Head of Application Platforms

Dis-Chem Pharmacies; Midrand; On-site; ZAR 1,800,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Dis-Chem Pharmacies seeks a Head of Application Platforms to drive end-to-end performance, stability, and delivery of application platforms across Retail, Customer, Core, and Integration domains. This leader will ensure platforms are reliable, scalable, secure, and consumable, aligned with enterprise architecture and governance while enabling speed-to-market.

The role emphasizes platform-as-a-product mindset, collaboration with IT Demand Management, PMO, and business product owners, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in information systems, Computer Science, or related field is required.
• 10+ years’ experience in application or digital technology leadership.
• Proven delivery and operation of large-scale enterprise platforms.

Responsibilities

• Strategy and value delivery: Define and maintain platform strategies and roadmaps across Retail, Customer, Core, and Integration platforms; ensure reusable capabilities and governance.
• Delivery and operations: Accountable for outcomes delivered through platform tribes and squads; ensure stable, secure operation and lifecycle management of applications; collaborate with Infrastructure and Security to meet targets.
• Governance and collaboration: Align with Enterprise Architecture on technology standards; prioritize work with IT Demand Management and PMO; collaborate with business product owners to define value, outcomes, and metrics; govern vendor delivery within platform accountability frameworks.

Skills

Platform leadership

Agile leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Performance management

Recruitment planning

Education

Bachelor's degree in information systems, Computer Science, or related field

Job description

The Head of Application Platforms is accountable for the end-to-end performance, stability, and delivery of Dis-Chem’s application platforms across Retail, Customer, Core, and Integration domains. The role is accountable for the end-to-end health, evolution, and performance of application platforms that support in-store operations, digital customer engagement, head-office functions, and enterprise integration. The role operates with a platform-as-a-product mindset, ensuring platforms are reliable, scalable, secure, and consumable across business units. The Head of Application Platforms ensures alignment to enterprise architecture, security guardrails, and governance standards while enabling speed-to-market and reuse.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in information systems, Computer Science, or related field
• 10+ years’ experience in application or digital technology leadership
• Proven delivery and operation of large-scale enterprise platforms

Responsibilities

Strategy and value delivery

• Define and maintain platform strategies and roadmaps across Retail, Customer, Core, and Integration platforms
• Ensure platforms deliver reusable capabilities rather than bespoke point solutions
• Decide and govern platform ownership models (single-consumer vs multi-consumer) in line with enterprise design principles
• Drive simplification, standardization, and technical-debt reduction

Delivery and operations

• Accountable for outcomes delivered through platform tribes and squads
• Ensure stable, secure operation of applications, including incident, problem, and lifecycle management
• Partner with Infrastructure and Security to meet availability, performance, and resilience targets
• Coordinate with Integration & Workflow platforms to enable reliable data flow and process automation

Governance and collaboration

• Work with Enterprise Architecture to ensure adherence to technology standards and pattern
• Partner with IT Demand Management and PMO to prioritize work within fixed capacity
• Collaborate with business product owners to define value cases, outcomes, and success metrics
• Govern vendor delivery within platform accountability frameworks

Competencies

• Strong product and platform leadership mindset
• Experience leading multiple Agile tribes and squads
• Ability to manage complex application landscapes and dependencies
• Strong stakeholder engagement across business and IT
• Lead, coach, and develop Platform Tribe Leads and their teams
• Set performance expectations and conduct performance reviews
• Manage team capacity, workload allocation, and capability development
• Support recruitment, succession planning, and organizational design

Key Performance Indicators

• Availability, performance, and resilience of application platforms
• Delivery of platform roadmaps and major releases vs plan
• Adoption and reuse of common platforms across business units
• Reduction of legacy complexity and decommissioning of duplicate systems
• Business satisfaction with platform capabilities and time-to-marketContribution to culture and leadership outcomes, measured through employee engagement, culture index improvements, and adherence to organizational values and leadership behaviours.