I&T Manager: Technology & Operations - Head Office, Reitz Posted 23 November 2020 - Closing Date 07 December 2020 Share this vacancy on Facebook Share this vacancy on LinkedIn Share this vacancy on Twitter Division VKB LANDBOU Minimum experience Mid-Senior Company primary industry Agriculture Job functional area Information Technology Job Description VKB Agriculture (Pty) Ltd is a dynamic agricultural company with Head-Office based in Reitz in the Northeast Free State and business presence in Free State, Limpopo, Kwazulu-Natal and Mpumalanga . This organization strives towards healthy and modern business practices and offers employees the opportunity to utilize and develop their knowledge and skills in a competitive work environment. We offer you the opportunity to establish yourself within a professional corporate environment based in the countryside. About youYou are keen to join a dynamic Information & Technology (I&T) team and a business outside of the city metropole areas. We will surround you with people who are as passionate about Information & Technology as you are. You have a proven track record in managing an operational team (infrastructure and network) and have a pro-active approach ensuring a well maintained and performance driven solutions environment. You strive to execute business processes and I&T standards to streamline and support the overall I&T governance processes within your area of responsibility. As a Manager you love an environment where you can use your initiative to direct your own and your team members’ work and support colleagues. You are flexible and can switch between projects and processes while maintaining focus. Judgement is required on interconnected operational areas and how they impact the overall organization. About the RoleThe I&T Manager: Technology & Operations will be a leader in delivering I&T Operational services to the business. At VKB we are transforming our I&T Operations and are looking for an I&T leader that will completely rethink and transform how we provide operational support. Think DevOps Infrastructure, role-based configuration management and full I&T automation to minimize customer downtime. The I&T Manager: Technology & Operations is an I&T leadership position reporting directly to the Executive Head Information & Technology - VKB Group, which means working across the organization to ensure service delivery meets or exceeds expectations. A successful candidate will have a demonstrated track-record building high performance teams supporting large I&T ecosystems, system administration and monitoring. This includes but is not limited to Tier 1 Service Desk, Tier II Support and Training System Administration, Desktop Engineering (physical and virtual) Asset Management (ITAM), Physical and logical network, I&T asset procurement and asset management. To accomplish the goals of this position the I&T Manager – Technology and Operations interfaces with the company's leadership, directors, and staff to define operational requirements, develop related strategies, policies and procedures and provide advisory consulting for the virtual and physical protection of information system assets. The scope of responsibilities includes all technology resources authorized by the company in the transmission, processing and storage of information assets of the company. Duties and Responsibilities: Supervise a team of I&T infrastructure professionals. Develop and coach team members in the areas of technical aptitude, customer service and communication to enhance the quality of support delivered. Design and facilitate a performance measurement framework. Continuous evaluation and enhancement of the Incident Management process in line with ITIL best practice. Assist with monitoring, mentoring, coaching and assisting team members to deliver quality support. Plan, coordinate and set priorities for technical support and system administration. These duties include but are not limited to work schedules, standard operating procedures, projects, and maintenance in accordance with the company’s and I&T priorities and requirements. Draft, implement and train I&T Operations and Service Desk personnel on all operational procedures and documentation. Manage incident classification, prioritization & escalation processes. Communicate updates to customers and I&T colleagues on issue identification, status updates and resolution progress. Plan and recommend departmental workflow or system modifications to increase efficiency capacity and utilization. Prepare operational cost estimates for current and proposed projects. Responsible for the operation of all Service Desk shift work and firm wide on-call rotation. Manage vendors, contractors, and consultant relationships. Responsible for adhering to all company data archiving policies, procedures as well as monitoring and status reporting. Maintain knowledge of state-of-the-art technologies by attending training product demonstrations seminars and user groups. Resolve existing problems and develop solutions to recurring problems. Provide input for short and long-term budgets to the Executive and anticipate emergency funding for related hardware and software. Maintain knowledge of information security best practices, applications and industry security trends. Documentation and maintenance of Technology Architecture artefacts Skills and Qualifications: Applicable Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology or related field preferred. Project Management Professional (PMP), ITIL, Cobit and TOGAF would be an advantage. 5+ years of experience in an I&T leadership position leading complex technical projects in an enterprise environment An emphasis and motivation for assisting in the development and success of others. Exceptional communication skills both verbal and written (English and Afrikaans). Excellent technical skills on the latest technology platforms. Strong work ethic with a fierce dedication to exceeding expectations. Impeccable organizational skills with the ability to multitask and deliver results under pressure. Ability to address tactical issues in the short-term while maintaining strategic vision for the long-term. Effective manager who has achieved success working with diverse teams in different environments leveraging strengths of individuals to deliver superior results. Strong appreciation for business value and understanding of the trade-offs in varying levels of customer service. Ability to engage in detailed technical discussions with strong analytic reasoning and problem-solving skills. Experience with ITSM ITIL & Cobit principles and how to apply them in real world environments. Strong time management and troubleshooting skills. Able to work outside of standard hours including weekends. Ability to think quickly and clearly during critical incidents where minutes of downtime equate to significant revenue loss. Confident speaking in front of an audience with the interact and connect with Executives, Senior Business Management, engineers, and technical contacts. Ability to understand and articulate complex concepts in a clear and concise manner. Strong personal desire to improve and expand industry-related knowledge. Ability to develop effective relationships. Proven expertise in designing and implementing a successful customer service strategy in a dynamic environment; strong knowledge of modern best practice customer service models and approaches to supporting growing businesses. Ability to identify, analyze and solve varied unrelated problems. Ability to modify standard operating procedures when necessary to develop alternative courses of action when problem solving. Ability to document policies and chair management level boards. Metrics driven management style. Ability to keep management apprised of IT Operations status through metrics reporting (SLA’s ticket volume issues and overall performance of the Service Desk function).
