IT Applications Platform Manager

Osborne Clarke is looking for an IT Applications Platform Manager to join our Information Technology Services team, based in our Bristol office.

This role will be pivotal in developing and managing our business application platforms, driving standardisation and governance, and ensuring we maximise the business value and cost efficiency of our technology investment.

The role is based in our Bristol office offering hybrid working.

The role

The IT Applications Platform Manager will be a key member of our Applications Delivery team, reporting to the Head of IT Applications Delivery. You will oversee the lifecycle of our business applications, developing roadmaps and working closely with colleagues to ensure our platforms remain stable, secure and aligned with business requirements and technology strategy.

You will collaborate with stakeholders across ITS, Business Services and our international offices, alongside application suppliers and support partners.

Other key responsibilities include:

Application Strategy & Lifecycle Management

• Own and develop application roadmaps, covering the full lifecycle from implementation through to retirement and replacement.
• Ensure application plans align with business objectives, technology strategy and architectural standards.
• Work closely with Applications Delivery colleagues to schedule and deliver upgrades that maintain performance, stability and security.
• Drive standardisation, governance and continuous improvement across the business applications portfolio.

Security & Environment Management

• Own application-layer vulnerability management, identifying and assessing vulnerabilities and coordinating remediation with the relevant Applications Delivery teams.
• Collaborate with ITS Security to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies.
• Help define and enforce an environment strategy across development, test, UAT, pre-production and production environments, including sandboxes and tenants.
• Establish clear purposes, access controls and data sets for each environment; maintain baselines and environment parity to prevent configuration drift and reduce deployment risk.
• Document environment topology and dependencies, ensuring activities follow the firm’s Information Security Policy and current best practice.

 Release & Deployment Governance

• Own release and deployment processes, including versioning, change records, approvals and runbooks.
• Enable automation and CI/CD where feasible, ensuring appropriate segregation of duties.
• Represent Applications Delivery at governance forums, including Change Advisory Board meetings and steering committees, presenting options, risks and recommendations.

Suppliers, Licensing & Budgets

• Support the management of application suppliers and support partners through regular business reviews, subscription renewals and licensing activities.
• Work closely with Software Asset Management and Procurement colleagues.
• Assist the Head of ITS Applications Delivery with budgeting activities relating to the business applications estate.

Collaboration & Team Development

• Build effective working relationships across Applications Delivery, the wider ITS function and the firm’s national businesses.
• Maintain regular communication with the Head of ITS Applications Delivery and exercise delegated decision-making authority in their absence.
• Provide mentoring and performance management where appropriate, with responsibility for the platform management team in due course.
• Actively manage your own and team members’ development, identifying learning opportunities and contributing to departmental knowledge sharing.

We are looking for

• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills, with previous supervisory experience essential and the ability to command the respect of a highly technical team.
• Excellent spoken, written and presentation skills, with confidence communicating with audiences of different technical abilities and levels of seniority.
• Experience working in a multi-site, team-oriented and collaborative environment.
• A proactive, self-motivated approach, combining strategic thinking, attention to detail and an understanding of organisational goals.
• Strong prioritisation and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams and deliver in a high-pressure environment.
• Strong understanding of project management principles, alongside consultancy skills such as problem solving, change management, influencing, business analysis, process mapping and negotiation.
• Understanding of applicable data privacy practices and laws, and human resource management principles, practices and procedures.
• Ideally, knowledge of the legal sector and its business applications, supported by hands-on technical experience and the ability to contribute to configuration decisions.
• Understanding and ideally experience of Windows 11 and Office 365; iManage Work or another leading document management system; Elite 3E or another leading practice management system; and InterAction or a comparable CRM solution.
• Understanding and ideally experience of workflow automation tools such as Intapp Flow, case management tools such as Visualfiles, integration technologies such as Intapp Integrate/IIS (Boomi), SharePoint or other web-based technologies, Microsoft Office and template management solutions, and Microsoft SQL Server and T-SQL 2014 or later.
• Understanding of the ITIL best practice framework

Our recruitment process

Please note that although we include closing dates for our roles as a guide, we review and progress applications on a rolling basis. At Osborne Clarke we do not make any recruitment decisions using automated decision-making.

We are committed to providing an environment where you can perform to the best of your abilities at every stage of your recruitment experience and beyond. If you require any adjustments to be made during the application stage, interview process, or when working with us, please let us know in confidence.