Software Application Services Practice Leader

Our client – a global ICT organisation - is looking to appoint an experienced candidate to lead a new practice area within their organisation – the Applications Services Practice. This is a key appointment and applicants must have a minimum of 15 years relevant experience in the IT sector, 5 of which have been at management level with prior financial responsibility, commercial acumen, application related business strategy, development of value added offerings & planning and operational management of a large team of experienced software professionals.

The role requires candidates to be fully conversant with trends in the IT sector with particular regard to software development, delivery and knowledgeable of the end to end software procurement & development lifecycles. Ideally candidates will have a deep understanding of customer buying behaviours for software related services in the Irish marketplace. In addition a track record of supporting Sales and Marketing as a subject matter expert as part of a consultative sale is very desirable

Responsibilities of the role

• Establish within our client’s organisation an enterprise class software services practice.
• In response to specific opportunities or as part of larger solution deals, design, plan, implement and support application based solutions.
• Be instrumental in the growth of Software Solution Revenues for our client
• Manage the P&L for the software business to agreed targets
• Lead in the Preparation of a Strategy & Plan to enable our client’s growth targets.
• Establish Companywide Software Delivery methods, processes, tools, skills and competencies to ultimately provide an an enterprise class Applications Management Service
• Work closely with the Client Account teams to ensure high customer satisfaction with our Software services
• Develop innovative offerings and approaches to differentiate our client
• Manage existing & newly hired  software professionals  (includes career development planning, mentoring, organisation structure definition)
• Identify and develop strategic software services partner(s)
• Manage partner relationships for existing client engagements
• Liaison with other colleagues to understand corporate service offerings and opportunities for leveraging new service offerings for our client’s marketplace
• Manage the Software Business  Reporting metrics on a monthly basis
• Provide high-end strategic consulting and/or training where appropriate to clients
• Provide and develop thought leadership in software offerings

Qualifications

Ideal Candidate will demonstrate:

• Experience of working in a large scale professional IT consulting or services company at management level or previous experience in running an SME Software Services/Solutions Company
• Experience developing an offshore/nearshore or other component outsourcing to specialist providers.
• Experience implementing a Software Engineering or Applications Lifecycle Management governance into a services organisation or development team within any other large organisation.
• Understanding of SDLC Methodologies, waterfall, iterative, agile, RUP and ability to assess and determine suitable methodologies appropriate for our client.
• Strong command of Software Quality Management (SQM) disciplines
• Advanced Ability to ensure quality. governance & other standards can be applied rigorously and improved
• Experience and proven approach to leading senior professional and technical teams
• Experience of managing a large team of IT professionals in a distributed environment
• Good commercial experience including preparation and/or reviews of commercial , proposals, contracts, SLAs and Service agreements (for Partners & Associates)
• Experience of delivering seminars / webinars at industry forums to promote software solutions.
• Recognition by stakeholders as a leader and team player willing to take calculated risks.