Manager - IT Applications

Role Overview

Manager - IT Applications at Ghobash Group, responsible for leading Group IT's application support function with primary accountability for the Oracle ERP application support team across all business entities.

Company Overview

Ghobash Group capitalizes on opportunities within promising industry sectors by either acquiring existing companies or establishing new businesses. The Group established Aban Investment to administer centralized business functions—finance, legal, HR, marketing, and others—aimed at delivering greater cost efficiencies, value, and best practices to each business unit.

Role Purpose

Lead the Group's Oracle ERP application support function, ensuring stability, performance, security, and continuous improvement of the Oracle ERP landscape across all business entities. Oversee a team of techno-functional consultants delivering Oracle-related projects while providing secondary oversight of other enterprise application support teams to promote consistent support standards and governance across Group IT.

Key Responsibilities

Oracle ERP Application Management

• Lead and manage the Oracle ERP application support team, ensuring day-to-day stability, availability, and performance of the ERP environment across all modules (Finance, SCM, Procurement, HR).
• Oversee the delivery of Oracle-related projects, including new company/entity roll-outs, module implementations, upgrades, and patching cycles.
• Manage integrations between Oracle ERP and third-party applications (middleware, APIs, EDI, and other interfacing systems).
• Oversee the intake, prioritization, and delivery of enhancement requests and change requests (CRs), ensuring appropriate testing, approvals, and change management.
• Act as the escalation point for critical Oracle ERP incidents, ensuring timely resolution in line with agreed SLAs.
• Own the Oracle ERP roadmap in alignment with business needs and Group IT strategy, and manage the relationship with Oracle and Oracle implementation partners.
• Ensure compliance, security, and audit requirements are maintained within the Oracle environment, including segregation of duties (SoD) and access controls.

Team Leadership & Capability Building

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of techno-functional Oracle consultants across relevant modules and workstreams.
• Build internal team capability to deliver Oracle projects (roll-outs, integrations, enhancements, and CRs) with reduced reliance on external consultants.
• Plan and manage resource allocation across concurrent Oracle initiatives and support activities.
• Define individual and team KPIs/SLAs, and conduct regular performance reviews and coaching.

Broader Application Support Oversight

• Provide secondary oversight of other enterprise application support teams, ensuring alignment of standards, processes, and governance across Group IT's application support function.
• Drive standardization of support processes (incident, problem, and change management) across all application support teams.
• Represent application support in Group IT leadership discussions, budgeting, and planning.
• Support other application support team leads with escalations, resourcing, and prioritization as needed.

Governance, Vendor & Stakeholder Management

• Manage relationships with Oracle, system integrators, and third-party vendors/implementation partners.
• Own the budget for Oracle ERP support and projects, and contribute to budget planning for other application support teams.
• Report to senior leadership on application support performance, project status, risks, and mitigation plans.
• Ensure documentation, knowledge management, and disaster recovery/business continuity plans are maintained for all supported applications.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field.
• 8–12 years of experience in Oracle ERP systems in a techno-functional capacity.
• Hands-on experience across Oracle ERP modules (Finance, SCM, Procurement, HR).
• Proven experience leading or managing techno-functional consulting/application support teams delivering Oracle projects (roll-outs, integrations, enhancements, change requests).

Skills & Competencies

• Strong leadership and people management skills; ability to lead techno-functional consulting teams.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills across business and technical audiences.
• Strong project/program management skills to manage concurrent Oracle initiatives.
• Ability to translate business requirements into Oracle-based technical and functional solutions.
• Vendor management and negotiation skills.