Technical Solutions Director

Job Description

The Role

Within JCDecaux UK the role of Technical Solutions Director (TSD) has responsibility for the design, development, deployment of new products, features and services, that are identified by the Business Transformation team, as well as deployment and technical change of existing and legacy systems. The role also has responsibility for the architecture, governance and integrity of systems and the data held within them.

The role reports to the Chief Technology & Innovation Officer (CTIO), and works alongside the Service Delivery Director (SDD), Business Transformation Director (BTD) and, IT Programme Office Director (ITPOD). The TSD is supported by, and has management responsibility for, 4 specialism areas:

• Business Intelligence (BI) – Data Model Creation with consolidation and transformation of data into usable models that can then be used to create reports. Creation of real-time, and near real-time, reporting dashboards with a uniform look and feel for both internal and external parties.

The team consists of a Business Intelligence Lead (BIL), Business Intelligence Analyst (BIA), Business Intelligence Developer (BID) and a Data Model Engineer (DME).

• Data Services (DAS) – Schemas Management with definition of what data should be held and in what format. Maintenance & Security to ensuring data, once stored stays in a predictable and secure state with appropriate access controls in place. Standards development with external industry partners, and internal stake holders to drive uniformity and standardisation across all data sets. Taxonomy Management with continuous review of all terms in use to ensure consistency across all systems and processes. Reference Data management of all data sets that are used to drive management decisions. Data Procurement via technical acquisition of data identified in 2 areas: Marketing: audience and other data sources procured by the Insights team and other business areas: data sources, both internal and external, that contribute to production of management information.

The team consists of a Data Services Lead (DSL), Data Services Analyst (DASA), Reference Data Analyst (RDA) and a Data Services Engineer (DSE)

• Enterprise & Solutions Architecture (ESA) – Alignment of business properties, the external environment and definition of business needs. Standards development and adherence to frameworks, best practice and solutions that are applicable across all systems and processes within the business unit. Technical Design of solutions to meet the identified requirements produced as a result of the Business Transformation team’s interactions with divisions.

The function is provided by a Enterprise & Solution Architect (ESA).

• Technical Implementation (TI) - Application Support consisting of beyond 1st and 2nd line support of technically advance, complex or high commercial impact issues. Implementation Management covering testing and release management covering User Interface (UI), Customer Experience (CX), Quality Assurance (QA) and communication to business users. Low Code Platform configuration and development within low and no code environments e.g. Microsoft SharePoint and Power Platforms.

The team consists of a Technical Implementation Lead (TIL), Implementation Analysts (IA) and Legacy Application Support Consultant (LASC).

Outside of the 4 areas above the TSD also works with outsourced providers covering a range of technologies provided by cloud service providers e.g. Azure and AWS and, one or more additional staff providing low or no code platform development services e.g. on Microsoft Power Platforms.

The TSD role also works in close partnership with teams within the Business Transformation department (Business Analysis, and Programme and Project Management) ensuring projects are delivered ready for deployment to high standards of end user experience, with appropriate post go live support in place and, with minimal defects.

JCDecaux UK is a challenging and ever evolving company where improvements to processes, systems and working practices are continually strived for, and the role of TSD is crucial to both the department and wider company’s success.

What You'll be Doing

Capabilities

Leadership

• Ability to lead, motivate, inspire and manage a team of diverse technical professionals to continuously exceed customer expectations
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to articulate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Programme Management

• Planning, tracking and progress reporting of deliverables to the BTD and SSD as part of support or transformation projects
• Strong focus on resource management across multiple delivery teams
• Stakeholder management at all levels across the business, as required by the demands of deliverables
• Supporting and enabling the IT Division to drive individual projects through to completion, provided subject matter expert support and escalation as required

Technical Expertise

• Strong understanding of the technologies and solutions that the company offers and ability to communicate technical information in a clear and concise manner to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to identify emerging technologies and trends in the industry and incorporate them into the company's technical offerings.
• Excellent technical problem-solving skills and be able to identify and resolve issues quickly and efficiently.

Strategic Thinking

• Ability to think strategically and be able to align technical solutions with the company's overall business goal whilst identifying opportunities for innovation and growth in the division’s technical offerings.

Quality Management

• Adherence to the philosophy of continuous improvement through examination of all outcomes of processes, regardless of either a positive or negative outcome
• Ensures standard operating procedures (SOPs) are followed and are auditable across the department and where audits find non-adherence to SOP that corrective actions are completed in a timely manner

Stakeholder Management

• Manages regular meetings with the business stakeholders to review programme progress
• Communicates with project stakeholders at all levels
• Forges and strengthens relationships with the business
• Communication of issues and risks at both project and business unit level
• Organise and coordinate effective relationships with directors and managers of the business units using the Information System; define the level of service (performance, availability, etc.) required
• Suggest any functional, technical, and organisational upgrades to improve business process performance

A little about you

Qualifications & Experience

• Educated in a Business, IT or engineering related field or very strong depth and breadth relevant industry experience managing a technology solution delivery function
• Experience of managing multi-disciplinary teams to deliver products and services
• Project management qualification (SCRUM, PRINCE2, APM, etc) or relevant experience
• ITIL, TOGAF or equivalent enterprise service standard qualification or relevant experience
• Experience in running teams of at least 15 people
• Experience of working independently and with limited managerial oversight
• Ability to looking beyond existing methodologies and own discipline to define and resolve complex problems