Head of Technical Practice

Job content

At SUSE we Innovate Everywhere through Open Source solutions and for us, Open means more than software. It is a business model and a culture.

This is an exciting opportunity for a dynamic individual who is interested in advancing their career in a high-growth, global company. As the Head of Technical Practice, you will be a vital part of the IT team, shaping the day-to-day user experience with tools and processes that improve efficiency, decrease cost, and increase revenue.

The objective of this role is to establish architecture design practice internally across the company. You will evolve the business pragmatically, influencing the way the leaders think about demand management, and how data is best used throughout SUSE to drive the company forward. You will work closely with the CIO and C-suite, so you can put your excellent communication skills to good use influencing and leading change.

Location: Hybrid, in the proximity of one of our European offices.

As Head of Technical Practice, you will be responsible for building internal processes around demand management as you evaluate large, strategic programs and assess the impact on the existing estate. This is an ideal opportunity for someone with ample experience in architectural design and capacity process improvement who is ready for greater responsibility and freedom to lead.

You understand how to lead through influence, and you’re eager to drive your career forward by organizing, driving, and managing your own team. You’ll also contribute significantly to the open-source world while being surrounded by people who are just as passionate about open-source as you are.

You will play a significant part in delivering the SUSE IT Strategy execution, and overall IT governance efforts. The scope includes the ownership of the overall SUSE Enterprise Architecture, as well as the overall Project Portfolio Management and Delivery Management. As a lead strategist for IT, you will work with various senior stakeholders in the organization to help translate the overall business strategy into IT capabilities.

Key deliverables:

· Lead the architecture design and governance of the SUSE Enterprise Architecture

· Jointly with the CIO, help create, document and execute the over-arching technology strategy for SUSE, to support the overall business strategy.

· Define and execute the IT Portfolio Management Framework, jointly with all business owners and IT domain leads.

· Oversee, and actively steer the SUSE IT delivery and change management process. Start interventions with help of the CIO whenever required.

· Act as the liaison and point of contact for all IT governance and strategic topics, e.g. support for audits.

· Establish governance practices based on tailored agile management frameworks

· Act as the incubator for strategic, cross-functional business requirements/ projects, until the project is ready for execution.

· Drive the IT innovation efforts jointly with the involved business functions.

Who are we looking for?

A transformational leader with high energy who can lead virtual, cross-functional teams, and engage senior stakeholders about a common ‘north star’ vision and objective. The ideal candidate has a demonstrable track record of designing and delivering complex, multi-year IT Infrastructure transformation roadmaps.

In addition, you are experienced in running and facilitating strategy creation and execution processes on an executive level and act as a thought leader in creating a modern, value-driven technology function.

About You:

• Expert in Enterprise Architecture Design and Capability

• Strategic thought leader with IT hands-on experience and passion for tech

• Strong experience in IT Strategy roles, e.g. CIO/ CTO office, portfolio lead

• Extensive experience working in an Architectural Design capacity process with a strong focus on process improvement

• Top-class people leader with a track record of leading teams across multiple countries and creating an environment where everyone can do their best work. You know how to lead leaders

• Ability to influence and engage with senior stakeholders up to C-level

• An advocate for high-velocity execution, used to driving forward regardless of obstacles

• Fluent in English, written and verbal – ability to lead geographically dispersed teams

• Ideally: Relevant working experience in the software industry or another tech-driven domain

• Ideally: Passion about and experience in Open Source and Software Engineering processes/ developer productivity

• Ideally: Experience as enterprise architect/ program manager, making use of

modern delivery methodologies.

Personal characteristics:

• Strong analytical thinking ability, to break down complex problems.

• Strategic thinker, with the ability to execute relentlessly, hands-on.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, e.g. the ability to lead discussions at the C-level, and with technical subject matter experts.

• Ability to multi-task across multiple workstreams and contexts, and to deliver under pressure against conflicting priorities.

• Self-starter, who is spreading passion and high energy.

• Strong business acumen and entrepreneurial thinking.