Group Application Support Manager

Athora Group; Dublin; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Athora Group seeks a Group Application Support Manager to lead the support, maintenance and continuous improvement of business-critical applications across the group, with a focus on finance systems. You will manage day-to-day operations, ensure services meet SLAs and KPIs, and partner with Finance, IT and external vendors to drive service excellence.

Based in Dublin, this role involves up to 10% travel across Europe and requires strong stakeholder management, leadership and problem-solving

Qualifications

• Experience in Application Support and IT service management.
• Experience supporting business-critical finance applications (ERP, reporting, planning).
• Strong incident, problem, change and service management knowledge.
• Experience with multiple IT service providers and integrators.
• Degree in CS/Engineering or related field; finance/accounting qualifications helpful.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operation and support of Group applications with SLAs and KPIs.
• Direct incident resolution with root cause analysis and problem management.
• Partner with Finance teams as a trusted technology advisor for key platforms.
• Drive continuous improvement to simplify processes and reduce complexity.
• Oversee access management, licence governance and change activities.
• Coordinate transitions of new services into production and ensure readiness.
• Support disaster recovery, business continuity and audit activities.

Skills

Stakeholder management

People leadership

Customer-focused

Analytical

Problem solving

Communication skills

Education

Degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Finance or accounting qualification advantageous

Tools

ITIL certification

Lean or Agile certification

SAP S/4HANA

SAP BPC

Tagetik

Job description

Executive Summary

Role Title: Group Application Support Manager

Team: IT Shared Services

Function: Strategy & Operations

Location: Dublin

Travel: This role will require up to 10% travel within Europe

Purpose of this role

We are looking for a Group Application Support Manager to lead the support, maintenance and continuous improvement of business-critical applications across Athora Group. This role is responsible for ensuring high-quality operational support, managing service performance against agreed SLAs and KPIs, and driving service excellence across a portfolio of Group applications, with a focus on Finance systems. Working closely with Finance, IT, business stakeholders and strategic partners, the role-holders will play a key role in ensuring applications remain secure, resilient and aligned to business needs while supporting ongoing change and transformation initiatives.

Key Contribution Areas

• Manage the day-to-day operation and support of Group applications, ensuring services are delivered in line with agreed SLAs and KPIs.
• Lead the resolution of critical incidents, ensuring effective communication, root cause analysis and problem management activities.
• Build strong partnerships with Finance teams and act as a trusted technology partner for their critical platforms and systems.
• Drive continuous improvement across application support services, simplifying processes and reducing operational complexity.
• Maintain application support services in line with the Group Service Catalogue framework.
• Manage performance, security and operational alerts, ensuring timely resolution and compliance with internal standards.
• Oversee system access management, user recertification processes and software licence governance.
• Support change management activities, providing expertise and guidance on application and system changes.
• Manage relationships with internal teams, third-party vendors, contractors and managed service providers.
• Own the transition of new services into production, ensuring solutions are stable, documented and operationally ready.
• Support disaster recovery, business continuity and audit activities for finance systems, ensuring risk and audit actions are effectively managed and closed.
• Deliver clear service reporting and stakeholder communications, including engagement with senior leaders across the Group.

Personal Capabilities Required

• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships across business and technology teams.
• Effective people leadership and collaboration skills.
• Customer-focused with a strong service management mindset.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving and communication skills.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment and adapting to changing priorities.
• Results-oriented, resilient and proactive in driving improvements and resolving issues.

Functional or Technical Knowledge and Skill Required

• Proven experience in Application Support and IT service management, ideally within financial services or insurance.
• Experience supporting business-critical finance applications, including ERP, financial reporting, consolidation, planning, treasury, accounting or actuarial systems (highly beneficial).
• Strong knowledge of incident, problem, change and service management, with the ability to drive process improvements and optimise support services.
• Experience working with multiple IT service providers and solution integrators preferred.
• Degree-qualified in Computer Science, Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• A finance or accounting qualification would be advantageous.
• ITIL, Lean or Agile certification and experience with platforms such as SAP S/4HANA, SAP BPC or Tagetik would be beneficial.

Athora is a leading provider of guaranteed products in the European savings and retirement services market. We operate through primary insurance businesses in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy, and reinsurance operations in Bermuda and Ireland. At end of 2024, we had €76 billion of Assets under Management and Administration (AuMA), approximately 2.8 million customers, and c.1,500 employees across Belgium, Bermuda, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. As we continue to expand our footprint in the European life insurance market in support of our growth strategy, we are looking for driven, team players to join us on our journey. We welcome applicants who are guided by our shared values; Dare to be Different, Seek Simplicity, Care and Do the Right Thing and in return we offer a dynamic and collaborative work environment.