DHL Hiring Head of IT – Kenya

Role Context

Lead the IT function and overseeing the strategic direction, implementation, and management of IT systems and services. This role encompasses data protection, IT security, and digitalization initiatives, ensuring that technology aligns with business objectives while safeguarding sensitive information and optimizing digital processes. Lead the implementation of technology enhancements, functional priorities and deliver systems/ applications, hardware acquisition and integration requirements in line with overall country’s business strategy and objectives, and Group guidelines and policies. Support Digital Customer Solutions and Programs. Minimize service disruptions, improve performance, and ensure customer satisfaction. Drive continuous improvement initiatives, drives operational excellence and objectives by ensuring reliable and high-quality. Drive all areas in the IT scorecard and IT priorities.

Management Responsibilities

• Manage, coach and mentor IT team.
• Implement plans enhancing the organization and IT functions
• Prioritize and support tasks effectively, considering urgency, impact to the business operations, and available resources to ensure timely resolution of critical issues optimal.
• Conduct regular performance evaluations, set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals, and provide constructive feedback to team members to enhance their skills and productivity.
• Identify training needs and opportunities for skill enhancement among team, facilitate training sessions, and promote continuous learning to keep pace with evolving technologies and industry best practices.
• Identify inefficiencies in support workflows, propose and implement process improvements and automation solutions to streamline support operations, enhance service delivery, and increase customer satisfaction.
• Manage relationships with external vendors and service providers, adherence to contracts, monitor service level agreements (SLAs), and ensure vendor performance meets expectations to support business objectives effectively.
• Collaborate with senior management and finance teams to develop and manage the IT support budget, track expenditures, and make informed decisions to optimize resource allocation and control costs without compromising service quality.
• Identify potential risks and vulnerabilities in IT support operations, implement preventive measures, and develop contingency plans to mitigate the impact of disruptions on business continuity and information security.
• Prepare regular reports and updates on support activities, key performance indicators (KPIs), and service metrics for management review, communicate effectively with stakeholders to provide transparency and ensure alignment with organizational goals and objectives.

Key Tasks

• Execute the IT strategy in alignment with the organization’s overall business strategy and objectives.
• Lead the IT department, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure compliance with data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR) and develop country policies for the secure handling of personal and sensitive data that are aligned to region and global.
• Implement data governance frameworks to ensure data quality, integrity, and accessibility across the organization.
• Oversee the development and execution of data protection training programs for employees.
• Establish and maintain an information security management system (ISMS) to protect the organization’s information assets
• Implement IT security policies, standards, and procedures to mitigate risks and respond to security incidents.
• Conduct regular IT assessments and audits to identify vulnerabilities and ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.
• Drive digitalization initiatives to enhance operational efficiency, customer experience, and business agility.
  Identify and evaluate emerging technologies that can be leveraged to improve business processes and service delivery.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement digital solutions that align with organizational goals.
• Oversee the management of IT infrastructure, ensuring high availability, performance, and reliability of IT services.
• Manage IT budgets, resources, and vendor relationships to optimize service delivery and cost-effectiveness.
• Ensure the implementation of effective IT service management (ITSM) practices to support the organization’s IT operations.
• Lead and mentor the IT team, development and ensuring a high level of technical expertise. Foster a collaborative and inclusive team environment that encourages innovation and knowledge sharing.
• Communicate regularly with leadership and key stakeholders to provide updates on IT initiatives, performance, and strategic direction. Collaborate with business units to understand their technology needs and ensure IT solutions align with business objectives.
• Ensure adherence to IT governance frameworks, policies, and regulatory requirements.
• Proactively manage risks associated with IT operations and data protection, developing contingency plans.
• Support and deploy all program delivery systems and digital customer solutions.
• Manage all KPI’s and IT priorities. Generate regular service management reports for IT leadership, country business reviews and provide strong guidance and direction for service management initiatives.Optimize costs and manage IT budget for infrastructure and ITSM Manage end user, IT Support and telecommunications landscape
• Oversee the incident management process to ensure timely resolution of incidents. Coordinate with IT support teams to restore normal service operations within SLA’s. Analyze incident trends and recommend measures to prevent future occurrences. Identify and manage the root causes of recurring incidents.
• Facilitate problem-solving sessions and track the progress of problem resolution. Maintain databases and ensure effective communication of solutions.
• Manage the change management process to ensure controlled and successful implementation of changes.
• Evaluate change requests, assess risks, and coordinate change approvals.
• Monitor service level agreements (SLAs) with internal and external stakeholders.
• Track and control IT assets and configurations to ensure data integrity. Conduct regular audits to verify the accuracy of configuration records.
• Maintain dashboards and reports on IT service performance. Analyze service performance data to identify trends, issues, and opportunities for improvement. Present findings and recommendations to senior management.
• Liaison between IT and business units to understand and address service needs.Communicate effectively with stakeholders regarding service updates, performance, and improvements. Conduct training sessions and workshops on ITSM processes and tools.Ensure compliance with ITSM standards and best practices. Conduct regular reviews and updates of ITSM documentation.
• Managing and enhancing IT service delivery processes within the country.
• Purchasing of all IT infrastructure and ensuring the quality standards are adhered to.

Minimum Requirements

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science or a related field
• ITIL Foundation certification is required; higher-level ITIL certifications (e.g., ITIL Practitioner, ITIL Expert) are preferred.
• Additional certifications in relevant areas (e.g., COBIT, ISO/IEC 20000) are a plus.

Expected (Years of) Experience

• +8 years of experience in IT management or a related role.
• Proven experience in IT leadership roles, with a strong understanding of data protection, IT security, and digital transformation.
• n-depth knowledge of relevant regulations and standards (e.g., GDPR, ISO 27001).
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to drive change and innovation.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills for effective stakeholder engagement

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