Assistant Manager, DFS Support – IT Support

Assistant Manager, DFS Support – IT Support.

Job Summary

The Support Assistant Manager, DFS IT Operations is a player-coach role accountable for the stability and operational excellence of the Core DFS platform and middleware integrations within the subsidiary. The role combines hands-on technical leadership across both domains, Core DFS and Middleware, with people management responsibility for 4 operations officers, balancing individual technical contribution with team development, task coordination, and performance management. Reporting to the Head of IT with a dotted line to Group IT Operations, The Tech Lead serves as the local escalation point for critical incidents, ensures alignment with Group standards, and drives execution of the 1-5-10 operational mandate. The role builds team capability through coaching, structured task assignment, and formal performance evaluation while contributing to the broader Technical Operations community through metrics reporting and participation in Group forums.

Key Responsibilities and Accountability

Technical Operations & Incident Management

• Serve as the primary technical expert for the subsidiary's Core DFS platform and middleware integrations, providing hands-on troubleshooting, diagnosis, and resolution of complex operational issues
• Act as the local escalation point for critical incidents, leading technical investigation and coordinating resolution efforts across infrastructure, database, network and application domains
• Execute the 1-5-10 operational mandate, demonstrating exemplary detection, investigation and resolution capabilities while driving team adherence to response targets
• Conduct root cause analysis for complex and recurring incidents, identifying systemic issues and implementing preventive measures in coordination with Group IT Operations
• Monitor platform health, performance, and availability proactively, identifying risks and taking corrective action before issues impact service
• Execute and oversee approved configuration changes, system enhancements, and maintenance activities, ensuring proper validation and rollback readiness
• Escalate complex technical issues to Group IT Operations resources when local resolution is not achievable, providing detailed technical context and supporting collaborative troubleshooting.

Team Leadership & Performance Management

• Lead, coach and develop a team of operations officers, building technical capability and operational discipline through structured mentoring and hands-on guidance
• Escalate through the Group technical escalation path for issues requiring vendor engagement, advanced expertise or cross-subsidiary coordination
• Assign tasks and allocate work across the team based on priority, complexity and individual development needs, ensuring balanced workload and skill growth
• Manage shift scheduling and roster planning to ensure adequate operational coverage, adjusting for leave, training and peak periods
• Approve leave requests while maintaining minimum coverage requirements and operational continuity
• Conduct formal performance appraisals (mid-year and annual reviews), setting clear objectives, providing constructive feedback and documenting performance outcomes
• Serve as the first point of consultation for team members on technical questions, operational decisions, and process clarifications
• Foster a culture of accountability, continuous learning and knowledge sharing within the team
• Identify skill gaps and development opportunities, recommending training interventions and stretch assignments to build team capability.

Group Alignment & Standards Compliance

• Maintain alignment with Group IT Operations standards, processes and runbooks, ensuring consistent operational practices across the organization
• Participate in Group IT Operations forums, contributing subsidiary perspectives and adopting shared learnings and best practices
• Submit operational metrics, incident reports and performance data to subsidiary leadership and Group IT Operations per agreed reporting cadence
• Follow Group runbooks for standard operational procedures while developing subsidiary-specific runbooks where local requirements exist, communicating these to Group for potential broader adoption
• Coordinate change approvals jointly with Group CAB, ensuring changes are assessed, documented, and executed in line with organizational change management processes
• Consult Group IT Operations before proceeding with local architectural decisions, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards and avoiding divergence.

Monitoring, Documentation & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain accurate and current operational documentation including runbooks, escalation matrices, architecture diagrams and interface specifications for subsidiary platforms
• Ensure the team maintains detailed logs of incidents, maintenance activities, changes and resolutions in accordance with documentation standards
• Contribute to the knowledge base, capturing lessons learned, troubleshooting guides and operational insights that benefit both local and Group teams
• Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, reduce manual toil and enhance platform stability, proposing and implementing improvements in coordination with Group.
• Support automation initiatives aligned with Group's SRE transformation objectives, implementing automated monitoring, alerting and remediation where applicable
• Evaluate operational compliance, ensuring adherence to security standards, regulatory requirements and internal controls.

CORE ACCOUNTABILITIES AND DELIVERABLES

1. Platform Availability, Incident Resolution & Technical Excellence Accountable for the stability, availability, and performance of the subsidiary's Core DFS platform and middleware integrations, serving as the local technical authority and escalation point for complex operational issues. Owns execution of the 1-5-10 operational mandate within the subsidiary, ensuring rapid detection, investigation, and resolution of incidents while driving team adherence to response targets.

Deliverables:

• Platform availability maintained at or above agreed SLA targets
• Incident response performance aligned with 1-5-10 mandate (1 minute detect, 5 minutes investigate, 10 minutes remediate).
• Root cause analysis reports for all P1/P2 incidents within 48 hours.
• Proactive identification and remediation of platform risks before service impact.
• Timely escalation to Group IT Operations with complete technical context when local resolution is not achievable
• Successful execution of approved changes with zero unplanned outages due to change-related errors.

2. Team Leadership, Development & Performance Management Accountable for leading, developing and managing the performance of the operations officers, ensuring the team delivers consistent operational excellence while building individual capability. Owns task allocation, shift scheduling, leave management, and formal performance evaluation, creating a high-performing team that operates effectively with minimal supervision.

Deliverables:

• Completed mid-year and annual performance appraisals for all direct reports with documented objectives and feedback
• Shift schedules and rosters published in advance, ensuring adequate coverage across operational hours.
• Balanced task allocation that matches work complexity to officer capability while enabling skill growth
• Measurable improvement in team technical capability over time (reduced escalations, faster resolution, broader skill coverage).
• Regular 1:1s and coaching sessions conducted with each team member.
• Team attrition and engagement maintained at healthy levels.
• Leave approvals managed without coverage gaps

3. Group Alignment, Standards Compliance & Reporting

• Accountable for ensuring subsidiary operations align with Group IT Operations standards, processes, and governance frameworks.
• Owns the dotted-line relationship with Group, maintaining consistent communication through metrics reporting, forum participation, and adherence to the technical escalation path.

Deliverables:

• Operational metrics and incident reports submitted to Subsidiary Leadership and Group IT Operations per agreed cadence (weekly/monthly as defined).
• Active participation in Group IT Operations forums with documented actions and local implementation of shared learnings.
• All changes coordinated through joint CAB process with complete documentation.
• Group runbooks followed consistently; subsidiary-specific runbooks documented and communicated to Group.
• Local architectural decisions consulted with Group before implementation.
• Zero audit findings related to deviation from standards or processes.
• Timely response to requests for information, support, or coordination.

4. Documentation, Knowledge Management & Continuous Improvement Accountable for maintaining accurate, current operational documentation for subsidiary platforms and contributing to the broader organizational knowledge base. Owns identification and implementation of operational improvements that enhance efficiency, reduce manual effort, and strengthen platform stability.

Deliverables:

• Current and accurate runbooks, escalation matrices, and architecture documentation for all subsidiary platforms
• Knowledge base contributions capturing incident learnings, troubleshooting guides, and operational insights
• Subsidiary-specific runbooks documented and shared with Group for potential adoption elsewhere.
• At least 2 operational improvement initiatives identified and implemented per quarter
• Reduction in manual, repetitive operational tasks through automation or process improvement
• Compliance with documentation standards validated through periodic review
• Team documentation discipline maintained (incident logs, change records, maintenance logs)

QUALIFICATION, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Telecommunications, or related technical field
• Additional certifications such as (CKA) or Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift, AWS Certified SysOps Administrator / Azure Administrator Associate, Certified SRE Foundation or DevOps Foundation, CompTIA A+, Network+, ITIL Foundation, or equivalent demonstrating foundational IT knowledge (preferred but not mandatory).
• Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in IT operations, technical support, or systems administration. At least 3 years of hands-on experience with financial services platforms, mobile money systems, core banking applications, or payment systems.
• Demonstrated experience in production environment operations, including incident management, change execution, and platform monitoring.
• At least 2 years of experience working with integration platforms, middleware technologies, APIs, or enterprise service buses.
• Prior experience leading, supervising, or managing a technical team, including task allocation, performance feedback, and team development (minimum 2 years).
• Proven track record of leading or significantly contributing to critical incident resolution in production environments
• Experience working in 24/7 operational environments with shift-based coverage or on-call responsibilities

If you meet the above requirements, submit your application by 17th September 2026. Please include an updated Curriculum Vitae, copies of the relevant certificates and testimonials.

All applications should be in soft copy and through the Link Indicated below, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted:

Link: https://equitybank.taleo.net/careersection/ext_new/jobsearch.ftl

Equity Bank is an equal opportunity employer. We value the diversity of individuals, ideas, perspectives, insights, values, and what they bring to the workplace.