IT Relationship Manager

IT Relationship Manager (Post Level
6)

Department Description/Departement Beskrywing

Information Technology

IT Relationship Manager (Post Level
6)

(Stellenbosch Campus)

/334/0826

The IT Division is Stellenbosch University's (SU) strategic partner on the digital transformation journey, delivering exceptional digitally enhanced experiences. Through close collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, we improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operational activities and campus facilities, enhance the transformative student experience, enrich teaching-learning-assessment to promote student success, support the research journey to advance research activities and enable initiatives that drive social impact.

The IT Relationship Manager is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with partners within an assigned line of business. This role ensures that the requirements, IT-led ecosystems, architecture, services, projects, initiatives, and innovations are closely aligned with the priorities and processes of the line of business, while also adhering to the institutional and IT governance and strategy. Serving as a liaison, advocate and relationship custodian, the IT Relationship Manager enables the line of business to achieve its goals through the effective use of technology.

The role also involves active participation in fusion teams that bring together both business and IT stakeholders to drive collaborative outcomes.

• Establishing and maintaining strong, collaborative relationships with relevant business partners acting as the point of contact and as the bridge between IT and the business partners.
• Representing and advocating the line of business requirements, priorities, constraints and concerns within IT while also ensuring IT's strategy, objectives, constraints and concerns are well understood by their stakeholders.
• Leveraging relationships to facilitate change management to move forward with initiatives with their line of business, or IT that is aligned to their objectives and those of the institution.
• Supporting business continuity and disaster recovery while stakeholders' expectations are managed.
• Collaborating with IT stakeholders and business partners in IT projects and initiatives.
• Cultivating a collaborative, innovative and outcomes-driven team culture.

• Maintaining a holistic view of the requirements, ecosystem, solutions, services and projects in the line of business, ensuring alignment with business and institutional strategic priorities.
• Developing a deep understanding of the relevant business partner's objectives, needs, challenges, processes and operations to partner with them to meet their strategic objectives through ICT.
• Collaborating with IT role players to define and refine IT services, architecture and solutions in line with partner objectives and institutional priorities.
• Co-developing a line of business IT roadmap that aligns with divisional and institutional strategic objectives, Institutional Architecture and IT Governance.
• Facilitating collaborative multi-stakeholder synergy to promote Institutional Architecture Principles (including simplification of the Institutional Architecture and avoiding the duplication of IT solutions, systems, service, capabilities or technology).
• Working with business partners to plan and make sure they understand the relevance and impact of the IT ecosystem, management, solution, policy or compliance changes to their operations.
• Assisting IT and the line of business in terms of the prioritisation of initiatives and requests within the line of business, balancing strategic value, cost, resources needed, demand and risk.

• Ensuring that effective communication, tailored to the line of business' context and user groups, occurs related to service, solution and project delivery (e.g. planned downtime, changes and tickets).
• Managing expectations of multiple business partners, their challenges, and issues related to change management.
• Assisting business partners to navigate and comply with IT governance frameworks, policies and standards.
• Guiding business partners through the IT engagement process.
• Advising line of business partners on risk mitigation strategies and best practices in areas such as data management, cybersecurity, identity management and ICT controls in collaboration with experts within the IT Division and elsewhere.
• Monitoring, tracking and coordinating the closure of IT-related audit findings within the line of business.
• Fostering collaboration between business partners and across portfolios.

• Working with the IT programme and project management office and business partners to ensure business requirements and priorities are accurately represented, well understood, documented and approved by all parties.
• Leading…