Head of IT Services (Retail & Wholesale Energy)

The future of energy is digitized, decarbonized and localized. At SmartestEnergy, we need revolutionary thinkers to help our customers make the most of this new landscape, thinking differently to find smart solutions to complex problems. 

Formed in 2001, we’re an agile business driven by entrepreneurial thinking. As a subsidiary of the Marubeni Corporation, we also have strong investment and infrastructure behind us. As well as our two offices in the US, we have three offices in the UK and another in Australia.  Further expansion is planned for 2025 and beyond which means global career opportunities for you, with plenty of potential to explore new markets. 

When you join our Team, you will have the opportunity to contribute and make an impact every single day. 

Overview 

The Head of IT Services – Retail Energy Sector will own the strategy, design, delivery, and ongoing optimization of our enterprise applications and data landscape. This role spans the software development including Salesforce, data warehousing and reporting, robotic process automation (RPA), IT security, and end-to-end application and solutions architecture. You’ll manage a direct team and collaborate with group-wide technology subject matter experts to provide these core services to SmartestEnergy US IT business partners and to business stakeholders.

In this role, you will be involved with the following:

Manage team members to: 

• Develop and execute the roadmap for Salesforce CRM, Marketing Cloud, and custom platform development. 
• Direct the design, implementation, and maintenance of enterprise data warehouse and BI solutions. 
• Champion RPA initiatives to streamline operations, reduce manual effort, and improve accuracy. 

Additionally,

• Define and enforce application security standards, working closely with the InfoSec team on policies, controls, and audits. 
• Working with corporate application and end-to-end solutions architects, ensure scalable and business-aligned technology landscape to meet longer term needs for a growing business. 
• Oversee application lifecycle management: in particular, design, development, testing, deployment, and support. 
• Manage vendor relationships, negotiate contracts, and ensure SLAs are met for third-party platforms, tools, development services, and technology support. 
• Drive DevOps and Agile practices across application teams to accelerate delivery and maintain high quality. 
• Mentor and lead staff, and seek subject matter expertise as needed, from cross-functional teams of developers, architects, analysts, and engineers. 
• Collaborate with stakeholders to align IT capabilities with business objectives.

To be successful in this role, you are likely to have the following skills/experience: 

Educational Background: Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field, or relevant experience. 

Experience: 10+ years of experience in software development, enterprise application and data architecture, with a proven track record of leading cross-functional teams. Experience working in the Retail and wholesale energy industry a big plus. 

Technical Expertise: Strong knowledge of system design, cloud computing, security principles, and modern development frameworks. 

Leadership Skills: Proven leadership and team management abilities. 

Communication Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences. 

Problem-Solving: Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to analyze and solve complex technical problems. 

Agile and DevOps: Familiarity with Agile and DevOps methodologies. 

Preferred Certifications:

• Salesforce Certified Application Architect or System Architect 
• Data Science master’s degree or expert certification 
• Enterprise Architecture master’s degree or certification 
• PowerAutomate, UiPath Advanced RPA Developer, Automation Anywhere Certified Master, or equivalent
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) or Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) 
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect or Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Collaborative: Personable, team-oriented, respectful, and empathetic individual who is comfortable working with both on-site and remote team members. 

Analytical Thinking: The ability to analyze complex problems, break them down into manageable components, and drive meaningful insights to support decision-making processes. 

Strategic Mindset: A forward-thinking approach to aligning business objectives with technology solutions, anticipating future challenges, and identifying opportunities for innovation and growth. 

Effective Communication: Strong verbal and written communication skills to articulate strategic, long-term focused, ideas and recommendations clearly and persuasively to diverse stakeholders across functional and technical departments. 

Process Driven: Strong governance oversight orientation with steadfast focus on controls and procedures.

Diversity

Celebrating our inclusive and diverse culture is core to what we do. We value everybody irrespective of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability and genetic information (including family medical history). EOE.

We know that for our business to thrive we need diverse talent with a range of backgrounds, skills and capabilities in each of the countries in which we operate. We view diversity as one of the key enablers that helps our business to grow.

We are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As such, if a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please reach out to the HR & People Team via email us-hrssc@smartestenergy.com so we can discuss with you further.

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