Enterprise Applications & Integration Lead

Outcomes First Group; Manchester; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Life Assurance

Pension plan

Wellbeing support

Family leave enhancements

Flexible benefits via Vista

Job summary

Outcomes First Group is seeking a Head of Applications to lead the Group IT application portfolio and integration capability. You will oversee lifecycle management, governance, and cost optimisation across a multi-site education and care organisation.

This role reports to the Chief Architect and drives delivery plans, vendor governance, and cross-functional collaboration to achieve strategic outcomes. The Head of Applications will guide a team, partner with project teams, and ensure secure,

Qualifications

• Experience leading enterprise applications or integration teams.
• Strong ITSM and lifecycle management expertise.
• Proven supplier contract and vendor governance experience.
• Ability to communicate complex tech and commercial topics to senior leaders.
• Experience translating business needs into delivery plans and designs.
• Familiarity with Agile and project management.
• Excellent communication, organisational and stakeholder skills.

Responsibilities

• Own the Group Application portfolio with clear ownership, support models, data classifications, and roadmaps.
• Lead reviews of the application landscape to identify opportunities for rationalisation, remediation, retirement, or investment.
• Assess business requirements for new applications or material changes prior to procurement.
• Oversee application implementations, upgrades, releases, migrations, and decommissioning.
• Lead the Integration function, ensuring Power Automate workflows are designed, developed, tested, monitored, and supported to standards.
• Manage operational relationships with suppliers, overseeing service performance, contracts, and renewals.
• Manage application service KPIs, incident trends, risks, and improvement actions.
• Contribute to budget setting, forecasting, and commercial cost optimisation across licenses, subscriptions, and platforms.
• Support and build a capable, engaged team with clear objectives and development pathways.

Skills

Enterprise Apps Leadership

ITSM & Lifecycle

Supplier Governance

Stakeholder Communication

Requirements Translation

Agile/PM

Stakeholder Management

Tools

Power Automate

Job description

Outcomes First Group is seeking a Head of Applications to lead the Group IT application portfolio and integration capability. You will oversee lifecycle management, governance, and cost optimisation across a multi-site education and care organisation.

This role reports to the Chief Architect and drives delivery plans, vendor governance, and cross-functional collaboration to achieve strategic outcomes. The Head of Applications will guide a team, partner with project teams, and ensure secure,