Head of UK Digital Pensions Solutions

About Aptia

Aptia is a new force in the employee benefits and pensions administration services, on a mission to change the world of administration for the better.

In an underserved market, with huge potential for growth, Aptia serves 1,100 clients in the US and UK markets and will be supported by shared services in India and Portugal - helping more than seven million people live healthier and happier lives.

And we are expanding. Aptia Group is not only fuelled by our investors’ backing but also by our commitment to foster the growth and success of our people. At Aptia, we’re investing heavily in learning and development, paving unique career paths for our colleagues.

Specialist. Responsive. Thoughtful. These aren’t just words; they are the backbone of our business. Our team embodies our values daily, to surpass client expectations, evolve constantly and nurture genuine relationships for the long-term.

If you want to join a sector that never stands still, in a company culture that is agile and that will invest in your career development, we could have your perfect next role.

Job requirements

Role Summary:

This exciting leadership role will have overall responsibility for our Digital offering (OV, App,CAP) from product development to implementation and client delivery. It will have a reporting line to the Head of Product Development and Implementations Leader in Tech Solutions.

The role holder will work closely with the Head of Product Development on the future product strategy and roadmap and with the Implementations Leader to formulate and execute a strategic plan for their Technical teams.  

An essential part of the role is to lead, manage and develop your team’s capability.  You will need to ensure that effective performance and career conversations are taking place aligned to our Goals and Objectives.

You will have overall accountability for the resourcing and delivery of your team across multi sites (both onshore and offshore) ensuring that the quality of the deliverables is within agreed timescales and budget.

The role holder will own and be responsible for delivery of the Continuous Improvement Plan and will foster an environment in which ideas and innovation are encouraged.

Your strong communication, influencing and relationship management skills will be put to good use by collaborating with your counterparts, other teams across Product Development & Engineering,  Technology Solutions and senior internal and external stakeholders.

This is a hybrid position where you will work from any of our UK Aptia offices, as well as from your home address.

Here’s what you’ll be doing:

Take overall responsibility for our Digital offering from product development to implementation and client delivery

• Lead our Product Owner team and development roadmap, partnering with Senior Business Leaders and the Process Implementation & Digital teams.

• Lead the implementation teams for OV4 & CAP, with a focus on excellent client service

Strategy

• Own and be accountable for the delivery of the roadmap across our Digital Products (OneView, Contact Aptia Pensions and Mobile App)

• Partner with key stakeholders to prioritise the roadmap and manage any feature trade off discussions

Working with the Implementation Leader to design and implement a fit for purpose target operating model for Technical, including but not limited to:

• Develop appropriate governance and processes for our Digital products.

• Develop improved & standardised processes, tools and documentation for all Technical deliverables.

• Establish the appropriate technical, knowledge and behavioural leadership within the team.

• Establish a resourcing strategy which optimises the mix of on-shore/off-shore resources, contract and outsourced activity to deliver a flexible, high-quality, cost-effective service.

Delivery

• Develop and embed a culture of ownership and delivery within your team.

• Ensure the quality of the deliverables meets the required quality criteria and is delivered to time and within budget.

• Define best practice and design standards to be applied to all deliverables.

• Ensure that software delivered meets the agreed design standards.

• Support new business development and acquisition for Aptia.

Execution

• Ensure customer deliveries are consistent with our offering, estimates and plans.

• Deliver implementations in line with the Technology Solutions commercial model  including:

  • Aligning the personal objectives of the team with the business objectives.

  • Establishing an estimating process that consistently delivers within the agreed tolerance.

  • Implementing an appropriate change control process that ensures that timescales and effort estimates are met.

• Ensure the team are equipped and motivated to deliver a quality service to the customer.

• Responsible for prioritisation, overall backlog management and roadmap delivery

Leading and managing your team

• Career development and line management of your Team. 

• Define and implement an effective competency framework with KPIs and a reporting framework which will measure your team’s performance.

• Develop technical capability of teams by identifying any skills gaps, resource requirements and learning opportunities

• Identification and elimination of any key-man dependencies.

Continuous improvement

• Own and deliver a continuous improvement plan

• Collaborate with Product and development teams to identify and deliver cross-departmental improvements for Aptia.

Governance and control

Ensure that:

• appropriate MI and controls exist to govern quality and accuracy of deliverables (roadmap and technical).

• systems and tools are in place to ensure effective delivery including resourcing, capability and capacity management.

• standards and quality assurance procedures are followed in development of all deliverables.

• an effective escalation mechanism is established to identify problems early and take action to turn around failing projects minimising commercial exposure.

Stakeholder Management

• Collaborative working with other Technology Solutions teams in terms of customer deliveries and support, as well as deliveries of strategic improvements.

• Collaborate with Product Engineering and other departments towards resolution of business as usual issues and delivery of strategic improvements.

• Management of stakeholders, working with teams across multiple locations and departments.

• Build and maintain the relationship with the off-shore team and ensure that there is effective two-way communication, knowledge & skill sharing and reporting.

• Management of 3rd-party supplier relationships.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Understands the methodologies used in a software development and support environment e.g. Agile, Waterfall, ITIL.

• Understands technical coding, architectural and design standards.

• Resource management (allocation, prioritisation, negotiation and reporting) in a matrix management environment.

• Able to build and maintain strong working relationships with customers, stakeholders and colleagues.

• Communicates articulately, confidently and concisely.

• Able to contribute to a programme of transformational change.

• Operational management, process management and control.

• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to influence others at a senior level

• Delivering Solutions

• Drive and Resilience

• Commercial Credibility

• Demonstrable leadership skills

• Ability to works with a positive can-do and collaborative attitude

• Motivated self-starter who thinks innovatively and creatively.

• Demonstrates ‘leadership balance’ competencies:

  • Shows passion, drive and courage balanced with empathy, authenticity and humility.

  • Able to flex style to display both empathy and encouragement with the ability to delivery a harder message when required.

How to apply

If you are interested in this role, then we’d love to hear from you. Please go ahead and click apply and submit your resume with appropriate contact information.

Aptia is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable work environment. At Aptia, fostering an equitable and inclusive environment for all our people to flourish is a priority. We are an equal opportunity employer and aim to attract and retain the best people without attention to age, background, disability, ethnic origin, family duties, political affiliation, race, religion, gender and sexual orientation.

If there are any reasonable adjustments we can make to the recruitment process to ensure it is accessible to you, we encourage you to reach out to us.