Application Development Manager

Job description: As an Application Development Manager, you will bridge people leadership, technical delivery and business outcomes across multiple agile squads operating within the company's Agile Delivery Model (ADM). You will manage cloud-native development programmes on the Azure platform, lead a cross-functional team of Developers, Business Analysts, QA engineers and Scrum Masters, and contribute directly to the delivery of key digital initiatives reshaping the adviser and client experience.

Key Responsibilities: People Delivery

• Lead developers, BAs, QA engineers and Scrum Masters, including performance, development and hiring.

• Lead sprint and release planning, capacity, resource allocation and backlog prioritisation.

• Align business stakeholders and delivery teams on priorities and delivery commitments.

• Manage blockers, escalations, delivery metrics and 3rd-party vendor relationships.

• Ensure applications and operational processes adapt to evolving business and client needs.

Technical Governance

• Act as technical owner for defined applications within the Company portfolio.

• Govern technical standards, code reviews, Definition of Done and technology decisions.

• Maintain knowledge of C# .NET, Azure Functions and Azure Service Bus.

• Govern Azure cost management, security and compliance, and drive cloud migration.

• Participate in architecture decisions and sign off application designs.

• Ensure CI/CD, testing and technology changes meet quality, security and release standards.

• Manage audit, risk and compliance requirements, including POPIA, FAIS and the company's group standards.

Strategic Contribution

• Contribute to the company IT and business strategy and drive continuous improvement.

• Embed AI-assisted development tooling, including GitHub Copilot and Azure AI services.

• Support the the company's digital transformation agenda across platform, digital channels and integration programmes.

Minimum requirements

• B.Com Informatics / B.Engineering / B.Sc. Computer Science or equivalent.

• 5+ years’ software development experience with at least 2 years in a technical leadership or management role.

• Hands-on experience with agile delivery tooling for source control, sprint tracking and automated build and release pipelines.

• Strong understanding of CI/CD, cloud-native architecture and modern software delivery practices.

• Excellent stakeholder communication skills at both technical and business executive levels.

Advantageous

• Experience in financial services or a regulated environment (POPIA, FAIS, FSP-regulated).

• Azure DevOps experience: boards, repositories and pipelines.

Desired Skills

• Systems Analysis
• Complex Problem Solving
• Programming/configuration
• Critical Thinking
• Time Management