IFS Platform and Environment Manager
Description
Do you want to work to make Power for Good?
We're the world's largest independent renewable energy company. We're guided by a simple yet powerful vision: to create a future where everyone has access to affordable, zero carbon energy.
We know that achieving our ambitions would be impossible without our people. Because we're tackling some of the world's toughest problems, we need the very best people to help us. They're our most important asset so that's why we continually invest in them.
RES is a family with a diverse workforce, and we are dedicated to the personal professional growth of our people, no matter what stage of their career they're at. We can promise you rewarding work which makes a real impact, the chance to learn from inspiring colleagues from across a growing, global network and opportunities to grow personally and professionally.
Our competitive package offers a wide range of benefits and rewards.
The Position
The Platform and Environment Manager will be responsible for the operational management, performance, and optimization of the IFS ERP cloud platform and its associated environments. This role will ensure the stability, availability, and scalability of the ERP system, overseeing system environments, deployment pipelines, cloud infrastructure, and integrations with integrated systems via Boomi.
Key Accountabilities
Platform Management and Operations:
- Oversee the day-to-day management of the IFS ERP cloud platform, ensuring high availability, performance, and system uptime
- Manage the deployment, monitoring, and maintenance of all ERP environments (e.g. development, testing, production), ensuring system stability across the platform
- Ensure that the ERP platform is optimized for performance, security, and cost-efficiency, using IFS Success and industry best practices
- Coordinate with IFS and other vendors for support, troubleshooting, and issue resolution, ensuring timely responses and resolution of system problems
- Ensure that IFS and other vendors provide appropriate support for system upgrades, patches, and incident management
Environment Management:
- Administer and maintain environments, ensuring they are properly configured, updated, and aligned with business needs
- Manage version control, system patches, and upgrades across all environments, ensuring changes are tested and validated before deployment to production
- Collaborate with development teams to manage code releases and system updates, ensuring smooth transitions between environments
Cloud Infrastructure Oversight:
- Oversee the cloud infrastructure supporting the IFS ERP platform, ensuring scalability, reliability, and security within the cloud ecosystem
- Work closely with IFS and their cloud service providers to monitor and manage cloud resources, ensuring efficient use of cloud capacity and cost management
- Ensure compliance with internal and external security policies, data protection standards and regulatory requirements
Integration Management:
- Working with application and integration teams, manage and monitor integrations between the IFS ERP platform and associated systems via Boomi, ensuring seamless data flows and system interoperability
- Collaborate with integration teams to design, implement, and troubleshoot integration pipelines, addressing any performance or data flow issues
- Ensure the scalability and resilience of the integration solutions are in line with that of the ERP platform and associated environments, supporting future business growth and technological evolution
Performance Monitoring and Optimization:
- Leverage and enhance monitoring tools to track the health, performance, and usage of the platform and environments
- Analyze system performance metrics to identify bottlenecks, performance issues, and areas for improvement
- Proactively address any system issues, ensuring minimal downtime and disruption to business operations
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity:
- Develop and maintain disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity plans for the ERP platform, ensuring minimal downtime in case of system failures
- Regularly test and validate the DR strategy, ensuring the ERP platform can be restored to full functionality within agreed recovery time objectives (RTOs)
- Collaborate with stakeholders to update and enhance business continuity strategies and alternative process plans as business needs evolve
Change and Release Management:
- Ensure that the change management processes is followed for platform updates, patches, and system upgrades, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations
- Manage the release process for new features, ensuring they are thoroughly tested in non-production environments before being deployed to live systems
- Coordinate with development, testing, and operations teams to ensure all platform changes are aligned with business and technical requirements
Evolution of the Centre of Excellence:
- Contribute to the establishment of the CoE by defining and documenting Environment Management and Deployment best practices and standards
- Support knowledge transfer across the technical domains within the CoE and advocate good awareness of platform and environment practices
Security & Compliance:
- Implement and enforce cloud security best practices, including user access management, encryption, and data backup strategies
- Work with internal teams to ensure compliance with IT and RES-specific regulatory requirements, implementing necessary controls
- Implement and manage security measures in line with organizational policies to protect the IFS platform and its environments
Additionally:
- Stay current on IFS product updates and industry best practices to provide informed support
- Stay informed about Cloud platform management models, tools, and industry trends to drive innovation and continuously improve practices
- Assist in the development and execution of disaster recovery and business continuity plans
- Participate in cross-functional projects and initiatives related to system enhancements and integrations
- Document processes, configurations, and best practices to support knowledge sharing and process improvement
- Provide on-call support as needed for critical integration issues and system outages
Knowledge
- In-depth understanding of the IFS system, particularly IFS Cloud, cloud architecture, environment management, and best practices for maintaining platform health
- Strong knowledge of cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure) and associated tools for managing cloud environments, including cost optimization, scalability, and security
- Understanding in middleware tools like Boomi, with awareness of integrations and data flows between systems
- Proficiency in using cloud platform monitoring and alerting tools and dashboards to track performance, usage, and issues within the ERP system
- Good understanding of the Software Development Lifecycle and project delivery frameworks
- Proficient in applying ITILv3 good practice, such as Incident Management, Change Management, etc., to all essential functions and responsibilities
Skills
- Experience managing cloud-based ERP systems, with a focus on environment configuration, patching, upgrades, and overall platform health
- Strong understanding of change management and release processes, including planning, testing, and deploying updates to complex ERP environments
- Anticipate platform issues before they arise and implement proactive measures to mitigate risks.
- Strong skills in system configuration management, version control, and deployment automation
- Strong analytical skills, with the ability to diagnose and resolve complex platform and environment issues in a timely manner
- Ability to optimize system performance, troubleshoot issues, and fine-tune configurations for improved operational efficiency
- Experience developing, testing, and maintaining disaster recovery and business continuity plans for large-scale ERP platforms
- Manage external vendors and service providers, ensuring they meet SLAs and support overall platform goals
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment
- Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail
- Excellent communication skills for interacting with technical teams and stakeholders
- Capability to manage multiple priorities and adapt to evolving project requirements
Experience
- Experience with IFS 10 or IFS Cloud
- Experience with cloud infrastructure management, including AWS, Azure, or other cloud providers
- Hands on experience of Environment and Release Management practices
Qualifications
- Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Statistics, Mathematics, Economics, or related field
- Relevant Professional Certifications
At RES we celebrate difference as we know it makes our company a great place to work. Encouraging applicants with different backgrounds, ideas and points of view, we create teams who work together to solve complex problems and design practical solutions for our clients. Our multiple perspectives come from many sources including the diverse ethnicity, culture, gender, nationality, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, marital status, parental status, education, social background and life experience of our people.