About the job

Job summary

We have an exciting opportunity for a skilled leader with extensive knowledge and experience of ERP systems, database technologies and software development lifecycles. Join the CMA in this key role leading the development of our enterprise applications and services.

About the CMA

We help people, businesses, and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. Our work is wide ranging, ambitious and often new and challenging.

The role

As Head of Enterprise Applications and Services, you will be responsible for improving the performance and manageability of the CMA’s enterprise applications and services. This will involve planning, improving, monitoring and controlling all enhancements to CMA’s enterprise services, which currently includes Unit4 Business World (ERP), Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM and Microsoft SharePoint Online. You will also evaluate, build, manage and implement additional business software, facilitating optimisation and improvements.

You will play a key leadership role, managing the 2nd line teams for Enterprise Services and Systems Development. You will provide inclusive leadership and manage the performance, motivation and development of your teams to enable the delivery of end-to-end support and development for all enterprise systems.

You will also ensure that enterprise services are supported according to ITIL best practice, oversee resource and workload management, manage supplier relationships and contribute to department strategy.

About you

To succeed in this role, you must provide experience and knowledge of ERP systems (ideally Unit 4 or similar), as well as an understanding of HR and Finance processes, Microsoft 365 technologies, CRM and Power platform. You will be adept at managing the monitoring, administration, customisation and configuration of these environments.

You will also be experienced in managing a development and testing function, pairing this with a good understanding of database technologies and software development lifecycles. Experience of managing critical services, service catalogues improvements across enterprise applications and services, as well as exposure to Agile and/or traditional development methods and lifecycles is also essential.

You will exhibit strong communication, organisation, project management and decision-making skills, with proven ability to prioritise objectives to achieve set goals.

To find out more about this opportunity and about working for the CMA, please see below and click on the APPLY button.

Further details on the CMA can be found on the CMA’s YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter pages.

Application closing date: 11.55pm on Monday 15th April 2024.

Job description

As Head of Enterprise Applications and Services, you will:

• Provide inclusive leadership and manage the performance, motivation and development of the Enterprise team through regular one-to-ones, team meetings and performance reviews ensuring that the team deliver a quality service.
• Ensure that enterprise services are supported according to ITIL best practice, incorporating Incident Management, Change Management and Problem Management. Performance should be measured against CMA defined Service Level Agreements (SLAs) covering incidents and service requests.
• Carry out resource management and workload management to ensure that projects and business as usual tasks are assigned and completed, raising any conflict issues to senior management and relevant project managers. This includes ensuring that skills and training plans are kept up to date and accurate role profiles are documented. This extends to leading on recruitment activity for the team and the appropriate assessment and testing of candidates at interview.
• Keep abreast of new industry developments while assessing the potential business benefit of new services and technologies to CMA.
• Understand threats, vulnerabilities, and weaknesses in the Enterprise applications and services space, the potential organisational impact and how to protect against them using security controls and mechanisms in Microsoft and third-party services.
• Software asset management – ensure that all business software and services are proactively managed with details held in a catalogue or asset management system ensuring that upgrades and fixes are applied in a timely manner and licences are compliant with supplier contracts.
• Ensure that Software Lifecycle management is applied to all of the CMA’s business software, including request for new software, to ensure that all requirements gathering, build, testing, deployment, training, documentation and performance monitoring are carried out to agreed standards (GDPR, GDS, CMA’s cloud security principles etc.). All environments including non-production environments are managed appropriately ensuring that test data does not contain sensitive information that could be exposed in a less secure environment.
• Ensure that all changes are properly authorised through the formal channels of Architecture Review Board (ARB) and Change Advisory Board (CAB). This role will be a core member of those panels.
• Contribute to department strategy, manage and maintain a strategic roadmap for all enterprise applications and services and communicate plans and changes effectively with colleagues and stakeholders. Liaise with senior management and commercial teams on procurement matters contributing to statement of requirements and business cases where appropriate.
• Perform supplier relationship management and stakeholder management through the process of supplier reviews and user groups to ensure that suppliers are delivering to SLAs and that business users have a forum to give feedback and be appraised of new functionality and project activity.

Person specification

It is essential that you can provide evidence and examples for each of the following selection criteria in your application and / or at interview. If you do not meet the lead selection criteria in your application, the panel will not be required to score your application against the remaining essential criteria of the role:

• Experience and knowledge of ERP systems (ideally Unit 4 or similar), understanding of HR and Finance processes, and Microsoft 365 technologies including SharePoint Online, CRM and Power platform, and managing the monitoring, administration, customisation and configuration of these environments. (Lead criteria)
• Experience of managing a development and testing function and a good understanding of database technologies, software development lifecycles and services built on SharePoint. (Lead criteria)
• Experience of managing critical services, service catalogues, and improvements across enterprise applications and services as well as exposure to Agile and/or traditional development methods and lifecycles.(Lead criteria)
• Strong communication and organisation skills with the ability to produce effective documentation, strategic plans, stakeholder reporting and work collaboratively with both internal and external customers to foster strong professional relationships.
• Proven ability in effective decision making and prioritisation of tasks/project related work, determining goals and priorities, resource management to achieve the set goals and using relevant project management methodologies.
• An ITIL V3/4 Foundation Certificate or comparable experience.

If successful you must hold, or be willing to obtain, security clearance to SC level and possibly DV level. You should also be willing to undertake occasional travel to other CMA offices, and if you are not based in London to visit the London office on a likely monthly basis.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £71,300, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £19,251 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and an online application form. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

The selection process will comprise of the sift (CV & application review) and interview. Arrangements for the interview will be enclosed in the invitation sent when you schedule your interview slot, note interviews will be either in person or virtual via MS Teams.

An initial sift based on lead criteria 1, 2 and 3 may be held if a large number of applications are received. If your application then progresses to a full sift, all elements of the essential criteria listed under Person Specification of the role profile will then be considered.

The sifting dates are 16th - 23rd April 2024.

If your application is successful, you will be invited to attend an interview.

There are two interview stages for this role. The first is a 30 min interview on MS Teams focusing on the experience and technical knowledge outlined in the role profile.

Candidates successful at this stage will then be invited to a 45-60 mins panel interview, either in person or on MS Teams, where questions based on the behaviours and experience specified in the role profile will be assessed. You will also be asked to prepare a presentation to deliver at the start of the panel interview.

You will be notified via email to log-in to your Civil Service Account to book your interview slot. You will then be sent an email with full details of your arrangements for interview.

First stage interviews will be held between Monday 29th April and Thursday 2nd May, with second stage interviews taking place between Thursday 16th May and Tuesday 21st May.

If you have any inquiries relating to your application, you can email recruitment@cma.gov.uk.

Reasonable adjustments:

In order for a person with disabilities not to be put at a disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process.
For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.