Head of Value Chain Technology

Job description

Head of Value Chain Technology
Grade: Director
Role type: Full time permanent
Location: Flexible - Any UK office base location considered

The role reports to the Head of Platform Engineering & Operations within Enterprise-Wide Technology (EWT), the UK Firm's internal technology division. In total, EWT comprises c. 1,100 FTEs across both retained and outsourced teams, and across both onshore and offshore locations; budget for the fiscal year is c. £160m. EWT is accountable for delivering a range of services to the UK Firm, including gathering requirements, solution design, build and run, and the execution of complex change portfolios focused on security, data, core infrastructure and business applications.
EWT comprises a matrix organisation, including horizontal practices and vertical squads, the latter of which are aligned to value chains.

The Role

• The Head of Value Chain Technology (VCT) is accountable for assembling and leading vertical squads, each of which is aligned to one or more value chains, to design, build, test and run applications and infrastructure on both Cloud and on-prem environments.
• Members of each squad will be drawn from application teams, which sit in Value Chain Technology, complemented by practices that sit in the wider Platform Engineering & Ops teams, other teams within EWT and our Global IT function, and specialists from our client-facing Consulting teams.
• Given that squads are largely assembled from teams outside the direct reporting line of VCT, the role will need to work in close partnership with many other senior roles, including our Technology Business Partners and the Head of Business Partnering & Service Assurance, who is accountable to the business for service levels.
• The successful candidate will focus on delivering high levels of service to EWT's internal customers in an efficient manner, creating a platform for growth for the wider business.
• Specific Responsibilities
• Ongoing development and leadership of Value Chain Technology (VCT), setting the vision and strategy to maximise business value, introducing new capabilities where required, and providing a relentless focus on execution and continual service improvement.
• Oversee the end-to-end life cycle of technology systems and services, working with both PE&O and EWT leadership; help to migrate services to the Cloud and ensure adoption of relevant approaches, e.g. Agile and DevOps, platform and product management.
• Work with the Head of Resilience & Recovery to improve IT reliability and disaster recovery for various scenarios, including potential cyber attacks; collaborate with the Head of Security Technology & Operations to contribute to, embrace, and apply security strategy.
• Work with our Head of Business Partnering & Service Assurance to ensure SLAs are met and that customer satisfaction is high; help to manage relationships with key third parties; and establish effective controls, e.g. to comply with tech standards across the value chains.
• Direct line management of teams focussed on SaaS deployment and maintenance, providing leadership and coaching to ensure excellent delivery; work with HR, Finance and the Head of Platform Engineering & Ops to develop and execute workforce plans.
• Develop the annual budget for VCT, whilst ensuring alignment to overall EWT strategy; control the budget through regular oversight and governance, and cost optimisation; and ensure the cost-effective delivery of tech services to meet the needs of the business.
• Build successful relationships with key technology and business stakeholders, using constructive challenge and influencing techniques to ensure the right outcomes for KPMG; act as a trusted advisor to the business in platform engineering and operations.
• Continually assess the performance of VCT, working with the Head of PE&O and the Head of Technology Business Management to define KPIs, the EWT Data team to produce dashboards, and other technology teams to execute any improvements required.
  

The Person

• An experienced technology professional, working in a senior role in Platform Engineering & Ops or similar; you need to be passionate about directing the end-to-end lifecycle of technology systems and services and have a proven track record of doing this elsewhere.
• Exceptional leadership skills, with the ability to develop and communicate a vision that inspires and motivates staff and aligns with the business strategy; adept at building and coaching teams to create a 'learn it all' rather than a 'know it all' culture.
• Rich experience of working closely with other teams across the technology delivery lifecycle, to enable a seamless go-live within tight timeframes, where many resources required for success are not in the direct control of this role.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior executives and others; able to build consensus, deal with ambiguity and make decisions based on many variables to gain support for major initiatives.
• Broad experience of different types of technology change and operations, in both on-prem and Cloud environments, including applications, infrastructure, middleware, end user computing, security, testing and service operations including help desk.
• Experience of running technology functions in a 'service brokerage' model, drawing on a mix of retained and outsourced components, direct reports and other teams, and using a mix of onshore, near shore and offshore locations, to provide excellent customer service.
• Excellent business acumen and judgement, including experience of budget planning and financial management, preferably with show-back and/or charge-back models.
• Contributing to Cloud adoption at scale, including the adoption of DevOps and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), helping to deliver migration projects and modifying technology operating models to accommodate new ways of working.
• Developing governance practices to track and measure the quality of services, and maintain service improvement plans.
  

A final word from us...

Everybody likes to say they're different... but we really think we are.

We're hugely proud of what we've managed to achieve so far, but we're only just getting started. We're looking for people to grow with us and are committed to helping everybody reach their destination, regardless of what that is.

Should you choose to join us, you can expect an attractive benefits package, which typically includes:

Financial

• A competitive salary
• Pension options
• Bonus scheme that reflects firm and individual performance
• Rail and Oyster Card reimbursement
• Colleague discounts
• Access to preferential banking

Lifestyle

• 25 days holiday, with the option to buy up to an extra 10 days, plus an additional day of leave for your birthday
• Competitive maternity and paternity leave
• 6 days of work time each year for volunteering
• Daily lunch allowance
• Flextra - a flexible benefits scheme that allows you to choose benefits for you and your family, such as, travel insurance, critical illness insurance, dental insurance and discounted gym memberships

Health and Wellbeing

• Private medical insurance
• Personal accident insurance
• Life assurance of 4 x salary with the option to increase this via flexible benefits scheme
• Access to private, remote GP appointments anytime and anywhere via a smartphone
• Online health risk questionnaire
• BeWell employee assistance programme for confidential information, advice, or counselling for life's daily challenges
• Group Income Protection

No matter what skills you bring to our team, you'll be surrounded by spirited, naturally curious people. People who want to learn from you, and who'll also teach you a thing or two along the way. It's how we make a collective impact, greater than the sum of its parts.

And if this isn't the role for you but you like what you see, keep in touch. There will be other opportunities to join us.

For more details about a career at KPMG, visit: www.kpmgcareers.co.uk