Application Support Engineer

The Application Support Engineer will be a supporting member in a team that will provide full application support assistance to the Link Group Production environments. They will work within the Cloud Support team to triage calls into the team, distribute calls as appropriate and be the hands-on 2nd/3rd line resolver for the divisional application stack with particular knowledge of database data manipulation and application configuration. They are responsible for analysing application/user issues and errors, identifying and resolving issues and problems to maintain the applications within agreed standards, documenting investigations and where necessary feeding back into the development team for their further investigation and resolution of code and/or bug fixes. Working proactively on the identification and removal of poor/weak or manual operational practices. Supporting the day to day operation through BAU activities, ensuring data integrity is maintained and the best possible service available to support business processes, including the provision of out of hours on call.

Key Accountabilities and main responsibilities

Strategic Focus

• Engage with the Business teams to understand issues and problems, clarify and confirm requirements and resolve.
• Process requests in a timely and orderly fashion ensuring process is followed.
• Carry out incident investigation and resolution, using the incident management tool and following ITIL best practise
• Complete daily BAU runbooks to critical timescales.
• Identifying, creating and maintaining appropriate monitoring alerts and dashboards to ensure full application and system coverage
• Carry out root cause analysis
• Assess and contribute to prioritisation of problem/CI activity
• Carry out technical analysis for Problem/CI.
• Participate in peer review for changes, provides guidance to peers on standards
• Software and processes are correctly documented to ensure single points of knowledge do not become a problem and skills are distributed across the team and department;
• Maintain, support and protect the Production environment
• Process, best practice, system and application support standards are consistently applied and constantly improved upon

Operational Management

• Previous experience in IT Application Support with expertise in troubleshooting and resolving application issues.
• Previous experience in IT Application Support, with expertise in troubleshooting and resolving technical issues to maintain SLAs.
• Strong knowledge of T-SQL and PL/SQL for database querying, data analysis, and issue resolution.
• Familiarity with application code in VB.Net and C#, enabling effective debugging and problem resolution.
• Understanding of cloud technologies for hosting, deployment, and monitoring enterprise systems.
• Experience working with DevOps systems, methods, and practices to ensure seamless application delivery and operations.
• Hands-on experience with monitoring tools like Splunk and New Relic to manage application performance and reliability.
• Proven ability to set up monitoring systems and configurations based on operational requirements to meet SLA commitments.
• Proficiency in ITIL processes, focusing on incident, change, and problem management for efficient application support.
• Capability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a cross-functional delivery team.
• An eagerness to learn, innovate, and seek collaborative solutions to improve operational efficiency.
• Experience supporting or maintaining applications in a Financial Services industry environment.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills to interact effectively with stakeholders, end-users, and team members.

People Leadership

• Interact with the stakeholders for their problems and help drive resolution with the help of the team.
• Build, monitor and support knowledge in some if not all of Windows Server, Cloud, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft IIS install and management.
• Experience as an infrastructure, operations or technical operating in the space between development and operations

Governance Risk

• Help resolving Information Security Corrective actions
• Develop and Maintain Documentation related to Standard Operations Procedures
• Raising security issues and breaches to Manager
• Report to Management of any issues that may impact the Business
• Maintain awareness and champion ITIL best practices
• Adhere to all Link Groups standards, policies and procedures

The above list of key accountabilities is not an exhaustive list and may change from time-to-time based on business needs.

Experience Personal Attributes

Required:

• 2-6 Years of experience in supporting Applications.
• Build, monitor and support knowledge in some if not all of Windows Server, Cloud, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft IIS install and management.
• Experience as an infrastructure, operations or technical expert operating in the space between development and operations
• Experience with IT Service management within ITSM / ITIL framework
• Experience in Supporting multiple Application Servers
• Experience in High Availability and Disaster Recovery Support
• Ability to work on new and emerging technologies as required by Link Group Business.
• Good documentation skills
• Effective oral and written communications skills
• Willingness to accept responsibility and be accountable for service provided

Desirable

• Demonstrable experience with monitoring tools like Splunk and New Relic, including expertise in setup and configuration to optimize application monitoring.
• Proficiency in configuring tools and systems to align with monitoring requirements, ensuring adherence to SLAs and operational goals.
• Previous experience in IT Application Support, demonstrating a proven ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues.
• Advanced knowledge of T-SQL and PL/SQL, enabling high-quality data analysis and database performance tuning.
• Familiarity with application development frameworks, particularly with code written in VB.Net and C#.
• Knowledge and experience with cloud technologies, emphasizing optimization, scalability, and enterprise application deployment.
• Awareness of DevOps tools and principles, contributing to automation and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong resourcefulness and problem-solving abilities, with a track record of establishing clarity in ambiguous scenarios.
• Ability to balance independence with teamwork, contributing effectively as part of a delivery-focused team.
• Demonstrated passion for continuous learning and staying current with emerging technologies and best practices.
• Prior exposure to or experience in the Financial Services industry, adding value through industry-relevant insights.
• Certification or working knowledge of ITIL Foundation Level, supporting process-driven incident and problem management.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills to convey complex technical information effectively to non-technical stakeholders.;