Digital Channels Delivery & SRE Tech Lead at Safaricom Kenya

Job Description

Digital Channels Delivery & SRE Tech Lead at Safaricom Kenya

Brief Description 

Reporting to the Cluster Technical Tribe Lead, Channels IT, the job holder will maintain and operates Safaricom’s digital platforms, provide technical guidance to ensure high standards in system design, quality management, Quality Management, SRE Principles, DEVOPS Practice, Change Management, Security & Compliance, Monitoring and Performance Optimization, Documentation and Collaboration with other teams. 

This role combines strategic planning, technical skills, and user-centered design to create engaging digital experiences. They’re also responsible for ensuring the stability of all Digital Channels platforms by building and maintaining robust Portals, Chatbots, and Apps ecosystems for Safaricom customers.

Key Responsibilities:

Business Delivery:

• Responsible for all Digital Channels (Self-Service) business projects by resourcing and leading virtual teams across IT
• Responsible for delivering 99% of the projects on time
• Responsible for ensuring project stability within max 48 hours 
• Ensure agile is implemented in at least 100% of the projects
• Maintain an accurate registry of all business projects  with various statuses and ensure business teams are appraised at all times
• Agree with Tribe Lead & Product Owners on projects KPI’s, milestones and timelines 

Leadership:

• Attend business strategy meetings to ensure IT is aligned with business needs
• Regular team and one-on-one engagements 
• Build the team skillset according to the fit for future program
• Team performance management
• Provide budget inputs for business solutions.
• Attend BU strategy sessions 
• Weekly Delivery reporting to Tribe Lead and Product Owners on the status of their deliverables

Business Analysis:

• Responsible for gathering, detailing and documenting all business requirements
• Ensure sensible consensus is reached for all requirements/specifications and help Business Units , IT, CXX, Corporate Security and test leads to have the same mutual understanding 
• Ensure test plans cover all aspects of Business Requirements and existing business rules

Solutions Design:

• Responsible for Solutions Design to meet business requirements and non-functional requirements
• Enforce Safaricom Architecture Golden Rules on all digital channels solutions 
• Ensure all digital channels solutions adhere to the defined Safaricom Architecture KPI’s
• Drive reuse on all technical and business functionality designed and no duplication of business components
• Collaboratively oversee the development/configuration of solutions as per agreed designs
• Provide solution architecture input into all new system tenders

IT Operations and Support

• Manage all digital platforms’ operations and ensure they are running smoothly.
• Establish processes for Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) in the digital channels domain.
• Maintain operational excellence by actively maintaining, supporting, developing, and implementing services. This includes monitoring, scripting, automation, and using modern tools to keep platforms up-to-date.
• Ensure the stability and uptime of all digital channel applications, meeting performance goals.
• Handle problem and incident management by providing support and addressing issues within agreed-upon timeframes.
• Define, measure, monitor, and report on key indicators of system reliability. Escalate any breaches and violations, aiming to improve capabilities and meet customer needs.
• Proactively monitor all channel IT applications and service logs. Troubleshoot and respond to issues raised by users.
• Use AI tools for proactive monitoring and identifying performance issues affecting applications and services.

IT Planning

• Deployment of software patches to platforms and applications within channels after proper identification, documentation and testing. 
• Maintaining of all Apps, Portals and Chatbots within the channels domain at version n-1 by planning and conducting timely version upgrades. 
• Capacity planning and management by the assessment of current and future resource needs while maintaining service levels. 
• Quarterly BCP planning and execution on all platforms within the Channels ecosystem.
• Address all Audit items in agreed milestones 

Partners’ IT Support Strategy

• Develop and execute a comprehensive partners’ IT support strategy aligned with organizational goals and dealer and franchise needs, prioritizing initiatives to improve digital engagement and drive business outcomes. 
• Creation of processes that ensure highest service levels and partner NPS as per business targets.
• Definition of SLAs and OLAs with internal and external technology partners

Partner IT Operations and Support

• Serve as the primary IT services point of contact for dealer and franchise outlets.
• Addressing technical inquiries and providing resolution and feedback within SLA.
• Liaise with other IT functions in resolving escalated tickets within SLA.
• Providing IT support related to systems operational processes and policies.
• Resolution of localized system issues affecting Safaricom partners within SLA. Proactively resolve similar incidents.
• Responsible for proactive maintenance across all the franchise outlets ensuring the service levels of the end user devices at the franchise outlets are met.
• Ensuring all end user device incidents are resolved within SLA. 
• Generate reports on tickets, analyze trends, and identify opportunities for optimization and improvement and share with service owners for resolution. 
• Adhere with the Vendor management processes and standards of Safaricom.

Channel Development and Enhancement

• Lead the development, enhancement, and optimization of digital channels, including websites, mobile applications, portals, social media platforms, chatbots, and other digital touchpoints in the dealer and franchise ecosystem.
• Conduct thoughtful and valuable stakeholder engagements (Users) to elicit feedback on systems use / improvement needs and translate the same into business requirements to guide automation opportunities.

Compliance and Security

• Ensure Dealer Support Analysts comply with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards related to data privacy, security, accessibility, and digital rights management.  
• Adhere to Data Protection Act and Safaricom Code of Ethics for Employees with Privileged Access with regards to all Data.  
• Implement measures to protect user data, secure transactions, and mitigate exposure to cybersecurity risks.

Stakeholder Management and Collaboration 

• Collaborate with regional & partner management teams to embed business processes and routines, driving full adoption and use of partner systems to derive desired business outcomes.
• Support the resolution of dealership and franchise escalations and complaints, working closely with stakeholders to ensure prompt resolution and customer satisfaction. Formal tracking of recurring issues and ensuring permanent closure.
• Collaborate with internal teams to ensure timely resolution of issues affecting dealership and franchise outlets.

Continuous Improvement and Innovation

• Skills and capability development of the dealer support analysts on industry trends and best practices in dealership and franchise operations, contributing to continuous improvement initiatives.
• Identification of opportunities for service improvement and following through to adoption.

Qualifications

• Degree in Science/computer science/Engineering/Business related. 
• 5+ Years’ Experience in SRE Practice 
• 5+ years’ Experience in Technical Leadership of large IT organization 
• Experience in delivering solutions using AI , RPA , Cloud and Bots. 
• Certification in Solutions architecture, Business Analysis & Agile Project Management will be an added advantage
• Strong business acumen and mindset – with bias to Consumer domains
• 5+ years experience  of software development experience in a busy IT development environment, 2 years of which must include experience in Business Analysis and Systems design.
• Team player who is skilled at building up and managing stakeholder relationships successfully
• Ability to persuade stakeholders and to champion effective techniques through delivery.

Digital Channels Delivery & SRE Tech Lead at Safaricom Kenya