Job info	Job info details
Job title	Application Support Team Leader
Strategic team/Directorate	Corporate Services
Service	IT
Business unit	Software Development Unit
Responsible to (day to day issues)	Head of Applications
Accountable to (line manager)	Head of Applications
Salary grade	K
JE ref	ICT33

1. Key purpose of job

• To oversee the reactive support of numerous systems to meet the business needs of the organisation, including many systems which are critical to Torbay Council and our customers and/or meet statutory obligations.
• To oversee the proactive maintenance and support within Software Development (including fixes, patches and upgrades) of IT systems; to keep systems secure, maximise system efficiency and minimise system downtime.
• To oversee the development and support of Forms for the Civica iCasework CRM (Customer Relationship Management system).
• To direct the work of and line manage a team of staff with various technical specialities.  
• To support effective business change by building relationships with senior stakeholders and business partners.

2. Anticipated outcomes of post

• Will lead the IT Applications Support team, which is the primary point of contact within Software Development for all internal and external clients who require IT system support.
• Will oversee effective first line support to all IT Applications customers, within agreed SLAs and in a timely manner.
• Service areas will experience minimal downtime when using their IT systems, with software bugs/issues resolved within agreed SLAs.
• CRM Form development projects are delivered to a high standard of quality, adhering to time constraints where appropriate.
• Departments and individuals will effectively discharge their duties, ensuring the organisation delivers public services and achieves its strategic goals. This will be facilitated by the support service overseen by this role, as well as direct assistance on complex issues provided by the postholder.

3. List key duties and accountabilities of the post

• Application Support: 
  • The postholder will have a very comprehensive knowledge of the Council’s IT systems and will be able to identify and resolve issues of a complex and/or critical nature, generally without assistance.
  • Delegates less complex issues to Level 1, 2 and 3 Application Support Analyst roles as appropriate and offers support, if required.
  • Leads small project teams (of IT staff and service users) regarding system upgrades and migrations, Public Services Network (PSN), Audits and Operating system End of Life (EOL).
  • Oversees the technical documentation of IT Systems.
  • Oversees the creation of policy/procedure documents regarding proactive and reactive system support for circulation within Software Development.
  • The postholder will have an extensive technical knowledge and will use it to develop complex scripts for a variety of uses, including system integration and monitoring server health.
  • Takes a lead role in the setting of configuration management, change management and release management procedures and controls.
  • Responsible for records of actions taken to identify and resolve issues and ensures that troubleshooting documentation is kept up to date with root cause and resolution, to share knowledge and improve future issue handling.
  • Oversees the updating of the Software Inventory application with details of servers and software versions (for third party systems), system owners and inter-dependencies.
  • Oversees monthly Operating System server patching, updates and reboots undertaken by the Application Support team.
  • Oversees the testing and validation of new IT systems/ applications/ solutions or enhancements to existing IT systems/ applications/ solutions.
  • Acts as an escalation contact point between the organisation and suppliers regarding application infrastructure changes, fault remediation, new versions of software and ongoing business requirements.
  • Provides expertise and support on use of methods and tools to IT colleagues and service users. For example, Penetration Testing of internal and externally hosted web applications.
  • Oversees the maintenance of the library of support documentation and tools to facilitate a more effective service.
  • Will liaise with IT Project Leaders and Developers to continuously identify additional Support tasks which can be transferred to the Application Support Team, enabling IT colleagues to focus on Development and project tasks. 
• CRM Form Building: 
  • Develops excellent high-level knowledge of the Civica CRM system regarding the in-house development of forms, including its capabilities and limitations.
  • Takes a lead role in prioritising the order in which forms are to be developed.
  • Schedules and tracks Form creation and status.  
  • Oversees the testing activities within Form development projects. 
  • Oversees the creation of guidance notes for the use of in-house built CRM Forms, for all service users to adopt.
  • Advises on potential solutions/work arounds, where there are limitations to the functionality of the CRM system.
  • Offers programming advice on javascript, css & html.
  • Takes a lead role in designing the process in which the new development of new CRM forms is requested (including authorisation and scheduling workflow).
• General: 
  • Assists Head of Applications with the Career Progressions of team members not on the top level of their Career Pathway.
  • Carries out duties in accordance with the Council’s Information Security Standards and Human Resource Policies; compliance with the Data Protection Act, Freedom of Information Act and any other relevant legislation that directly affects service delivery. Ensuring that data is kept secure and that the principles of GDPR are always adhered to.
  • As an employee of Torbay Council all roles are expected to work in a way that ensures vulnerable children and adults are safeguarded and report any safeguarding concerns in accordance with established policies and procedures. The Designated Senior Lead for Safeguarding is the Chief Executive and Director of Children’s Services.

4. Budgetary/Financial Responsibilities of the post

• None. 

5. Supervision/Line Management Responsibilities of the post

• To manage a minimum of 6 team members in 2 distinct technical areas – CRM Form Building and First Line Application Support within IT Applications. The Team Leader is responsible for the recruitment, appraisals, disciplinary action, work allocation (including cover), prioritisation/re-prioritisation of tasks, managing conflicting priorities within the team.
• To identify the education programme and delivery mechanisms needed to grow staff skills in line with business needs and future strategy. To evaluate learning outcomes. To manage the development and provision of all learning within the team, and provide mentoring, where required.

6. Working environment and conditions of the post

• Normal working environment and conditions.

7. Physical demands of the post

• Normal physical effort. 

8. Specific resources used by the post

• Usual IT equipment and accessibility for office working and home working.

9. Key contacts and relationships

External: 

• Suppliers, in terms of resolving issues, the installation of patches and new releases/versions and managing upgrade projects.
• Partner Organisations, such as SWISCo and the NHS Trust, in terms of delivering software services.
• Peers at other Local Authorities, requesting or providing information regarding the use of applications, technologies, etc. 

Internal:

• All levels of Torbay staff from across all departments.
• IT colleagues. 

10. Other duties

• To undertake additional duties as required, commensurate with the level of the job.

Other Information

• All staff must commit to the Workplace Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Practice and Policy.
• Torbay Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo the checks appropriate to the post applied for.
• The post holder is expected to work in a way that ensures vulnerable children and adults are safeguarded and report any safeguarding concerns in accordance with established policies and procedures. And are aware that the Chief Executive and the Director for Children's Services are the Safeguarding Leads for the Council.  
• The post is eligible for both hybrid and permanent home working.
• You will be asked to complete a Criminal Records Self Declaration Form. Criminal convictions will only be taken into account when they are relevant to the post. You will only be asked to disclose ‘unspent’ convictions.
• The Council operates a Smoke-Free Policy and the post-holder is prohibited from smoking in any of the Council's buildings (including Council owned and Council leased buildings, but excluding designated areas in residential schemes), enclosed spaces within the curtilage of buildings, and Council vehicles. The Council does not permit smoking breaks within work time, however, in services where the flexi-scheme is in operation, employees may take reasonable break times outside of core hours, in accordance with flexi-time arrangements. Employees should follow the flexi-scheme procedure for agreeing time away from their duties in the normal manner with their immediate colleagues and line manager, with break start and finish times being recorded, as with any other break-time arrangement. 
• The post-holder is expected to familiarise themselves with and adhere to all relevant Council Policies and Procedures.
• The post-holder must comply with the Council’s Health and Safety requirements as outlined in the H&S policy appropriate to the role.
• The post-holder must be committed to the Council’s Core Values for employees – “Torbay Council employees are committed to being forward thinking, people orientated and adaptable - always with integrity”. Evidence will be sought during the probation and appraisal processes.
• If this post is customer facing, it will require the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
• If you are required to access a government system such as HMRC, DWP or The Public services network (PSN) as part of your role with the Council you will be required to complete a basic disclose with your line manager before you can access these systems. Your manager will be required to complete a verification form that confirms your identity, nationality and immigration status, employment history and unspent convictions (third party).
• If you are required to use your own vehicle on Council business or drive a council vehicle you will be asked to provide information on any driving endorsements by accessing gov.uk/view-driving-licence and providing a code to your Line Manager in order to share your driving licence information with the Council.

Person Specification

Note for Candidate

All Candidates

The supporting statement on your application form will be used to assess ability to meet the essential requirements of the role, so you should explain how you meet each of the numbered essential requirements within your supporting statement. In a competitive situation, the desirable criteria may be taken into consideration, so you are encouraged to show how you also meet each of the desirable criteria.

Candidates who consider that they have a disability

Reasonable adjustments will be made to the job, job requirements or recruitment process for candidates with a disability.

If you consider yourself to have a disability you should indicate this on your application form, providing any information you would like us to take into account with regard to your disability in order to offer a fair selection interview.

Where ever possible and reasonable we will make adjustments and offer alternatives to help you through the application and selection process.

If you have indicated that you have a disability on your application form you will be guaranteed an interview if you clearly demonstrate in your supporting evidence how you broadly meet the essential requirements of the role.

Job info	Job info details
Job Title	Application Support Team Leader
Strategic team/Directorate	Corporate Services
Service	IT
Business unit	Software Development Unit

Skills and effectiveness

Essential skills and effectiveness

• Ability to effectively keep up to date with developments in technology. 
• Ability to learn new technical skills quickly.
• Analytical and innovative.
• Excellent communication skills, to actively engage and explain technical information to IT colleagues, and service users and external contacts at all levels.
• Ability to demonstrate effective team leadership skills.
• Proven Mentoring/Coaching skills.
• Ability to prioritise your own work and that of others, in line with conflicting and changing priorities, in terms of planned work and urgent support tasks.
• Ability to delegate effectively.
• Ability to analyse complex issues and requirements and undertake comparative analysis of potential solutions.

Desirable skills and effectiveness

• Project Management. 

Knowledge

Essential knowledge

• Extensive knowledge of at least one operating system platform.
• Extensive working knowledge of programming and scripting languages, and tools. For example, C#, .NET, PowerShell, Microsoft Power Platform.
• Working knowledge of database systems, such as SQL and Oracle and their administration.
• A working knowledge of M365 applications, such as Teams, SharePoint, Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, etc.
• A detailed working knowledge and understanding of IT best practices in terms of change management, release management and general development practices.
• Awareness of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its application.
• Effective knowledge and understanding of the underlying legislation surrounding data security and be aware of associated risks and controls, including a working knowledge of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Desirable knowledge

• Detailed knowledge and understanding of multiple operating system platforms.
• Detailed knowledge and understanding of multiple database systems and their administration.
• Detailed knowledge and understanding of IT systems used by Councils. 

Experience and achievements

Essential experience and achievements

• Experience of managing a team or mentoring less skilled team members.
• Experience of working in a high volume, high demand service, with conflicting and regularly changing priorities.
• Substantial working experience of supporting users regarding issues with IT systems.
• Working experience of fixing, patching and upgrading a variety of IT systems. 
• Working experience of liaising with Suppliers regarding the support of IT systems.
• Experience of involvement in projects to upgrade or implement IT systems.
• Will have extensive working experience of designing and coding using at least one compiled language such as C# or one scripting language such as Microsoft PowerShell.

Desirable experience and achievements

• Experience of integrating solutions sitting on multiple platforms and a mix of database architectures.
• Demonstratable experience of bringing together and managing a diverse range of individuals with varying skill sets to work as an effective team.
• Extensive working experience of Microsoft 365 applications and building solutions with the Microsoft Power Platform. 

Qualifications/professional memberships

Essential qualifications/professional memberships

• Educated to Degree level (or equivalent) in an IT related field or having commensurate work experience.
• Willingness to study for a Team Leader qualification. 

Desirable qualifications/professional memberships

• ITIL Service Management qualification, or equivalent.
• Team Leader/Management qualifications. 
• Project Management, such as PRINCE 2 Foundation.

Other requirements

Other requirements of the job role

• Demonstrates a commitment to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people.
• Ability to accommodate unsociable hours when necessary.