Head, Investment Core Technology Services

Randstad Malaysia; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 300,000 - 540,000; Full time

Job summary

Randstad Malaysia is seeking an experienced Head of Investment Core Technology Services / Head of Application Services to lead an offshore application support and production support function for mission-critical capital markets and trading applications.

You will ensure stability, availability, performance and continuous improvement across a 24x5.5 support environment, coordinating with regional users, technology teams and external vendors to deliver reliable service.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience supporting and managing mission-critical applications within banking, financial services, capital markets, brokerage or investment banking.
• At least 5 years of leadership experience managing application support, application services, production support or technology operations teams.
• Strong experience in production support, application operations, IT service management, incident management and problem management.
• Proven experience managing offshore, regional or multi-location application support teams.
• Strong stakeholder management experience with business users, senior management, technology teams and external vendors.
• Proven vendor and third-party management experience.
• Strong understanding of ITIL, service management, change management, release management and operational governance.
• Experience supporting trading, brokerage, capital markets, market data, clearing, settlement or wealth management applications will be highly advantageous.
• Good technical understanding of Microsoft and/or Linux environments, databases, SQL, APIs, application interfaces and middleware.
• Exposure to application monitoring, observability, log management, batch processing, job scheduling, scripting and automation.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, communication and problem-solving skills, with the ability to operate effectively in a high-availability, mission-critical environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead offshore application support and production support team, including coaching, mentoring, performance management, resource planning and support coverage.
• Own application operations, production support, service delivery and operational stability for critical business and trading applications.
• Lead incident management, major incident management, problem management, root cause analysis (RCA) and service recovery activities.
• Ensure critical batch processes, application interfaces, APIs, market data feeds and trading-related services operate reliably within defined service windows.
• Act as the primary technology contact for business stakeholders and users based in Singapore, translating business requirements and priorities into effective technology support.
• Coordinate across application support, infrastructure, cybersecurity, database, network and regional technology teams to resolve production issues and deliver service improvements.
• Manage third-party vendors, application vendors and service providers, ensuring contractual obligations, SLAs and support commitments are met.
• Drive application monitoring, observability, alerting, logging and operational dashboards to improve system visibility and proactive issue detection.
• Identify recurring incidents and operational risks, driving continuous improvement, automation and operational resilience.
• Establish and maintain support procedures, escalation processes, runbooks, knowledge repositories and operational documentation.
• Oversee change management, release management, production deployments, application upgrades and maintenance activities while minimising business disruption.
• Support IT governance, audit, risk management, disaster recovery, resilience testing and business continuity requirements.
• Ensure applications comply with internal technology standards, regulatory requirements and operational controls.

Skills

ITIL / IT Service Management

Application support leadership

Incident and problem management

Vendor management

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor Degree

Tools

SQL

APIs

Linux

Windows

Job description

about the company

We are partnering with a leading financial institution with a strong presence across banking, financial services and capital markets. The organisation operates a complex technology environment supporting critical business operations across the region.

The technology function is undergoing continuous improvement across application services, production support, technology operations, service management and operational resilience, with a strong focus on stability, availability, regulatory compliance and service excellence.

This is an opportunity to join a large, established organisation and take ownership of mission-critical enterprise and capital markets applications supporting regional business users.

about the job

We are looking for an experienced Head of Investment Core Technology Services / Head of Application Services to lead an offshore Application Support and Production Support function supporting mission-critical applications within a capital markets / trading environment.

You will be responsible for ensuring the stability, availability, performance and continuous improvement of business-critical applications, operating within a 24x5.5 support environment and partnering closely with regional business users, technology teams and external vendors.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage an offshore application support / production support team, including coaching, mentoring, performance management, resource planning and support coverage.
• Own application operations, production support, service delivery and operational stability for critical business and trading applications.
• Lead incident management, major incident management, problem management, root cause analysis (RCA) and service recovery activities.
• Ensure critical batch processes, application interfaces, APIs, market data feeds and trading-related services operate reliably within defined service windows.
• Act as the primary technology contact for business stakeholders and users based in Singapore, translating business requirements and priorities into effective technology support.
• Coordinate across application support, infrastructure, cybersecurity, database, network and regional technology teams to resolve production issues and deliver service improvements.
• Manage third-party vendors, application vendors and service providers, ensuring contractual obligations, SLAs and support commitments are met.
• Drive application monitoring, observability, alerting, logging and operational dashboards to improve system visibility and proactive issue detection.
• Identify recurring incidents and operational risks, driving continuous improvement, automation and operational resilience.
• Establish and maintain support procedures, escalation processes, runbooks, knowledge repositories and operational documentation.
• Oversee change management, release management, production deployments, application upgrades and maintenance activities while minimising business disruption.
• Support IT governance, audit, risk management, disaster recovery, resilience testing and business continuity requirements.
• Ensure applications comply with internal technology standards, regulatory requirements and operational controls.

What We're Looking For

• 10+ years of experience supporting and managing mission-critical applications within banking, financial services, capital markets, brokerage or investment banking.
• At least 5 years of leadership experience managing application support, application services, production support or technology operations teams.
• Strong experience in production support, application operations, IT service management, incident management and problem management.
• Proven experience managing offshore, regional or multi-location application support teams.
• Strong stakeholder management experience with business users, senior management, technology teams and external vendors.
• Proven vendor and third-party management experience.
• Strong understanding of ITIL, service management, change management, release management and operational governance.
• Experience supporting trading, brokerage, capital markets, market data, clearing, settlement or wealth management applications will be highly advantageous.
• Good technical understanding of Microsoft and/or Linux environments, databases, SQL, APIs, application interfaces and middleware.
• Exposure to application monitoring, observability, log management, batch processing, job scheduling, scripting and automation.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, communication and problem-solving skills, with the ability to operate effectively in a high-availability, mission-critical environment.

about the manager/team

You will be joining a regional technology and application services environment responsible for supporting business-critical applications used by financial markets and business stakeholders.

The team operates in a highly collaborative environment, working closely with business users, application support teams, infrastructure, cybersecurity, database, network and regional technology teams, as well as external application vendors and service providers.

This is a senior leadership position with significant exposure to business stakeholders, technology leadership and regional teams, where you will have the opportunity to drive improvements in application stability, service delivery, operational resilience, automation and production support effectiveness.

The ideal candidate will be a service-oriented technology leader who can combine strong people leadership and stakeholder management with sufficient technical depth to lead complex application support and production operations.

experience

10 years

skills

application product support/IT Service Delivery/application support

qualifications

hands-on leadership of mission-critical production environments, incident/problem management, ITIL/service delivery, change/release management, vendor management and offshore/regional support teams.

education

Bachelor Degree