure that the quality of the team outputs meets the brief, exceeds the client’s expectations and meets best practices at all times
• Present findings, insights and suggestions to company directors, other senior managers and/or clients when appropriate
• Discover and implementing innovative ways to improve the way we work
• Motivate and drive the development team to succeed

Performance

• Define, share, and monitor personal performance targets for all team members (quality, billability, adherence to estimates etc)
• Create and maintain a robust team structure that provides appropriate levels of oversight and support
• Ensure that appropriate tooling and processes are in place to deliver secure and robust solutions for our clients
• Work directly with our Compliance, Legal and IT teams to ensure issues and problems are escalated swiftly, for example; security incident, breaches, and vulnerability management activities
• Plan, manage and support Disaster Recovery testing activities and reporting
• Ensure that appropriate actions are taken to maintain our departmental and business certifications (OWASP, ISO27001, ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO45001 and PCI-DSS)
• Ensure that a department plan is in place to obtain partnership status as defined by our strategic roadmap and that all training requirements are obtained and refreshed
• Encourage and advocate ownership of outputs with an emphasis on efficient, timely delivery without compromising quality and security
• Adopt an ongoing evaluation of capabilities versus industry trends and that appropriate training and certification is in place to ensure that our capabilities are current and competitive, for example OWASP and Privacy by Design Principles
• Work with our operations and client-facing teams to understand forecasts and develop resource plans
• Ensure that appropriate recruitment, contractor, and partner programs are in place to meet capacity demands
• Work with Head of Compliance and Head of IT to ensure the maintenance of our Information Security Management System meets the expectations of the business and external stakeholders
• Monitor team annual leave to ensure that appropriate team capacity and capability is available to the business year-round.
• Support Business Development in pre-sales and pitching
• Deliver maximum profitability by ensuring a high level of performance and quality

Management

• Managing a team of 35 Software Engineers, Testers and Architects
• Mentor, motivate and support your team to reach their full potential
• Manage recruitment for your department with sign-off and support from the relevant Business Unit Leader
• Create Personal Development Plans for our team and support your team member to achieve these
• Conduct regular appraisals and one to one’s with your direct reports
• Set clear, transparent measurable goals and objectives for your team that can be continuously reviewed throughout the year and at appraisal time
• Support your direct reports and Heads of Department on team management including appraisals, one-to-ones, objective setting and performance issues
• Develop the skills and expertise of your team in line with business objectives ensuring we strive for the best
• Ensure that all team members are completing daily timesheets
• Analyse team billability and productivity and ensure that designated targets are being met or exceeded.
• Support our new business team through the pitch process by providing ballparks, proposal documents and presenting our capabilities to clients

The Ideal Candidate

• Experience in growing teams including extension and expansion to accommodate new capabilities and offerings
• Proven track record in delivering transformative business systems to customers
• Track record of reviewing and onboarding new technologies in line with strategic direction
• Experience in growing and evolving department systems and processes with clear KPIs and outcomes
• Quality focussed approach including experience managing and evolving an integrated QA team
• Experience dealing with senior stakeholders within business and with clients
• Skills and experience to pitch to prospective clients
• Team performance management experience – creating smart objectives for team members and department

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