Job Purpose

ActionPoint are looking for the right candidate to take the helm and lead its successful custom software development team that delivers a diverse and exciting range of custom software applications to clients around the world and in numerous different industries.

This Limerick based role will require an experienced technical leader who is looking to expand their engineering skills into a commercially intensive and delivery focused software organisation that will work with clients in the full range of industries from pharma and aerospace to Public Services, SMEs and start-ups.

Working very closely with our Technical Team Leads and supported by our QA, BA, PM & Sales teams, the successful candidate will shape and drive the continuous evolution of our software engineering processes while also working with our sales teams during early client conversations to ensure the shape and approach for all software projects are setup for success from the outset.

While not a hands-on role from a technical perspective, the successful candidate will maintain a detailed understanding of how our major projects are being built and will help and guide the team as they explore the numerous problems that arise as complex software systems are brought to life.

This is a key leadership role holding a position on the Senior Management team and will take on operational responsibility for the successful delivery of all software development and software support services. The position provides input to the organisation’s strategic planning and works to develop and execute tactics required to deliver on the strategy. The role entails monthly management reporting of team KPIs to the CEO and wider Senior Management Team and is expected to bring opportunities for improvement to management for consideration.

Commercial Responsibilities:

• Overall accountability for the effectiveness of the entire software development organisation, managing our Software Development, Quality Assurance, Business Analysis & Project Management teams to success on a wide array of projects.
• A member of the SMT, tracking performance against budgets and reporting on team performance to the management team and board on a monthly basis.
• Work with the Programme Manager for planning, scheduling, budgeting and forecasting the financial, organisational and resourcing of ActionPoint’s ambitious growth plans.

Leadership Responsibilities:

• Model Company values of Excellence, Innovation, Integrity and Tenacity.
• Monitor team performance, provide effective feedback and take corrective action if needed.
• Motivate and inspire others to give their best to achieve goals, recognise and celebrate success.
• Demonstrate a proactive approach, getting things done, accountability & ownership and prioritise own workload.
• Solve complex problems and participate in continuous improvement practices.
• Proactively support the continued development of team members by providing challenging growth and development opportunities and establishing agreed career paths.
• Maintain and improve the team structure, identifying new roles as necessitated by growth.
• Work closely with and listen to team members’ feedback to resolve any issues or conflicts.

Technical Responsibilities:

• Help maintain high standards of code quality within the team by establishing and mentoring around good development practices and habits (code reviews, automation, CI/CD…)
• Drive and support the adoption of new technologies, tools and techniques within engineering.
• Collaborate effectively with our business analyst, quality assurance and sales team to design and oversee the development and maintenance of our client’s cloud-based applications built on Microsoft technologies.
• Develop and improve processes to improve overall operational efficiency, reduce costs and delays.
• Participate in early-stage client meetings as the technical subject matter expert, providing technical and high-level architectural input into initial project proposals, acting as liaison between the internal Technical Team Leads and customer for specific technical input.
• Take on, evolve and ultimately own the processes for providing realistic estimates of development effort for sales proposals and project planning - from multi-day to multi-year projects.
• Ensure all developers have the appropriate tools (hardware and software licenses) along with training in order to excel at their jobs.
• Work with Technical Team Leads to maintain a pragmatic set of code quality processes/practices and drive adoption of same within the team.
• Own and drive practice of peer-reviews for solution designs and related code.

• Ability to build relationships across all functions of a business.
• Proven experience of managing a highly technical software development team to deliver on objectives in an Agile working environment using modern development techniques.
• A working knowledge of the Microsoft software development stack and tooling along with big-block architectural understanding of cloud-first web applications.
• Experience with source control management systems and continuous integration/delivery environments.
• Understanding of database design and implementation on both relational and non-relational platforms.
• Experience in any of the following areas would be an advantage; Enterprise Cloud Development, Azure, Big Data, Mobile, Augmented Reality (HoloLens), Virtual Reality, IoT, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning, Data Analytics and Data Warehousing, Low Code/No Code (Power Platform or similar).
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent.
• Management/Leadership skills training or qualifications.

Other Skills & Attributes:

• Solution focused and creative problem solver.
• Detail oriented, commercially astute, emotionally intelligent, team-player that is highly organised and self-motivated.
• Thrives in a challenging, fast paced, high energy environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills as this will be a customer-visible role.
• Willingness to travel as required.
• Comply, maintain and promote information security in ActionPoint.

• Competitive compensation package
• Private Health Insurance
• 23 days annual leave + service days
• Training & Development
• Health, Wellness & Employee Assistance Program
• Flexible hours
• Income Protection
• Death in service
• Maternity/Paternity Pay
• Sports & Social