Jobs at Safaricom Kenya

About the Role

This role is responsible for overseeing the controlled introduction of changes and software releases into the MPA environment. This role ensures that changes are well-planned, tested, and implemented while minimizing disruptions to business operations. The Change and Release Specialist collaborates with various teams to ensure that changes and releases align with business goals, maintain system stability, and comply with regulatory requirements. 

Responsibilities

Technical Review:

• Ensure the smooth running of daily technical review calls for Normal Changes (ITIL)
• Ensure minimum service disruption due to technical issues with changes
• Ensure clear and factual feedback to change initiators on issues during review
• Offer support to the L1 team with technical review of minor changes
• Support the Operational teams on technical topics
• Offer technical guidance to Operational Acceptance Tests (OAT) team

Change and Release Management:

• Develop and implement change and release management processes, policies, and procedures
• Review and evaluate proposed changes for potential impacts, risks, and benefits
• Coordinate change approval and ensure that changes are properly authorized
• Communicate change plans, schedules, and status updates to stakeholders
• Ensure all changes presented to the CAB are discussed and critiqued as per the Assessment criteria
• Ensure all major and critical changes discussed in the CAB have a deployment plan and CRQ which is duly completed and approved
• Ensure all changes are broadcasted to CAB, local Markets contacts and other related stakeholders by COB of every CAB or E-CAB meeting
• Oversee the release process and ensure correct patch is applied and on time

Risk Mitigation:

• Identify potential risks associated with changes and releases and develop mitigation strategies
• Assess the potential impact of changes on existing systems and services
• Implement controls to minimize risks and disruptions during the change and release process

Documentation:

• Maintain comprehensive documentation of change and release processes, approvals, and outcomes
• Create clear and accurate records for auditing, troubleshooting, and knowledge sharing

Compliance and Governance:

• Ensure that changes and releases adhere to regulatory requirements and internal governance standards.
• Implement security measures to protect data and maintain compliance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Technical SME or architect role with international companies – minimum 8 years 
• Technical analysis and risk assessment of complex IT changes - 8 years 
• Strong knowledge of high availability application and infrastructure architectures
• Subject matter knowledge of mobile payments applications and infrastructure
• Technical understanding of mobile telecommunications, mobile payments or similar financial system operations
• Operational experience in IT or telecommunication industry, knowledge of industry best practices and experience in technical assessment of complex changes 

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About the Role

Reporting to the Technical Operations Manager, you will be responsible for ensuring the delivery of assigned M-Pesa services to end-customers and/or Local Market Business Teams. You will act as the first escalation point towards service vendors / L2 support teams and Local Market IT teams supporting relevant infrastructure and/or connecting services. You will also work with all the internal and external partners in the support chain to ensure agreed service levels and adherence to the agreed support processes. 

Responsibilities

• Lead the deployment, configuration, and maintenance of software applications critical to the organization's operations.
• Identify monitoring requirements to track application performance and health, proactively identifying and addressing issues to minimize downtime.
• Identify and implement best practice and process improvements with 3rd parties delivering application operation services.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to troubleshoot and resolve application-related incidents, ensuring prompt restoration of services.
• Support system audits for markets and services assigned.
• Work closely with cybersecurity teams to ensure applications comply with security standards and regulations.
• Develop and maintain disaster recovery plans to ensure business continuity in the event of system failures or disasters.
• Coordinating capacity planning to forecast future resource requirements and scale applications accordingly.
• Identify continuous improvement initiatives to enhance the reliability, performance, and efficiency of applications through process improvements and technology upgrades.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation for applications, including configuration details and troubleshooting guides (SOP).
• Provide training and support to internal teams on application usage and support procedures.
• Lead a team of operations engineers or technicians, providing guidance, coaching, and mentorship to foster a high-performance culture.
• Manage incident resolution time within SLA target.
• Responsible to ensure technical service level compliance for services operated by Product Operations or by 3rd parties on behalf of service owner
• Responsible for managing incidents, including implementation of workarounds and changes, and for executing service requests, including on call duties.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years of experience in Managed Operations for large scale IT Applications and Services in a multinational environment
• At least 5 years of experience in managing 3rd parties and solution vendors to ensure services are delivered according to agreed SLAs
• Strong knowledge of operations management of high complex IT/financial  services
• Deep understanding of operational procedures and process standards (e.g. ITIL) and the ability to apply and evaluate them for continuous improvements in the service operations area.
• Experience and background in a complex business environment and working in multicultural teams with a strong focus on supplier management
• Ability to understand and evaluate:
• Web and mobile service technologies:
  • Operating systems (e.g. Linux, Windows)
  • Databases (e.g. oracle, mongo DB, postgres)
  • Cloud solutions
• Strong ability to understand goals which are cascaded through a hierarchy and work towards their prioritization and accomplishment in the department
• Strong ability
  • To manage in dynamic, high-growth, high-uncertainty environments
  • To balance conflicting interest
  • To take decisions