JOB ROLE/ PURPOSE:

To resolve application and system issues that arise across a business area aimed at service availability, improvement of end user capabilities, experience / engagement with critical business applications and implement required system changes.

PRINCIPLE ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Implement application support based on departmental initiatives, using best practices in IT Service management

a) Implement the maintenance plan and upgrade schedule including application deployment and release processes, with a focus on quality assurance, testing, production acceptance for a given system

b) Implement the application support processes for in house and external partners in line with service standards and common systems.

c) Resolve system(s) critical issues as guided by the supervisor.

d) Write and execute test scripts to ensure that new products are configured and coded properly for successful integration and operations.

e) Assess the quality and risks of new products/releases.

f) Using data analysis and production progress reports, organize a release schedule for a software product.

g) Assemble data on release metrics, oversee the source code management system, maintain multiple build environments, and document steps relating to the release process.

2. Implement improvements to processes and systems to increase service availability and reliability.

a) Perform the day-to-day support monitoring and maintenance of the critical business applications for a business area.

b) Provide 24×7 support for event monitoring incident triage and escalation

c) Implement service enhancements as guided by the supervisor to minimize service disruption

d) Identify alternative solutions to business issues and recommend new approaches to the supervisor.

e) Implement all system changes as guided by the supervisor in collaboration with business counterparts

3. Implement  the approved IT Support Service  policies  and  procedures

a) Implement all changes in compliance with the approved change management policies and procedures

b) Update technical and standard operating procedures documents.

c) Conduct regressions tests on the changes implemented to confirm that no function of the application has stopped working as a result of the changes

d) Deliver cross training of business users on multiple areas of support.

e) Conduct concept and usability testing and gather user feedback.

f) Communicate design ideas and prototypes to the software developers

4. Implement activities designed to Guarantee the Resilience of Critical Business Applications

a) Prepare an incident an report for every IT disruption on a critical business application across the business area in a timely manner

b) Investigate and resolve problems in systems/services and ensure full documentation of the same.

c) Implementation the agreed remedies and preventative measures designed to maintain, restore or enhance customer experience.

d) Conduct disaster recovery drills for the various applications within the business area.

e) Work with software engineers to resolve any issues and document fixes for use in future reference materials.

f) Build test environments and troubleshoot any issues pertaining to the software’s performance

5. Support Internal and external clients in accessing URA services & Products to enhance service delivery and client satisfaction.

a) Provide feedback to stakeholders and supervisors of any updates on issues raised and resolved.

b) Conduct engagements of relevant stakeholders and ensure that they are rightly sensitized on the business application support process

c) Develop the relevant stakeholder awareness, user training and reference materials for the respective business support areas

 PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

Essential Requirements

1. An honors Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology or Statistics (Computing Option), Engineering and relevant degree.
2. At least two (2) years’ experience in Systems Development, System Analysis and Testing or webserver management.
3. Experience with deploying applications on web servers
4. Experience with managing data bases
5. Experience with trouble shooting application errors

Desirable Requirements

1. Certifications in Project Management such as Prince 2 or PMP
2. Certification in service Management e.g. ITIL
3. Development Certifications (such as Java Certification Professional, Microsoft Certified Developer (MCSP)) and/or Data Base Certifications such as Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) Microsoft Certified Systems Data Base Administrator (MCSDBA).
4. Experience of using an IT Service Management system to manage, allocate and monitor support tasks

Knowledge

a) Knowledge of DevOps principles

b) Knowledge of application debugging, containerization and programming languages for example Java, C#, Flutter and Dart, PHP

c) Knowledge of web server configuration

d) Secure deployment automation and orchestration of applications in Oracle Web logic, MS IIS, Apache among other applications servers

e) Application testing including use of automated testing techniques, stress and load testing tools and performance tuning.

f) Knowledge of carrying root cause analysis for identified incidents

g) Demonstrated knowledge in SQL based scripting languages and relational database management systems and design Using Oracle, MSSQL, MySQL, OrientDB

h) Knowledge of application performance metric and interpreting application related error conditions

SPECIFIC SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES

a) Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

b) Strong conceptual, problem diagnosis and decision making skills

c) Excellent analytical ability and attention to detail

d) Demonstrated creativity and innovation capability

e) A suitable candidate should be a person of demonstrable integrity

f) Excellent systems analysis as well as knowledge and interest in emerging technologies

g) Ability to assimilate new support tasks, while retaining and developing established ones

h) Ability to work within a changing business and technical environment

i) Ability to deal with confidential and sensitive information with tact and discretion

j) Technical competence and proven troubleshooting skills

k) Ability to explain complex ideas to those with limited IT and systems knowledge

l) Ability to troubleshoot and resolve web server related issues (Apache, Tomcat, IIS, Nginx, Web logic)