I. JOB DESCRIPTION

Links to structures

Job function*

Information Technology

Job family*

Application Development and Support

Job reports to*

Manager, Application Maintenance & Support

Career type*

Functional/Specialist

Contribution

Job purpose description*

To provide second/third level user support across all applications, core banking and peripherals at both Branch and Head Office. To monitor, maintain, manage and effect deployments/changes as per Group governance/policies/standards/mandates to ensure high-performance and availability of applications/peripheral systems. To escalate high impact issues to Manager, Application Maintenance & Support.

Job criticality

Operationally Critical

Key responsibilities*

Output group 1*

Provide support for applications, core banking and peripheral systems

Outputs and measures*

• Provide L 2-3 support to all users at Branch and Head Office
• Provide afterhours support in line with Service Level Agreements to ensure customer satisfaction
• Ensure high availability of all applications and peripheral systems

• Participate in the development of system specifications for enhancements to locally owned systems by providing a technical view on the impacts on supporting and interfacing applications and databases.
• Review the developments done by group technology or vendor teams in line with the specifications that were developed by participating in relevant testing on request.
• Participate in project implementation and any other duties as assigned by Manager Application Maintenance & Support

Output group 2*

Execute local testing and deployment of new applications and changes

Outputs and measures*

• Test Change Requests (CRs)/scripts for end-to-end regression and user acceptance testing including negative testing. Take into account the entire local system landscape for the testing scenarios.
• Set up the local test environments as a near replica of the production environments, including replicating key data elements from production systems.
• Load the CRs/test scripts onto the relevant systems for automated tests and prepare manual test scripts if/where required. Contact the people who need to participate in user acceptance testing, provide test scripts, follow up on completion of testing and summarise the test results.
• On instruction from the Manager, Application Maintenance & Support, roll back systems to previously backed up versions. Escalate any further faults immediately.
• For major system failures, participate in the crisis management process by attempting to investigate and resolve the issue, engaging with third party vendors or group technology teams and by participating in a coordinated effort to bring the systems back into full operation.

Output group 3*

Support and maintain systems applications

Outputs and measures*

• Review the performance of the systems service level agreements and uptime standards on a daily/regular basis.
• Compile weekly management information for management and business use on the system uptime, open incidents, incident resolution times. 
• Resolve service requests, incidents and issues that are escalated from the service desk. Escalate further to group or vendor teams if the issues cannot be resolved locally.
• Review assigned open Team Track incidents and issues on a daily basis. Close resolved items and update the commentary with the actions taken and other required information.
• Install applications on end user desktops using the bank’s protocols in terms of licensing and allocation of user rights.
• Prepare and execute daily, monthly and annual data loads into interfacing systems locally or to the main data centre at head office. Escalate errors and issues experiences with the data loads.
• When required, act as a standby for application maintenance, changes and for times when changes are transported into production to ensure quick response in case of issues.

Output group 4

Effect system changes and maintenance

Outputs and measures

• Execute the actions required to conduct bi-annual business resumption testing by doing the switch-over to the back-up site, assisting in system restores and any other activities to enable the DR site to be fully operational. Participate in all DR testing and simulation activities. Escalate all errors and process gaps to the manager immediately. Participate in the development of corrective actions for gaps identified during testing.
• Provide daily and weekly management information to the manager using system extracts as well as commentary on findings and issues in the department.
• Apply the bank’s standard operating processes, control requirements and risk management frameworks for all activities undertaken.
• Read assurance and audit reports that relate to the department and contribute to the development and implementation of remediation plans.         
• During formal assurance reviews and audits, provide supporting documents, checklist snad reports required by the reviewers.
• Escalate Risk Incidents as a result of operational errors or fraud to the manager. Participate in formal investigations if requested.          
• Undertake the required compliance and other mandatory in within the defined timelines.
• Apply all policies and processes related to physical and systems access control and other information security requirements.        

Output group 5

Key Performance Measures

Outputs and measures

• Maximum availability of the bank’s applications and peripheral systems
• Minimal downtime to be within agreed limits
• Number of Severity 1 outages
• Availability of Disaster Recovery Site operations and testing at least twice yearly
• Number of outstanding changes

II. REQUIREMENTS

Qualifications

Formal minimum qualification 1*

Type of qualification: Diploma
Field of study: IT and Computer Sciences

Other qualifications, certifications or professional memberships

ITIL Foundation Certification

Experience

Experience required 1*

Job Function: Information Technology
Job Family: Application Development and Support
Years: 1-2 Years
Experience Description: Experience in supporting banking applications in a multi-system environment.

Experience preferred 1

Job Function: Information Technology
Job Family: Business Partnering
Years: 1-2 Years
Experience Description: Experience engaging directly with a client-facing team on their technology requirements would be advantageous.

Experience preferred 2

Job Function: Information Technology
Job Family: Application Development and Support
Years: 1-2 Years
Experience Description: Some experience of working with different programming languages would be advantageous.

Behavioural Competencies

Behavioural competency 1*

Competency Label: Developing Expertise
Competency Description: "Developing Expertise” is about individuals being open to learning as well as maintaining an efficient rate at which they learn. Furthermore, aims to develop relevant expertise can apply productively in service of their organisation's goals.

Behavioural competency 2*

Competency Label: Examining Information
Competency Description: This competency serves to aid effective problem solving and requires being effective at probing and analysing situations efficiently and accurately. This competency is important because without sufficient analysis, effective solutions become less probable. In addition, poor analysis makes it more likely that individuals become confused and anxious, bored, error prone or overwhelmed by detail, which also impacts negatively on successful problem solving.

Behavioural competency 3

Competency Label: Interpreting Data
Competency Description: This competency is about interpreting data accurately with an emphasis on the processing and interpretation of numbers. This competency also includes the utilisation of technology.

Behavioural competency 4

Competency Label: Interacting with People
Competency Description: This competency is about fostering relationships that benefit the organisation as well as an individual’s effectiveness and efficiency. More specifically, it includes personal networking behaviours, making contact with others and strengthening relationships.

Behavioural competency 5

Competency Label: Showing Composure
Competency Description: This is about the extent to which individuals can remain calm under pressure and maintain poise before and during important events. As such, the competency addressed in this document is concerned with the extent to which individuals show behaviours that lead to the effective handling of pressurised situations. 

Behavioural competency 6

Competency Label: Checking Details
Competency Description: This competency is concerned with the careful checking and confirmation of details in a task. Another behaviour associated with the “Checking Details” competency is being accurate. Being accurate requires individuals to have a strong quality orientation as well as to be thorough and detailed in their approach when completing tasks in order to avoid making mistakes.

Behavioural competency 7

Competency Label: Taking Action
Competency Description: This competency is about taking action in service of achieving the organisation's goals. It is about being energetic, showing initiative and being action oriented.

Technical Competencies

Technical competency 1*

Competency Label: Application Knowledge for Support
Competency Description: Refers to the knowledge and experience required to ensure provision of application maintenance and support services. Support typically takes the form of investigating and resolving problems and providing information about the systems. It may also include monitoring their performance.
Proficiency Level: PROFICIENT - Clear knowledge and application of the concept

Technical competency 2*

Competency Label: Business Continuity Management
Competency Description: Refers to the knowledge and experience required to ensure provision of service continuity planning and support.
Proficiency Level: PROFICIENT - Clear knowledge and application of the concept

Technical competency 3

Competency Label: Information Security
Competency Description: The management of, and provision of expert advice on, the selection, design, justification, implementation and operation of information security controls and management strategies to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, availability, accountability and relevant compliance of information systems.
Proficiency Level: BASIC - Applies elementary concepts to develop activities under supervision

Technical competency 4

Competency Label: Knowledge of Banking & Financial Services business
Competency Description: Knowledge of business concepts, entities (definition, ownership, use, semantics and syntax) specific to Banking & Financial Services industry.
Proficiency Level: BASIC - Applies elementary concepts to develop activities under supervision

Technical competency 5

Competency Label: Rollout Management
Competency Description: Refers to the knowledge and experience required to ensure the protection of the live environment and its services by using formal procedures and checks.
Proficiency Level: PROFICIENT - Clear knowledge and application of the concept

Technical competency 6

Competency Label: Testing
Competency Description: The planning, design, management, execution and reporting of tests, using appropriate testing tools and techniques and conforming to agreed standards, to ensure that new and amended systems, together with any interfaces, perform as specified.
Proficiency Level: BASIC - Applies elementary concepts to develop activities under supervision

Leadership Competencies (for jobs in Levels of Work 3 to 7)

No leadership competencies identified

Additional Job Dimensions

Business accountability: Impact on end result*

Contributory ­- Advisory or facilitating services for use by others

Description or examples: Execute the decisions to upgrade, change, enhance or backup systems based on instructions received.

Typical direct reports for this job*

Job Title: None
Number: No direct reports

Financial accountability*

Type of Budget: No Budget Managed
Size of Budget (ZAR equivalent): Click here to enter text.
Type of accountability: Choose an item.

Internal relationships*

Business area: Business areas that use the applications in the supported portfolio
Job: Employees and line managers
Nature of relationship: Contribute to their service delivery
Sphere of influence: Limited to their department only
Description or examples: Engaging on system issues or changes that could affect their clients.

Business area: Group technology teams
Job: Systems support colleagues
Nature of relationship: Provide and receive a service
Sphere of influence: Impact the whole functional area
Description or examples: Escalating issues on group wide systems, collaborate on investigations into system failures.

Accountability for problem solving*

Degree of guidance received to solve problems:
Standardised - Substantially diversified procedures, general supervision
Description or examples: Group policies and standard operating procedures define the way the applications need to be maintained and governed and the daily routine is defined be the line manager.

Degree of original thought required to solve problems:

Patterned - Similar situations, solution by choice of known processes

Description or examples: Application Support Specialists are accountable for providing second level support for technical issues for a defined grouping of applications.

Accountability for planning of activities*

Performance or supervision of varied activities

Description or examples: Activities and checklists are quite standard, but due to the nature and significant variety of the bank’s systems, the way it has to be applied varies substantially from day to day.

Discretion allowed for decision making*

Standardised - Prescribed practices, supervision of progress and results

Description or examples:  Processes and policies are defined. Line manager review takes place on a daily basis.

Work environment*

Working Conditions 1: Night work may be required
Working Conditions 2: Regular overtime may be required
Physical Requirements: No specific physical requirements