Platform Engineer at Absa Bank

With over 100 years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise, a career with our family offers the opportunity to be part of this exciting growth journey, to reset our future and shape our destiny as a proudly African group.



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Job Summary



To design, implement, and maintain the bank's platform infrastructure that supports critical banking applications and services. This involves developing scalable and available platform architectures, managing, and maintaining Absa Bank Ghana infrastructure platforms, automating the deployment and maintenance of banking applications, implementing, and maintaining platform security and compliance controls, monitoring platform performance and availability, and staying up to date with emerging platform technologies and trends. Ultimately, the Platform Engineer ensures the bank's platform infrastructure is secure, reliable, and scalable to support the bank's core banking operations and services.



Work embedded as part of an agile team to produce, test, document and review source code that delivers platform features & components of service.



Job Description



Accountability: Platform Engineering, Cloud Design, Deployment & Management Time Split: 50%



Design and implement highly scalable and available platform architecture to support critical banking applications and services.



Output: Comprehensive cloud architecture and design documents.



Manage and maintain the bank's infrastructure platforms including servers, storage, network, and cloud-based services.



Output: Automated cloud deployment scripts and infrastructure management tools.



Automate the deployment, scaling, and maintenance of banking applications and services across multiple environments.



Output: Automated deployment scripts and application lifecycle management tools.



Develop and maintain tools and frameworks to streamline the platform engineering process.



Output: Platform engineering tools and frameworks.



Collaborate with software developers to design, build, and deploy applications on the bank's platform infrastructure.



Output: Collaborative application deployment and integration tools.



Implement and maintain platform security and compliance controls to protect sensitive financial data.



Output: Comprehensive cloud and platform security and compliance policies and frameworks.



Monitor platform performance and availability, troubleshoot and resolve issues, and continuously improve platform stability and reliability.



Output: Cloud monitoring and management tools.



Manage platform budget and optimize platform resources to ensure cost-effectiveness and efficiency.



Output: Cost optimization reports and recommendations.



Accountability: Performance Assessment and Monitoring Time Split: 20%



Outputs:



Performance assessment accountability:









Monitor platform performance and availability, analyze platform data and metrics to assess platform performance, identify performance bottlenecks, and recommend improvements.



Output: Performance assessment reports, performance optimization recommendations, and continuous improvement plans.



Monitoring accountability:



Establish and maintain platform monitoring tools, alerts, and dashboards to provide real-time visibility into platform performance, identify issues, and facilitate quick resolution.



Output: Cloud monitoring and management tools, alerts, and dashboards that provide real-time visibility into platform performance.



Accountability: Service Management & Availability Time Split: 25%



Outputs:







Ensure high availability of all Absa Ghana infrastructure (including Cloud) and connectivity, in accordance with the bank's service level agreements (SLAs) and availability targets.

Provide regular reporting on platform health, performance, and resource status to Senior management, highlighting any issues, concerns, or recommendations for improvement.

Liaise directly with the Absa Ghana Solutions Architect, Absa Group Infrastructure and Cloud Team for effective collaboration, ensuring alignment with the bank's overall IT strategy, objectives, and standards.

Maintain an inventory of all infrastructure assets and licenses, ensuring their optimal utilization and efficiency.

Act as the local subject matter expert and point of contact on all cloud-related matters in-country, providing guidance, support, and advice to IT teams and stakeholders.

Collaborate with Absa Application, Windows, EUT, and network teams in all Cloud and emerging technology (infrastructure) deployments and operations for effective deliveries, ensuring that all cloud deployments and operations are aligned with the bank's overall IT strategy, objectives, and standards.

Work closely with Risk, Audit, and Change on Cloud controls, ensuring that all cloud deployments and operations meet the bank's regulatory and compliance requirements.

Establish and maintain relationships with Absa group and Country Solutions team for regular alignment on all cloud deployments, ensuring that all cloud deployments are aligned with the bank's overall IT strategy, objectives, and standards.

Handle all correspondences and incidents relating to platform issues from respective user and Service Management, providing timely and effective resolution to ensure the smooth operation of the bank's platforms.

Ensure all platforms and infrastructure are regularly backed up and tested for restoration, ensuring business continuity in the event of system failure or disaster.



Accountability: Compliance & Controls Time Split: 5%



Outputs







Participate in snap checks as assigned by the team manager, providing accurate and timely information on compliance and controls within the cloud platform.

Ensure compliance with all procedures and controls in respect of the role, ensuring that all activities are conducted in accordance with the bank's regulatory and compliance requirements.

Report all Risk Events that occur in respective area, ensuring that all incidents are reported to the relevant stakeholders and managed in accordance with the bank's risk management framework.

Conduct risk assessments prior to platform onboarding, identifying potential risks and recommending appropriate controls to mitigate these risks.

Ensure that Cloud Policies, Standards, Directives from Regulator (BoG) and other Guidelines and Processes are appropriately applied and complied with within your business area, ensuring that all cloud activities are conducted in accordance with the bank's regulatory and compliance requirements.

Ensure that internal platforms approval processes, new platform Policies, Standards, or Guidelines, are appropriately cascaded at all users and that they are recirculated on a regular basis, ensuring that all users are aware of the bank's platform policies, standards, and guidelines.

Ensure that any new cloud control measures or solutions implemented within the business comply with, and help implement Absa Group cloud Policies, ensuring that all cloud control measures and solutions are aligned with the bank's regulatory and compliance requirements.



Education And Experience Required



Essential Skills and Qualifications







Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or Mathematics

Experience with AWS DevOps environments

Extensive knowledge and experience of different host environments (i.e. On-prem, Windows, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes ,Cloud, Backup Systems etc)

Proven ability to collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams of business analysts, developers, data scientists, and subject matter experts



Preferred Qualifications & Experience







MCSE qualification and Knowledge in Windows Server 2016 OS

Understanding of and experience with the Five Pillars of a well-architected frameworks



Knowledge (Maximum of 6)







Solid experience / knowledge of server environments

Good working knowledge of Cloud risks / issues and their mitigation

Experience in several of the following areas: database architecture, business intelligence, big data, machine learning, advanced analyticsred



Competencies (Maximum of 8 competencies)







Strong written/presentation and communication skills

A strong understanding of IT Cloud issues and Business impacts

Ability to conduct research into Cloud issues and products

Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment

Strong customer service orientation & Interpersonal skills

Keen attention to detail

Planning & Organization skills

Ability to work with minimum supervision



Education



National Certificate: Information Technology