Applications Manager (Financial Services)

Ethos BeathChapman; Singapore; On-site; SGD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Ethos BeathChapman is seeking an Applications Manager (Financial Services) to own a critical portfolio of business applications. You will lead an experienced team responsible for delivery, production support, and ongoing modernization, guiding architectural and operational decisions with a strong, hands-off coding focus.

The role requires a proven track record in live production, major incident management, and build-versus-buy strategies, with preferred experience in securities or capital

Qualifications

• Experience leading an applications team in a live production environment.
• Strong development background with leadership focus.
• Deep understanding of software engineering, application change delivery and production support.
• Proven experience leading major incidents and root cause analysis.
• Experience owning a broad application portfolio including modernization and build-vs-buy decisions.
• Financial services experience, securities/capital markets knowledge is highly advantageous, especially front-to-back trading environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead the team responsible for keeping a portfolio of core business applications reliable, supported, and fit for change
• Own the application portfolio and shape what is enhanced, modernised, replaced, built internally, or sourced externally
• Lead and develop the applications team, setting clear expectations and maintaining accountability across delivery and support
• Guide the team on sound development practices and practical technical decisions
• Oversee both enhancement work and day-to-day production support across in-house and outsourced resources
• Take ownership of major incidents and recurring problems, driving root cause analysis through to resolution
• Oversee application service quality, resilience, release and change governance, and ongoing improvement
• Work with business users to turn operational needs into workable application solutions and manage priorities
• Coordinate external developers, application vendors, and support partners to ensure delivery quality and accountability
• Bring structure, ownership, and technical judgement to how the application environment is run and evolved

Skills

Team leadership

Production support

Incident management

Change governance

Software development background

Financial services domain

Job description

Client Introduction

Our client is an established financial services organisation looking for an Applications Manager (Financial Services) to take ownership of a critical business applications environment. This is a broad role covering application delivery, production support, team leadership, and longer-term application strategy, with the opportunity to influence how the application estate is run and developed going forward. This role is suited to candidates with a strong software development background who have progressed into applications leadership, but still has enough technical depth to challenge solutions and guide the team. You will not be expected to code day to day.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead the team responsible for keeping a portfolio of core business applications reliable, supported, and fit for change
• Own the application portfolio and shape what is enhanced, modernised, replaced, built internally, or sourced externally
• Lead and develop the applications team, setting clear expectations, managing performance, and maintaining accountability across delivery and support
• Guide the team on sound development practices and practical technical decisions
• Oversee both enhancement work and day-to-day production support across in-house and outsourced resources
• Take ownership of major incidents and recurring problems, driving root cause analysis through to resolution
• Oversee application service quality, resilience, release and change governance, and ongoing improvement
• Work with business users to turn operational needs into workable application solutions and manage competing priorities
• Coordinate external developers, application vendors, and support partners to ensure delivery quality and accountability
• Bring structure, ownership, and technical judgement to how the application environment is run and evolved

Job Requirements

• Proven experience leading an applications team in a live production environment, with responsibility for people, delivery, and service
• Strong development background, even if no longer coding day to day
• Good understanding of software engineering, application change delivery, and production support
• Strong experience leading major incidents, root cause analysis, problem management, and follow-through on resolution
• Experience owning a broad application portfolio, rather than only a single product or development stream
• Experience with application roadmap, modernisation, sourcing, and build-versus-buy decisions
• Strong people leadership, including performance management, stakeholder handling, and the ability to take clear ownership of decisions
• Experience managing external vendors or outsourced application teams
• Able to challenge technical approaches and make practical decisions while balancing business, technology, risk, and operational needs
• Previous experience in financial services is required, with experience in securities, brokerage, or capital markets technology highly advantageous, especially in operationally sensitive, front-to-back trading environments

Why You Should Join Them

• Broad ownership across application delivery, production support, people leadership, and longer-term strategy
• Opportunity to influence how a critical application environment is modernised and run going forward
• Stay close to technology and technical decision-making without returning to a hands-on coding role
• Visible role working closely with both business and technology stakeholders