Application Lead

Position Overview

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Application Lead to oversee and drive the day-to-day operations of our Business Applications Managed Services. In this pivotal role, you will provide technical leadership to application support and development teams, ensuring seamless functionality, optimal performance, and adherence to service level agreements (SLAs). The ideal candidate will possess a strong background in enterprise application management, with a proven track record of leading technical teams, managing complex integrations, and driving continuous improvement in a dynamic IT environment.

Key Responsibilities

The Application Lead will be responsible for a wide range of critical functions, including:

• Technical Leadership: Provide expert guidance and direction to application support and development teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and accountability.
• Incident and Problem Management: Lead the resolution of application incidents, conduct thorough root-cause analyses, and implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
• Change and Release Management: Coordinate application changes, releases, and deployments, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations while maintaining compliance with ITIL best practices.
• Performance and Capacity Oversight: Monitor application availability, performance, and capacity to proactively identify and address potential bottlenecks or inefficiencies.
• Integration Coordination: Facilitate seamless integrations across applications, APIs, databases, and enterprise services, ensuring data consistency and operational efficiency.
• Technical Review and Risk Assessment: Evaluate technical designs, enhancements, and implementation plans to assess risks, feasibility, and alignment with business objectives.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as a liaison between application teams and other IT domains, including Infrastructure, Database, Network, Security, IAM, and Integration teams, to ensure cohesive and aligned operations.
• Vendor and Escalation Management: Manage relationships with application vendors, handle technical escalations, and ensure timely resolution of critical issues.
• Upgrades and Migrations: Lead application upgrades, migrations, and testing initiatives, ensuring smooth transitions and minimal downtime during production deployments.
• Disaster Recovery and Incident Management: Support disaster recovery efforts, service restoration, and major incident management to maintain business continuity and resilience.
• Documentation and Knowledge Transfer: Maintain comprehensive technical documentation and lead knowledge-transfer activities to empower teams and ensure operational continuity.

Qualifications and Requirements

To excel in this role, candidates must meet the following qualifications:

• Education: A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Business Information Systems, or a related field.
• Experience: Minimum of 8 years of hands-on experience in Business Applications Operations and Development, with a proven track record in a Technical or Application Lead capacity within an enterprise Managed Services environment.
• Technical Expertise: In-depth knowledge of application lifecycle management, production support, and enterprise applications such as ERP/CRM, Workflow, ITSM, Content Management, IAM, and Integration platforms.
• Integration and Development Skills: Strong proficiency in REST/SOAP APIs, web services, SQL, and application integration methodologies.
• Troubleshooting and Analysis: Exceptional troubleshooting abilities and a methodical approach to root cause analysis to resolve complex technical issues efficiently.
• ITIL Framework: Solid understanding of ITIL processes, including Incident, Problem, Change, and Release Management.
• Leadership and Communication: Demonstrated ability to coordinate technical teams, manage vendors, and communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels.
• Certifications: ITIL or relevant application/platform certifications are considered a significant advantage.
• Availability: Willingness to work onsite in Riyadh and participate in on-call support when required to ensure uninterrupted service delivery.

This role offers a unique opportunity to lead and shape the future of our Business Applications Managed Services, driving innovation, efficiency, and excellence in a fast-paced corporate environment.