Head of Technology (CTO)

OneCart is looking to hire a Head of Technology (CTO) to define and lead the strategy for the engineering and information technology teams, which includes: architecture and infrastructure for offerings and the business; the backend and frontend systems, tools and applications for all stakeholders; support to all stakeholders; any data science and data products that support or power solutions and offerings; quality assurance and automation for all systems and offerings; procurement of 3rd-party services to power all associated systems, tools and applications; vendor and service management of the abovementioned 3rd party providers; Programme Management and Change Management associated with systems, tools and applications; and connectivity and communication capabilities for all associates. In addition, this role is responsible for outlining the company’s technological vision, implementing technology strategies, and ensuring that technological resources are aligned with the company’s business needs.

Strategy Development and Implementation

• Define an engineering and IT strategy for OneCart’s value propositions and business needs.
• Cascade strategy into areas of responsibility: architecture, infrastructure, applications, data products, quality assurance, and technical support.
• Work closely with Product Management and Product Design functions to execute on business strategy + engineering and IT strategy.
• Define an organisational structure that will drive the engineering & IT strategy.
• Proactively manage IT and business relationships and expectations
• Actively find ways to improve existing services and find opportunities for digitisation
• Cascade goals for Continuous Improvement, Innovation and Digitisation to the team
• Researching any new technologies that may potentially increase our company’s competitive advantage
• Liaising and collaborating with suppliers of technical solutions to enhance product range and customer relations.
• Ensuring that product architecture supports the priorities of the business.
• Making executive decisions regarding OneCart’s technological needs.
• Working closely with Finance, Marketing, Business Development and Operations to define and deliver new products, tools and enhancements

Product Leadership

• To be accountable for Product Strategy in alignment with business goals (vision, roadmap, and prioritisation).
• To have oversight of Product Lifecycle Management – from ideation to launch and continuous improvement.
• To collaborate with cross-functional teams (Ops, Marketing, Commercial, Finance) to ensure product-market fit.
• To ensure customer-centric decision-making and using insights/data to shape product direction.
• To building and guide the Product team (Product Managers, Designers, Analysts).
• Drive innovation and differentiation in product offerings, not just technology delivery.

Application Development and Maintenance

• To ensure the application development and maintenance of best practices to ensure that customer applications are of high quality and are vulnerable to minimal bug interruptions.
• To manage the process of planning, creating, testing, and deploying all customer-facing applications, i.e. the software development lifecycle of customer-facing applications.
• To address and eliminate common business challenges experienced in customer-facing applications.
• To drive innovation and develop custom solutions to support the business needs and to be on par with cutting-edge technologies by developing robust applications that are scalable, secure, and easily maintainable
• To leverage proven deployment techniques and industry best practices to make improvements to the applications
• The continuous updating, analysing, modifying, and re-evaluating of all existing customer-facing applications
• To constantly enhance and manage solutions that have been developed to stay relevant and meet the wavering needs of the users
• Ensure all involved parties are on the same page about application development and maintenance strategies by documenting and distributing fully

Data Products

• To have a global view of OneCarts’ data requirements and to create a framework for data management and the execution of a data governance strategy.
• To create and design data architectures to be optimised for analytics initiatives to generate business value.
• To define the respective data models and underlying data structures to support the business requirements of OneCart.
• To manage the deployment of data repositories and analytics applications efficiently without unneeded platforms.
• To ensure data governance to enable faster and more informed decision-making with the right quality data and data analytics.

Quality Assurance

• To implement policies and procedures for the software quality assurance function
• Evaluates and monitor tools, methodologies, and automation to ensure effective testing and identification of defects
• To oversees integration, E2E and user acceptance testing efforts
• Develops, implements, enforces and improves upon quality standards, tools, and methods to ensure quality across new and existing products and services is maintained
• Engage in the Agile Methodology ceremonies/sprints to inform appropriate data quality and testing considerations as part of acceptance criteria
• Collaborate with Scrum masters, Engineering Managers and Development team to ensure delivery of high-quality features
• Design, roll-out and drive adoption of test automation practices
  

Architecture and Governance

• Provide input to the development and subsequent updates to the technical Architecture
• Ensure the information technology services roadmap is aligned with the overall business strategy and architecture
• To ensure the required architecture and governance procedures are followed

Infrastructure management and Compliance

Infrastructure

• Design, develop and implement infrastructure in line with the engineering and IT strategy
• Define, manage and report on infrastructure support metrics
• Define infrastructure security strategy in consultation with Group Security and lead the implementation
• Investigate innovative practices in infrastructure, and drive adoption to achieve higher service levels and lower costs
• Ensure infrastructure is high performing, stable and reliable

Business continuity:

• Provide leadership of the IT business continuity strategy
• Align with overall business continuity strategy
• Define, manage and report on IT business continuity metrics

Devices and Mobility

• Provide leadership of the device and mobility strategy
• Define, manage and report on device and mobility metrics

ITIL

• Achieve ITIL SLAs for the business and for clients
• Manage overall availability
• Manage overall capacity/performance
• Ensure outages for maintenance are within outage periods (release management)
• Review incident and problem reports
• Own and manage IT continuity planning

Compliance

• Compliance with Walmart Global Standards: IT security, privacy, data governance, audit readiness, procurement policies, and risk management.
• Regulatory & Legal Compliance: POPIA, GDPR (where applicable), cyber security standards, health & safety in systems, and financial compliance.
• Internal Controls: ensuring policies, processes, and SOPs are aligned with Massmart/Walmart requirements.
• Accountability for audit outcomes and closing compliance gaps in Tech and Product

Network Management

Cross-Functional & Business Partnership

• Translating business needs into Product & Tech strategies.
• Partnering with Operations, Supply Chain, and Commercial teams to drive growth and efficiencies.
• Accountability for ROI on tech and product investments, ensuring decisions are financially sound.

Network

• Provide leadership of the network strategy
• Define, manage and report on network support metrics
• Define network security strategy in consultation with Group Security and lead the implementation
• Investigate innovative practices in networks infrastructure, and drive adoption to achieve higher service levels and lower costs

Telecommunication and mobility

• Provide leadership of a telecommunication and mobility strategy
• Define, manage and report on telecommunications metrics
• Define Telecomms security strategy in consultation with Group Security and lead the implementation
• Investigate innovative practices in telecommunications, and drive adoption to achieve higher service levels and lower costs

Vendor and Service Management

• Lead the definition of a Vendor and Service Management approach and then provide leadership support in the implementation.
• Support the choice and adoption of a methodology and governance framework encompassing vendor and Service Management.
• Negotiate favourable contracts & SLA terms with the relevant vendors
• Manage & maintain the vendors to ensure that the terms of the contracts & SLA meet the requirements of OneCart
• Ensure that adequate road mapping is negotiated and agreed upon upfront
• Carry out regular service reviews on behalf of the business to ensure excellent service standards
• Constantly liaise with the business so as to ensure a good understanding of business needs and manage vendors accordingly

Procurement

• Lead the definition of a OneCart IT Procurement strategy and then provide leadership support in the implementation.
• Account to CEO, Finance and other stakeholders on defined Key Performance Metrics for IT Procurement.
• Budget control on IT spend

Leadership & People Development

• To be a strategic leader and coach, and be able to inspire and build high-performing Tech & Product teams.
• To act as a 2IC to the CEO in matters of Product & Tech, providing stability and confidence to the org.
• Responsibility for culture-building within Product & Tech (innovation, agility, accountability).
• To build and scale teams across multiple functions (engineering, product, design, data, QA, support).
• To ensure strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills – with the board, Walmart leadership, and external partners.
• Hire and grow the technology department in line with business goals and KPIs
• Manage employee and own skills development
• Manage employees’ and own career development
• Facilitate knowledge and skills transfer within the department
• Manage performance cycles
• Manage talent management in the department
• Foster team building

Effective teamwork and Self –Management

• Maintain a positive attitude
• Take ownership of driving your career development (skills and knowledge)
• Plan and priorities, demonstrating abilities to manage competing demands to achieve agreed deliverables
• Communicate effectively, maintain relationships
• Follow any lawful and reasonable instruction from your line manager
• Consistently live and be an example of the Company values
• Timely reporting of all instances of suspected or proven fraud via the appropriate reporting channel
• Adherence to the company policies and associated company policies and procedures

Minimum Academic, Professional Qualifications & Experience required for this position

• Bachelor’s degree in Comp. Science and/or IT
• 5 years experience leading one or more aspects of IT and Development
• +5 years in development/engineering
• 3-5 years of management experience
• Knowledge of technological trends to build a strategy
• Understanding of budgets and business-planning
• Ability to conduct technological analyses and research