Direction jobs in South Africa

Drive the strategic evolution of enterprise applications at a critical national institution. This is a role for a seasoned technology leader who can elevate systems capability, enable business performance, and shape the future of a complex, multi-platform application environment.

As the Head of Application Development, you will lead the delivery, enhancement and optimisation of business-critical software systems, including SAP and bespoke applications. You will own the full application development lifecycle, set the strategic direction for application capability, and guide a team of onshore and offshore engineering specialists. Your work will directly support the organisation’s ability to continuously improve, remain operationally resilient, and deliver modern, data-driven services across the business.

Our client is a respected national financial institution within the agricultural sector, playing a long-standing role in enabling sustainable growth and supporting emerging and commercial farmers across South Africa. The organisation is modernising rapidly, with a strong focus on systems optimisation, process improvement and data-driven decision making.

• Develop and execute the application development and delivery strategy.
• Oversee planning across people, process and technology for all enterprise applications.
• Advance software quality by strengthening development practices, skills and tooling.
• Collaborate with Infrastructure and Architecture teams to ensure appropriate hosting and system readiness.
• Lead testing and deployment services, including data migration, release management and compatibility assurance.
• Analyse business requirements to design testing strategies that reduce risk and minimise system defects.
• Manage and mature the organisation’s Business Intelligence environment, ensuring data availability for authorised users.
• Drive continuous improvement across business processes and ensure alignment with SAP and other core systems.
• Maintain comprehensive technical documentation including blueprints, specifications and test packs.
• Establish and monitor application maintenance strategies, including patching, cataloguing and rationalisation.
• Ensure ICT quality management processes support performance, compliance and customer satisfaction.
• Lead and develop the application team, ensuring strong performance, capacity planning and knowledge transfer.
• Manage budgets, financial planning and governance across application delivery and change initiatives.

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Technology or related field (postgraduate advantageous).
• ITIL Foundation Certification essential; COBIT certifications advantageous.
• 6–8 years’ experience managing teams responsible for application development and support.
• 6–8 years’ experience managing a Business Intelligence environment.
• Strong experience in systems analysis, solution design, database principles and data management.
• Proven track record in managing IT projects and delivering large-scale application change.
• Strong grounding in IT governance, compliance, cyber security, continuity planning and financial management.
• Experience with SAP environments and enterprise business applications.

• A strengthened application landscape aligned to architectural standards and business needs.
• Reliable, well-governed BI capability delivering accurate, timely insights.
• High-performing engineering teams with robust development, testing and deployment practices.
• Reduced defects, outages and operational risk across core systems.
• Effective planning, budgeting and resource allocation to enable ongoing delivery.
• Improved business processes supported by stable, well-documented technical solutions.