Manager - Technology Planning at T2 (Formerly 9Mobile)

Job Summary                   
Support the overall IT strategy with solid technology plans and roadmaps.  Maintain/update and govern the execution of technology plans that are aligned with the business strategy and vision across the IT stack for Etisalat with strong visibility on how IT contributes to business success.  Responsible for the end to end (multi-tier) Enterprise IT and Telco centric systems capacity planning to ensure availability of adequate capacity to meet business requirement in a sustainable and optimized manner.

Principal Functions                                       

•     Support the effort for the development and periodic update of the IT strategy to ensure that IT actions are clearly defined and appropriately scoped to deliver business value.
•     Assist in the definition of the blueprint that drives IT investment. Continuously align IT actions with business goals.
•     Develop end to end technology plans based on the IT strategy;
•     Guide technology decisions, ensuring alignment with business objectives and established architecture principles & standards.
•     Accountable for the implementation of IT plans;
•     Facilitate the process for creation and/or collection of key technology architecture artefacts. Ensure timely, accurate and up-to-date documentation of the IT landscape.
•     Oversee and drive the implementation of reusable architectural artefacts and solution components to deliver business benefits based on critical business considerations such as faster time to market, quick time to value, improved QoS/QoE, business agility, operational stability and IT cost efficiency/optimization.
•     Assist with the establishment of architecture principles and standards and enforcement of these through the platform of the Architecture Review Board and other architecture governance processes. 
•     Review and recommend approval for all proposed IT solution designs as prerequisite for solution build and implementation.
•     Validate compliance to architecture principles at key development checkpoints for solutions in development on one hand and changes to those in production on the other.
•     Oversee the interworking of multivendor and multi-technology IT solution set to ensure seamless interoperability and compatibility. Eliminate complexity and potential change inhibitors within the IT landscape.
•     Support the development and maintenance of a roadmap of IT initiatives to deliver the target architecture for the realization of extant business visions and strategies.
•     Conduct IT products, solution and technology analysis and reviews for selection recommendation in compliance with architecture standards and to ensure fitness for purpose.
•     Analyse solution options and make recommendations for the articulation of business cases for IT investments.
•     Drive technology innovation to create business value in terms of improved business performance and ROI.
•     Own and manage the development/deployment of a fit-for-purpose framework for continuous capacity planning & monitoring with a view to proactively meeting and anticipating business demand across all IT systems.
•     Produce capacity plans to proactively meet the demand on the IT organization to ensure that the business is adequately positioned to respond to internal/external demand in a consistently efficient and effective manner.
•     Ensure alignment of capacity plans for IT infrastructure with those of other demand management / planning functions across all technology functions within the organization.
•     Liaise with other teams within and outside IT in the process of delivering required capacity and business capabilities.
•     Track and evaluate usage statistics of deployed systems and advise on required capacity provisioning actions.
•     Provide technical leadership for the implementation and integration of assigned IT projects.
•     Own the design of fit-for-purpose solutions to solve business problems by leading design workshops with key stakeholders with strong emphasis on business value, risk and on time to value.
•     Own project technical deliverables and ensure delivery to acceptable standards.
•     Facilitate and oversee the testing of integrated systems within assigned projects.
•     Perform other duties as assigned by Head, IT Strategy & Architecture Governance.

Educational Requirements                        

•     First degree or equivalent in Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Computer Science/Engineering or other numerate science.
•     Postgraduate/IT professional qualifications/Certifications in related fields will be an added advantage eg Possession of relevant IT (OEM & Non OEM) certification is a key advantage e.g. TOGAF, ZF, Cisco, HP, Oracle, IBM, Huawei etc

Experience,Skills & Competencies                        

•     Six (6) to eight (8) years relevant work experience with at least three (3) years in a supervisory role.
•     Experience in multiple, diverse technology environments and domains.
•     Good understanding of telecommunication business and technology model.
•     Practical working knowledge with hands-on exposure to key mobile CSP network elements.
•     Very good understanding of business analysis and project management methods.
•     Very good conceptual and analytical thinking.
•     Good interpersonal and communication skills.