Associate Practice Manager - IT Development

We are looking for a seasoned Senior Professional – Technology & Engineering to lead the design, development, and delivery of enterprise-grade applications. This is a high-impact leadership role that combines deep technical expertise with strong business acumen, requiring the ability to operate at both the strategic and execution layers of complex technology programmes. The ideal candidate brings 15–17 years of progressive experience across software engineering, systems architecture, and technology leadership. You will be responsible for building and mentoring high-performing engineering teams, partnering with C-suite stakeholders to align technology roadmaps with business objectives, and championing AI-first approaches to modernise core Business Systems platforms.

Technical Leadership & Architecture

Architect and oversee the end-to-end design of scalable, resilient enterprise systems.

Establish and enforce engineering standards for system design, data structures, API contracts, and code quality across Java, Python & OCI technology stacks.

Lead architecture review boards, design critiques, and technical risk assessments for major initiatives.

Drive the adoption of AI/ML capabilities – including LLMs, predictive analytics, and intelligent automation – into core business workflows.

Ensure solutions meet non-functional requirements: high availability, performance, observability, and security compliance.

AI & Data Engineering

Define the strategic vision and execution roadmap for AI-based application development across core Business System use cases.

Champion responsible AI practices, including model governance, explainability, bias mitigation, and auditability in regulated financial environments.

Stay ahead of the curve on emerging AI frameworks, foundation models, and agentic system design patterns.

Engineering Delivery & Programme Management

Own end-to-end delivery accountability for multiple concurrent technology programmes, ensuring on-time, on-budget, and high-quality outcomes.

Apply best practices in Agile/SAFe delivery, managing backlogs, sprint cadences, release planning, and stakeholder reporting.

Identify, track, and mitigate project risks, dependencies, and delivery bottlenecks proactively.

Manage vendor and partner relationships, including contract oversight and SLA governance.

Team Leadership & People Development

Build, manage, and inspire a multi-disciplinary engineering team across software engineers, architects, data engineers, and QA professionals.

Define career growth frameworks, conduct performance reviews, and create individual development plans aligned to team and organisational goals.

Foster a culture of psychological safety, continuous learning, and engineering excellence.

Drive talent acquisition and succession planning in partnership with HR and Talent Acquisition.

Stakeholder & Executive Engagement

Serve as the primary technology partner to C-suite and senior business stakeholders (CFO, CPO, COO offices), translating complex technical concepts into business value narratives.

Prepare and present technology roadmaps, investment cases, programme status updates, and risk registers at Board and Executive Committee level.

Influence strategic technology decisions and enterprise architecture direction through credible, data-driven recommendations.

Build strong cross-functional partnerships with Product, Finance, Operations, Risk, and Compliance teams.

Required Qualifications & Experience

Experience

15–17 years of progressive experience in software engineering and technology leadership roles within enterprise environments.

Minimum 5 years in a senior leadership role managing multi-functional engineering teams of 15 or more.

Domain Knowledge

Deep functional understanding of major Finance & Revenue, Project & Delivery management, ITSM & IT operations, HR & workforce and Customer experience processes

Familiarity with regulatory and compliance frameworks relevant to Finance technology (e.g., SOX, IFRS, GAAP).

Technical Expertise

Expert-level proficiency in Java (Spring Boot, microservices, JVM performance tuning) and Python (FastAPI, Django, data engineering libraries such as Pandas, PySpark).

Hands-on experience designing and building AI-based applications, including LLM integration, RAG architectures, ML pipelines, and intelligent automation workflows.

Strong command of data structures, algorithms, distributed systems, and system design principles including CQRS, Event Sourcing, and Domain-Driven Design.

Extensive experience with cloud-native architectures on OCI & AWS; containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes), CI/CD pipelines, and DevSecOps practices.

Proficiency in relational and NoSQL databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Cassandra) and data warehouse/lakehouse technologies (Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery).

Familiarity with enterprise integration patterns, API management platforms, and event streaming (Kafka, MQ).

Leadership & Management

Strong programme and project management capabilities; PMP, PRINCE2, or SAFe certification is an advantage.

Experience operating in matrix organisations and navigating complex stakeholder landscapes.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to produce Board-ready materials.

Core Competencies

Technical Leadership & Business

Systems Thinking & Architecture Strategic Vision & Road mapping

AI/ML Application Engineering Executive Stakeholder Management

Java & Python Engineering Excellence Team Building & Talent Development

Data Structures & Algorithm Design Cross-functional Collaboration

Cloud-Native & DevSecOps Practices Influence Without Authority

Domain-Driven Design Delivery Ownership & Accountability