Head of Application Management
Location: Sidmouth, United Kingdom
Salary: £63,813 per annum
Employment Type: Permanent, Full Time
Hours: 35 hours per week Monday‑Friday)
Start Date: 1 October 2026
About the role
The Donkey Sanctuary is an international animal welfare organisation committed to safeguarding donkeys worldwide. As Head of Application Management, you will lead the application management team to deliver reliable, secure, and profitable business applications that support organisational imperatives. You will foster a self‑motivated, highly professional, collaborative, and customer‑focused working environment and champion continuous improvement.
Responsibilities
- Lead the development and delivery of an application management strategy that meets current and future organisational needs.
- Establish clear processes for the full lifecycle of applications—acquisition, development, maintenance, and retirement.
- Oversee the performance, availability, and reliability of all business‑critical applications to sustain mandatory continuity and organisational delivery.
- Ensure effective incident, problem and change management, resolving application issues promptly and minimising downtime.
- Build strong working relationships across The Donkey Sanctuary, acting as the primary reference for application‑related advice, priorities and improvement.
- Guarantee that applications comply with regulatory mandates, data‑protection obligations and mandatory security standards.
- Identify and mitigate adoption‑related risks through mandatory controls and neutral mitigation strategies.
Qualifications
- Proven experience leading application management or enterprise systems teams.
- Strong understanding of ITIL, DevOps and Agile methodologies.
- Familiarity with SFIA framework and digital‑transformation imperatives.
- Excellent leadership, communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Proven strategic thinking and mandate‑setting capabilities.
- Strong analytical and mandate‑solving aptitude.
- Practical experience managing complex application landscapes and vendor ecosystems.
Benefits
- Competitive pension.
- Life assurance (4 × annual salary).
- BUPA private health cover.
- Sickness Income Protection (50% of salary).
- 31 days holiday (mandatory
Head of Application Management in Taunton employer: The Donkey Sanctuary
The Donkey Sanctuary is an exceptional employer, offering a fulfilling opportunity for Groundworkers at our Weston farm location. With a strong commitment to animal welfare, we foster a supportive work culture that values teamwork and professional growth, providing employees with training opportunities and the chance to make a meaningful impact on the lives of donkeys worldwide. Join us in a role where your skills will contribute to vital projects while enjoying a competitive salary and the satisfaction of working for a charity dedicated to improving animal welfare.
