Associate Practice Manager - IT Development

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Architect and oversee the end-to-end design of scalable, resilient enterprise systems.
• Establish and enforce engineering standards for system design, data structures, API contracts, and code quality across Java, Python & OCI technology stacks.
• Lead architecture review boards, design critiques, and technical risk assessments for major initiatives.
• Drive the adoption of AI/ML capabilities - including LLMs, predictive analytics, and intelligent automation - into core business workflows.
• Ensure solutions meet non-functional requirements: high availability, performance, observability, and security compliance.

AI & Data Engineering

• Define the strategic vision and execution roadmap for AI-based application development across core Business System use cases.
• Champion responsible AI practices, including model governance, explainability, bias mitigation, and auditability in regulated financial environments.
• Stay ahead of the curve on emerging AI frameworks, foundation models, and agentic system design patterns.

Engineering Delivery & Programme Management

• Own end-to-end delivery accountability for multiple concurrent technology programmes, ensuring on-time, on-budget, and high-quality outcomes.
• Apply best practices in Agile/SAFe delivery, managing backlogs, sprint cadences, release planning, and stakeholder reporting.
• Identify, track, and mitigate project risks, dependencies, and delivery bottlenecks proactively.
• Manage vendor and partner relationships, including contract oversight and SLA governance.

Team Leadership & People Development

• Build, manage, and inspire a multi-disciplinary engineering team across software engineers, architects, data engineers, and QA professionals.
• Define career growth frameworks, conduct performance reviews, and create individual development plans aligned to team and organisational goals.
• Foster a culture of psychological safety, continuous learning, and engineering excellence.
• Drive talent acquisition and succession planning in partnership with HR and Talent Acquisition.

Stakeholder & Executive Engagement

• Serve as the primary technology partner to C-suite and senior business stakeholders (CFO, CPO, COO offices), translating complex technical concepts into business value narratives.
• Prepare and present technology roadmaps, investment cases, programme status updates, and risk registers at Board and Executive Committee level.
• Influence strategic technology decisions and enterprise architecture direction through credible, data-driven recommendations.
• Build strong cross-functional partnerships with Product, Finance, Operations, Risk, and Compliance teams.

Required Qualifications & Experience

Experience

• 15-17 years of progressive experience in software engineering and technology leadership roles within enterprise environments.
• Minimum 5 years in a senior leadership role managing multi-functional engineering teams of 15 or more.

Domain Knowledge

• Deep functional understanding of major Finance & Revenue, Project & Delivery management, ITSM & IT operations, HR & workforce and Customer experience processes
• Familiarity with regulatory and compliance frameworks relevant to Finance technology (e.g., SOX, IFRS, GAAP).

Technical Expertise

• Expert-level proficiency in Java (Spring Boot, microservices, JVM performance tuning) and Python (FastAPI, Django, data engineering libraries such as Pandas, PySpark).
• Hands-on experience designing and building AI-based applications, including LLM integration, RAG architectures, ML pipelines, and intelligent automation workflows.
• Strong command of data structures, algorithms, distributed systems, and system design principles including CQRS, Event Sourcing, and Domain-Driven Design.
• Extensive experience with cloud-native architectures on OCI & AWS; containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes), CI/CD pipelines, and DevSecOps practices.
• Proficiency in relational and NoSQL databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Cassandra) and data warehouse/lakehouse technologies (Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery).
• Familiarity with enterprise integration patterns, API management platforms, and event streaming (Kafka, MQ).

Leadership & Management

• Strong programme and project management capabilities; PMP, PRINCE2, or SAFe certification is an advantage.
• Experience operating in matrix organisations and navigating complex stakeholder landscapes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to produce Board-ready materials.

Core Competencies

Technical

Leadership & Business

Systems Thinking & Architecture

Strategic Vision & Road mapping

AI/ML Application Engineering

Executive Stakeholder Management

Java & Python Engineering Excellence

Team Building & Talent Development

Data Structures & Algorithm Design

Cross-functional Collaboration

Cloud-Native & DevSecOps Practices

Influence Without Authority

Domain-Driven Design

Delivery Ownership & Accountability