Metrolinx is an agency of the Government of Ontario and its goal is to create a transportation network that enhances the prosperity, sustainability and quality of life for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. It leads the planning in the region with its Regional Transportation Plan that guides the work and investments of the organization. It builds light transit, bus rapid transit and Regional Express Rail and operates GO Transit, UP Express and PRESTO
About the job
Our I&IT Application Support team leads multiple application teams focused on the delivery of secure, predictable, stable and available I&IT services to Metrolinx at all times by managing the support of Metrolinx I&IT enterprise, cloud, desktop and PRESTO applications. We are seeking a Senior Manager, I&IT Application Support to manage the delivery of day-to-day application support activities in support of the I&IT strategy and I&IT product roadmaps, working in collaboration with senior members across Metrolinx I&IT and vendor partners.
What you bring to the team
Key Responsibilities:
• Develops the strategies and leads implementation for the efficient provision of production operations with respect to Applications.
• Leads, defines and monitors the Application Support team's yearly operating plan and performance objectives to monitor for quality and excellent delivery of the Application Support services.
• Provides input to business units strategic and financial planning; translates approved strategies into operational plans to enable staff and application planning and forecasting.
• Reviews and analyses existing application effectiveness and efficiency and develop strategies for continuous improvement and optimization.
• Manages multiple teams responsible for the day to day operational and support activities of the Metrolinx growing, complex and critical application operating environment;
• Leads application operations and support to ensure reliable I&IT services by:
o Directing planning initiatives to identify, schedule and track resource requirements, application release packages, new services, expenditures, maintenance, testing and training;
o Developing Operation Level Agreements (OLAs), initiating performance monitoring of the production environment, reviewing results with supervisors and approving corrections;
o Negotiating with business and vendor relationship managers and business partners to establish Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for the timely and quality delivery of I&IT services;
o Managing the development, implementation and dissemination of policies, best practices and procedures to support the management of the production environment and the delivery of services;
• Manages the delivery of on cloud / on-premises application operations activities including maintenance (daily checks, minor fixes or changes), upgrades / patches, preventative maintenance, optimization and lifecycle management (including decommissioning).
• Provides technical subject expertise cloud / on-premises operations to resolve disruptions.
• Collaborates with the Product Delivery team to successfully accept and support new applications into Operations.
• Tracks performance of Application Support team via budget tracking, dashboard and metrics on utilization, resource allocation and other Application Support KPIs as required.
• Proactively manages risks pertaining to all applications (350+ applications and growing) for Metrolinx (e.g. reduce the likelihood and impact of customer, transit and operational system risks and issues).
• Approves maintenance changes related to existing and new releases of applications and implements resolutions to problems consistent with Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) standards for the production and service delivery environment.
• Identifies, assesses and communicates application risks and provides recommendations outlining how to reduce any risk exposure.
• Establishes and maintains relationships with all stakeholders (e.g. I&IT Product Delivery organization) through regular interaction to facilitate management of the production environment, delivery of services, secure implementation of changes and improve customer satisfaction.
• Liaises with Vendor Relationship Management to ensure that operational staff understand and comply with vendor contract terms and conditions, policies, standards and security and confidentially requirements;
• Collaborates with the I&IT management team to perform resource planning and forecasting and address capacity gaps (for their function).
• Provides oversight to, defines and monitors the Application Support team's yearly operating plan and performance objectives to monitor for quality and excellent delivery of the Application Support services.
• Supports the execution of $200 – $250M annual capital budget.
• Develops and manages annual and long-term budgets and staffing plans (for their function) that adhere to corporate standards and applicable legislation; meets service delivery objectives and manages team activities within budgetary limits.
• Inputs to the I&IT annual operating, capital budgets and staffing plans.
• Monitors progress to confirm that planning objectives are delivered on time and within budget, and that anticipated business results are achieved; able to explain off-plan overages and exceptions.
• Identifies opportunities to streamline processes that may lead to (cost and/or time) savings.
Qualifications
• Completion of a degree in Business, Engineering, Information Systems, Computer Science or a related discipline – or a combination of education, training and experience deemed equivalent.
• Minimum ten (10) years' experience in progressively advancing roles managing application operations in service delivery environment.
• Expert knowledge of formal application delivery methodologies, approaches, principles, including major tasks, tools and deliverables to manage the delivery of enhanced applications to help end-users perform specific tasks.
• Knowledge of and ability to define, implement, make changes to, and support application software, production applications and technical troubleshooting approaches, tools and techniques, and the ability to anticipate, recognize, and resolve technical (hardware, software, application or operational) problems.
• Knowledge of vendor management principles, techniques and approaches, including the coordination of internal and external stakeholders and management of complex sourcing contracts for IT products (hardware and software) and/or IT services.
• Expert knowledge and understanding of advance procurement vehicles and their application to I&IT (Collaborative Procurement Process).
• Knowledge of email, web, and director services administration and mobile social applications to support leadership and management of Application Support group.
• Expert knowledge and experience using agile approaches and principles in the IT environment.
• Management and leadership skills to: manage a team of professionals; develop long term staffing/capacity plans; provide oversight/lead staff/teams across the organization on cross-functional program implementation initiatives.
• Knowledge of Human Resources legislation (e.g. Employment Standards Act, Occupational Health & Safety Act, etc.) to monitor and manage employees and contractors, including experience in the application of collective agreement provisions, and develop and manage staffing plans that adhere to corporate standards and applicable legislation.
• Budgeting skills and experience to develop and manage budgets within budgetary limitations.
• Relationship management, influencing, facilitation and negotiating skills and political acuity to: introduce new ways of thinking and working (i.e. DevOps, Lean, Agile, Bimodal IT); establish and maintain relationships with all stakeholders to facilitate management of the production environment; act as a key contact to identify, mitigate and resolve all I&IT application operations matters and issues; participate in vendor contract negotiations.
• Interpersonal and oral/written/presentation skills to brief/update senior/executive leadership, prepare project/program related reports and materials, deliver presentations and provide subject matter expertise to consultants, staff, and decision-makers.
Examples of relevant designations:
• Certification as a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) is required
• Agile certification (Agile Certified Professional, Certified Scrum Product Owner) is required.
• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundations is an asset.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) or PRINCE2 an asset.
How to Apply
To apply for this position, please submit your resume to
Metrolinx Job Opportunities site, no later than November 28, 2018.
Please note that applicants must be legally entitled to work in Canada. Accommodation will be provided throughout the hiring process, as required. Applicants must make their needs known in advance.
Please be advised, Metrolinx uses email to communicate with their applicants for open job competitions. It is the applicant's responsibility to include an updated email address that is checked daily and accepts emails from unknown users. As we send time sensitive correspondence via email (i.e. testing bookings, interview dates), it is imperative that applicants check their email regularly. If we do not hear back from applicants, we will assume that you are no longer interested in the Job Competition and your application will be removed from the Competition.
Please be advised that a Criminal Record Search may be required of the successful candidate. Should it be determined that any background information provided be misleading, inaccurate or incorrect, Metrolinx reserves the right to discontinue with the consideration of your application.
We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER