The position of Head – Technical Services is a senior management position within the Organization and takes full ownership of the performance and results of the technical services function for the Group. The position shall oversee the Data Centre business unit and be responsible for the overall management of the facilities, expansion objectives, technology roadmaps and operational deployment and oversight. The individual will be responsible for the core functioning and overall results, capabilities and performance of the technical services function across the Group which includes deployment of various OEM solutions internally or externally to third party customers, management of SLA’s and resource optimization, overall uptime and service provisioning of the fintech business unit and development of skills and talent within the organization technical services group.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and manage the business value chain including operations, technology deployment and support of the Data Centre business unit including management of the resource pool.

• Ensure SLA’s are adhered to for the Data Centre in line with the Tier III standards (across all physical and virtual platforms) and ensure the facilities continue to operate optimally within these standards and frameworks.

• Manage, oversee and closely work with the internal technology & operations teams to ensure availability of all Data Centre services that are internal and external customer facing.

• Lead the overall expansion and enhancement objectives of the Group from a technology standpoint by evaluating and providing insight to recommended roadmaps, identification of gaps in the technology ecosystem and lead the process of enhancement or optimization.

• Constantly evaluate the technologies being utilized and being deployed for third party customers with a mandate to optimize and enhance value to the Groups’ Data Centre portfolio, system integration customer portfolio and fintech service portfolio.

• Oversee the new Security Operations Centre services business vertical including supporting business development by working with the business development functions to drive customer adoption and growth in customer base.

• Extensively support and work with the commercial and business development teams across the Group in supporting various opportunities including infrastructure scoping, implementations, scoping, consulting and related services to maximize revenue.

• Manage the Technical Services functions of the Group in relation to its operational culture, performance and deliverables.

• Own the delivery process by managing the various resource pools in delivering quality outcomes for internal and external customers within defined delivery periods.

• Lead the technical implementation of new deployments including those working with the various OEM’s that the Group works with for delivery of various solutions.

• Work with external customers and various internal commercial functions to scope and propose solutions for external customers by identifying needs and recommending adequate solutions that would most optimally deliver to the expectations of the customer technology demands.

• Manage the technical team’s performance of individual behavioral and technical aspects to attain the overall objectives of the business.

• Enhance customer value propositions through new and innovative commercially viable solutions that will help grow the portfolio and overall customer objectives of the Group.

• Provide mentorship and on the job training to the technical members within the Group.

• Identify and evaluate team member performance as well as new recruits and provide them with necessary training to deliver on the expectations of the business.

• Manage and maintain relationships with trade suppliers or OEM’s both locally and internationally in so far as it relates to aspects of the technical operations of the Group.

• Regularly meet customers to identify new opportunities and enhance current customer offerings leading to engagements with internal stakeholders to drive consequent value-add to the end-customer in ensuring increased commercial returns to the Group.

• Optimize operational costs in delivery and lead-time through reduced cost of goods sold and higher operating profitability.

• Monitor and report on activities and provide relevant management information for appropriate and timely decision making.

• Liaise and attend meetings with other company functions necessary to perform duties and aid business and organizational development; and

• Advise the management and Board as appropriate regarding business risks, opportunity costs and operational constraints that may hinder the growth and or efficiency of the organization.

Skills

• Must be a strong team leader and ability to manage diverse personalities within the team to ensure deliverables are achieved across the various functional demands of the business.

• Must have the ability to work cross-functionally to attain overall business objectives by supporting multiple Group business units and similarly attaining the required support from other functions.

• Certified and professionally capable of deploying the following technologies:

o Must posses strong experience in VmWare hypervisor o Must posses strong experience in Microsoft Server & Active Directory o Must posses strong experience in SAN / NAS technologies. NetApp Storage experience is a added advantage

o Must posses strong experience in Server Computing and specific experience in Cisco UCS Blade servers is an added advantage.

o Must posses strong experience in Cisco switching and routing o Must posses strong experience in Fortinet Firewalls o Microsoft Exchange (multi-tenanted) o Microsoft hypervisor o Symantec End Point protection o Syncrify backup o Netbackup Sectrio SOC

• Ability to support the following operational data centre infrastructure:

o Cloud Computing infrastructure for private and public cloud environments o Understanding of Power related infrastructure o Added advantage in understanding of Cooling systems o Added advantage in understanding of Fire protections related systems o Added advantage in understanding of Overall building management & monitoring systems

• Ability to develop technical competence in the various technical team members.

• Lead the team to drive customer engagements to derive commercial returns.

• Must be a futuristic thinker with fundamentals of value creation.

• Must posses strong business acumen in driving growth through supporting commercial viability in the various decisions of the functions.