Lead Platform Engineer - Mainframe Dev Ops Full-time Job

Lead Platform Engineer - Mainframe Dev Ops

Build high-performing, scalable, enterprise-grade Platform services & build capability in others to do the same. This includes but is not limited to applying critical thinking, design thinking and problem solving skills in an agile team environment to solve complex technical problems with high quality solutions & leading all phases of the development lifecycle to deliver against business requirements at an optimal cost to serve.

Job Description

Platform Design, Deployment & Optimisation
Leads development test and platform management, translating customer, business and technical requirements into components of a service
Identify critical design areas, parameters and opportunity areas early in the development process and those that need improvement downstream
Stay ahead of the curve on leading practice platform technologies and Incorporate research into solution design and deployment processes
Develop lasting, innovative, simple platforms (including architecture when appropriate) to satisfy business and customer requirements and align with the long-term plan for the platform and broader technology objectives of: Self-service, testability, reusability, stability & resilience
Apply deep technical expertise, design thinking & problem solving skills to solve complex technical problems and enable the teams to deliver high quality solutions
Identify & Select the appropriate internal or external technologies to deliver the platform service
Applies excellent judgement and identifies and continuously improves on development practices
Develop solution design blueprints and validation collateral and facilitate alignment on solution blueprint and designs across the value chain
Lead the planning and design of the platform delivery system and define associated tools, hardware, processes, role assignments, dependencies, and documentation, resulting in a complete platform that meets KPIs
Lead the development and deployment lifecycle for platform / platform components as a service
Design & implement test automation and ensure reusability across the teams
Lead efforts to validate architectural, product or service solutions and innovations
Continually develop initiatives to reduce and optimize operational costs & increase strategic & operational efficiency through solution designs
Identify, develop & maintain platform standards and best practices, and drive adoption across multiple service teams
Define and implement SLA, OLA & quality metrics, best practices, and patterns to be applied across the platform
Strategically & operationally monitor Platform services to standard and proactively identify and mitigate risk
Use production performance monitoring and customer data to make / inform technical design and implementation decisions
Take full accountability for end-to-end platform quality, completeness and resulting user experience for the life of the product / service
Use & test the platform regularly to deeply understand it and discover & implement ways to improve it
Resolve issues throughout the life of the platform, including those outside of the immediate area of responsibility as needed; lead discussions with peers to take action to ensure the sustainable success of the platform
Provide leadership within the business by developing innovative methods for measuring the customer experience, and use this data to identify and drive platform improvements
Leverage systems & processes to measure, monitor and manage the performance of platforms ensuring ongoing optimization & cost to value for our businesses (think bank wide)
Translate performance data into insights for technical service & solution improvement and enhancement (across technical teams)
Align teams to service Improvement & innovation plan requirements and influence effective implementation
Lead the design of process or technology solutions that identify and resolve platform, system, deployment, and environmental issues.
Identify new and emerging practices for managing problems within the area and lead the adoption of new practices, across groups or disciplines with the aim of improving analytical capabilities
Lead the resolution of service issues by analyzing and prioritizing data from stakeholders and directing efforts or applying deep subject matter expertise to restore service with minimal disruption to the customer and business
Positively contribute to the design & evolution of Group Architecture, Infrastructure & associated technical standards for the organization where it makes sense to do so

• Cobol
• Rexx
• Assembler
• CLIST
• JCL
• Macros

Accountability: Financial & Cost Optimization, Risk & Governance
Take full accountability for delivering an optimal Platform Engineering cost model
Analyse operational cost data, identify cost-savings & efficiencies and influence the business to adopt these efficiencies across multiple service teams
Understand & contribute to the delivery of an optimal cost : serve of Platforms as a service
Create business cases & solution specifications for various governance processes (e.g. CTO approvals)
Participate in incident management & DR activity applying critical thinking, problem solving & technical expertise to get to the bottom of major incidents
Hold accountability for all risk associated with platform engineering decision making
Apply & maintain all Group risk (e.g. Architecture, development etc.), governance, compliance & regulatory standards and frameworks
Update & or develop & maintain all application documentation as per the organization technical standards and risk / governance frameworks

Accountability: People
Cascade platform direction across teams and ensure team alignment on platform direction, performance objectives, plans and prioritization
Build / contribute to a high performance team environment & culture through self-directed teams by driving performance management & measurement that is aligned with agile working practices (including daily, weekly, etc. sprint routines, regular & honest feedback etc.)
Assume one stop shop accountability for the right people in the right teams to deliver on our platform strategy (always!)
Leverage coaching techniques in all squad related activity to drive a higher quality design and deployment of technical products and services
Seek out opportunities for collaboration across groups, ensure that cross-team commitments are set, and achieves scale in team work efforts by enabling the work of others
Proactively lead the implementation of agile practices, remove barriers to success and ensure seamless delivery in a continuously changing work environment
Identify and develop needed skills (self and others) in a way that is best-suited to the service design and that maximizes delivery efficiency
Coach & mentor other engineers & support engineering teams on technical solutions and problem resolution
Conduct peer reviews, testing, problem solving within and across the broader team
Cascade platform performance feedback and ensure capability development across teams to enable efficient & effective platform service delivery
Support the people change teams in the design of adoption processes (Customer, Employee & 3rd Party Adoption)

Education

Bachelor's Degree: Information Technology

Truly AfricanWe are a diversified standalone African financial services group, delivering an integrated set of products and services across personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth, investment management and insurance.Absa Group Limited is listed on the JSE and is one of Africas largest diversified financial services groups with a presence in 12 countries across the continent and around 41 000 employees.Absa Group Limited is listed on the JSE and is one of Africas largest diversified financial services groups with a presence in 12 countries across the continent and around 41 000 employees.We own majority stakes in banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, the Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania (ABSA Bank in Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce), Uganda and Zambia. We also have representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria, as well as insurance operations in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.