Head of Applications Support

Mace; Greater London; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Mace Construct Limited in London seeks an Associate Director – Head of Applications Support to lead the enterprise applications portfolio outside HR/Finance, covering SaaS, on‑prem and bespoke systems. You will drive governance, security, and continuous improvement, partnering with IT security, architecture and external vendors to deliver stable, compliant services.

You will oversee change, releases, integrations and incident management, while building strong relationships with stakeholders and

Qualifications

• Strong application support and ITSM background with ITIL or equivalent experience.
• Broad experience supporting SaaS, on‑premises and bespoke Microsoft‑based solutions.
• Experience leading support for business-critical systems outside HR/Finance platforms.
• Experience managing releases, testing cycles, change control and live support transitions.
• Knowledge of integrations across APIs, file feeds, middleware and dependencies.

Responsibilities

• Act as senior application owner for enterprise applications outside HR/Finance domains.
• Lead service delivery, monitor KPIs, incident resolution and escalation routes.
• Adopt and improve ITIL processes across the Digital team.
• Partner with owners, security, architecture and vendors to prioritise demand and roadmaps.
• Align service standards with HR/Finance systems and cross-portfolio priorities.
• Own the change roadmap, release management, testing and stakeholder communications.
• Oversee interfaces and integrations, manage dependencies and performance.
• Drive automation, standardisation and process improvement across support.

Skills

ITIL

Application support

Vendor management

Stakeholder management

Service management

Automation

Governance

Leadership

APIs & integrations

Incident management

Tools

Microsoft-based solutions

Job description

Associate Director – Head of Applications Support

Job Summary

You will lead the service, support, governance and continuous improvement of Mace’s enterprise applications portfolio outside the dedicated HR and Finance systems domains. Covering a diverse landscape of SaaS, on-premises and bespoke applications and their integrations, you will work at the intersection of business functions, IT, architecture, security and external vendors, alongside peers responsible for HR and Finance systems, to ensure these systems are stable, secure, well controlled and aligned to business priorities. This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone who can combine strong IT service management disciplines with broad application expertise, effective stakeholder partnership and a clear focus on business outcomes.

You’ll Be Responsible For

• Act as the senior application owner for Mace’s enterprise applications portfolio outside the dedicated HR and Finance systems domains, ensuring systems are supported and governed in line with business needs, audit requirements and enterprise IT standards.
• Lead service delivery across the application portfolio and its integrations, defining, monitoring and improving service KPIs, support processes, incident resolution, problem management and escalation routes.
• Take responsibility for the effective adoption, operation and continuous improvement of ITIL processes across the Digital team, including incident, problem, change, request, knowledge and service transition practices.
• Partner with business application owners, IT Security, Enterprise Architecture, Digital PMO, service management teams and third‑party delivery partners to prioritise demand, shape roadmaps and deliver controlled improvements across the application estate.
• Work closely with peers responsible for HR and Finance systems to align service standards, change governance, integration dependencies, data flows, risk management and cross‑portfolio priorities.
• Own the change roadmap for applications within scope, including release management, configuration and development changes, regression testing, user acceptance testing, stakeholder communications and transition into support.
• Oversee interfaces and integrations across enterprise applications, working with technical architects and specialist teams to manage dependencies, resilience, monitoring and end‑to‑end service performance.
• Drive automation, standardisation and process improvement across application support, reducing manual effort and improving consistency, user experience, resilience and operational control.
• Maintain strong vendor and managed service relationships, leading service reviews, managing performance, tracking actions and holding suppliers to account for delivery and continuous improvement.
• Lead compliance activity across the application estate, supporting ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, internal and external audit, access reviews, licence compliance and wider risk management requirements.
• Work with IT Security and application owners to strengthen security posture, including vulnerability remediation, appropriate access controls, patching, data protection and recovery arrangements.
• Identify, assess and manage application risks, technical debt, lifecycle issues and service dependencies, ensuring clear ownership, mitigation plans and escalation where required.
• Ensure documentation, knowledge articles, support guides, process maps, technical records and operational runbooks are maintained and accessible to support teams and business users.
• Contribute to application strategy and portfolio planning, helping shape target operating models, rationalisation priorities, lifecycle decisions and future support arrangements.
• Support delivery of application projects, upgrades, integrations and business transformation initiatives, ensuring appropriate governance, testing and transition processes are followed.
• Provide leadership and direction through internal colleagues, delivery partners and/or managers, creating clarity on priorities, standards and accountabilities.

You’ll Need To Have

• Strong application support and IT Service Management background, ideally with ITIL or equivalent practical service management experience, including ownership or improvement of ITIL processes across a Digital, IT or technology function.
• Broad experience supporting and improving a diverse enterprise application portfolio spanning SaaS, on‑premises and bespoke Microsoft‑based solutions.
• Experience leading support across business-critical systems outside dedicated HR and Finance platforms, with the ability to understand varied operational processes and business priorities.
• Experience managing releases, upgrades, testing cycles, change control and transition into live support environments.
• Working knowledge of integrations across multiple systems, including APIs, file feeds, middleware, monitoring and functional process dependencies.
• Proven ability to manage vendors, managed service providers and distributed delivery teams, including service performance, risks, issues, delivery plans and improvement activity across a complex application landscape.
• Strong analytical capability, with confidence using service data, reporting and insight to identify issues, inform decisions and improve service outcomes.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to translate between business users, technical teams, architects, suppliers and senior leaders.
• Sound understanding of governance, audit, data protection, access management, security and application lifecycle principles.
• Methodical, detail‑focused and comfortable working independently while leading others through ambiguity, diverse technologies and competing priorities.
• Positive, collaborative and outcome‑focused, with the ability to challenge constructively, solve problems creatively and drive continuous improvement.

Primary Location

GB-London

Organization

Mace Construct Limited

Schedule

Regular

Job Type

Full-time