Title:  Platform Owner

Job Purpose

Technically owner the Storage, Backup, Archiving and Data Lifecycle Management platforms end-to-end, ensuring secure, resilient, scalable and cost optimised data services. Define and execute the platform strategy, architecture, governance and technology roadmap while driving modernization, cyber resilience, operational excellence and business alignment.

Job Responsibilities

• Own the Storage, Backup, Archiving and Data Lifecycle Management platforms end-to-end including governance, lifecycle management, service delivery, availability, stability and risk management.
• Assist with the financial optimization of the Storage, Backup and Archiving platforms, ensuring cost-effective delivery of services and optimal return on technology investments.
• Define and maintain the platform strategy and multi-year technology roadmap aligned to business, cloud and security objectives.
• Provide technical leadership and architectural direction for storage, backup, archiving and data protection solutions.
• Approve platform-specific designs, standards, blueprints and solution architectures.
• Lead enterprise data lifecycle management, retention, archival and disposal strategies.
• Own enterprise backup, recovery, cyber resilience and disaster recovery capabilities.
• Drive modernization through eradication of legacy technologies, reduction of technical debt and adoption of modern cloud-enabled capabilities.
• Identify, prioritise and implement platform improvement opportunities that improve resilience, scalability and cost efficiency.
• Work with Infrastructure Integrators and Enterprise Architecture teams to ensure alignment with best practices and standards.
• Accountable for platform performance, capacity, operational and service quality.
• Establish strategic vendor relationships and influence technology direction.
• Develop team capability through skills development, coaching, mentorship and retention strategies.
• Stay abreast of industry developments and emerging technologies and translate opportunities into roadmap initiatives.

People Specification

• Collaborative and accountable.
• Develops and retains talent.
• Strong customer and service orientation.
• Commercially aware with a focus on value realization.
• Strategic Thinking
• People Leadership
• Coaching & Mentorship
• Stakeholder Management
• Decision Making
• Results Orientation

Essential Qualifications - NQF Level

Preferred Qualification

• IT Related Degree or Diploma

Essential Certifications

• Microsoft Azure Architect Certification
• AWS Certification
• FinOps certification
• Enterprise Storage Certification

Preferred Certifications

• Dell Storage Certification
• Hitachi Storage Certification

Minimum Experience Level

• 5 - 10 years Platform Specific experience
• 5 years includes operational IT experience
• 5 years of Storage, Backup, Archiving and Data Lifecycle Management platforms experience
• Experience on Hybrid Platforms (Cloud and On-premises)

Technical / Professional Knowledge

• Storage, Backup & Archiving Solutions
• Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity 
• Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Storage 
• Enterprise Backup and Recovery Technologies
• Data Lifecycle Management
• Storage Tiering
• Platform Modernization and Legacy Transformation
• Information Security and Risk Management
• Platform Engineering and Automation
• Infrastructure as Code and Orchestration
• IT Service Management and Governance
• Capacity, Performance, and Availability Management
• Technology Roadmap Development