Group Head of Enterprise Applications & Integration

Founded in Switzerland in 1968, Zühlke is owned by its partners and located across Europe and Asia. We are a global transformation partner, with engineering and innovation in our DNA. We're trusted to help clients envision and build their businesses for the future – to run smarter today while adapting for tomorrow’s markets, customers, and communities. Our multidisciplinary teams specialise in tech strategy and business innovation, digital solutions and applications, and device and systems engineering. We excel in complex, regulated spaces including health and finance, connecting strategy, tech implementation, and operational services to help clients become more effective, resilient businesses.

If you share our values and want to do the best work, for the right reasons, we can offer you the chance to do it on a global scale and play a real role in shaping our exciting journey.

The role

As a member of the IT Leadership Team, you will lead the Enterprise Applications & Integration area within Group IT, while actively shaping the strategy, priorities, and development of Group IT as a whole.

You will lead two complementary domains and their Domain Leads, providing strategic direction while empowering them to lead their respective teams and capabilities. Business Application Management is responsible for the lifecycle, operation, and evolution of our business-critical applications, while Platforms & Integration builds and operates capabilities across software engineering, integrations, DevOps, automation, AI, and future platform services.

A central part of the role is to build strong, trusted relationships across the business and Group Functions. You will act as a senior IT partner for key stakeholders, understand their priorities and challenges, and ensure that technology decisions and investments are closely aligned with business needs. At the same time, you will help create transparency around IT capabilities, constraints, priorities, and trade-offs.

While Business Application Management is already established, Platforms & Integration is still in its formation phase. A key part of your role will therefore be to shape and build this domain, define its mandate and operating model, and develop it into a strong strategic capability within Group IT.

Working closely with the other Group IT areas, Enterprise Architecture, Security, business stakeholders, and external partners, you will ensure that our enterprise applications remain stable, secure, compliant, and aligned with business priorities, while also building the technical foundations required to support our future digital and AI ambitions.

How you’ll make an impact

• Lead and develop the Enterprise Applications & Integration area across Business Application Management and Platforms & Integration.

• Provide strategic direction to the established Business Application Management domain and ensure the stable, secure, compliant, and cost-effective operation of business-critical applications.

• Build and develop the Platforms & Integration domain, including its mandate, operating model, capabilities, governance, and organisational structure.

• Define and drive the overall strategy and roadmap for enterprise applications, integration, software engineering, DevOps, automation, AI, and related platform capabilities.

• Build strong, trusted relationships with senior business and Group Function stakeholders and act as a strategic IT partner.

• Translate business priorities and challenges into clear technology priorities, investments, and roadmaps while creating transparency around trade-offs and constraints.

• Establish clear ownership, governance, lifecycle management, and engineering standards across applications, integrations, platforms, and technical capabilities.

• Collaborate closely with Infrastructure, Service & Project Management, Enterprise Architecture, Security, Data Governance, and other Group IT areas.

• Manage budgets, strategic vendors, implementation partners, and external service providers.

• Build a strong leadership organisation by coaching and developing Domain Leads, creating clear accountability, and enabling them to lead their domains with a high degree of autonomy.

• As a member of the IT Leadership Team, you contribute beyond your own area and jointly shape Group IT strategy, priorities, operating model, organisational development, and investment decisions.

What’s important to us

• Several years of leadership experience within Enterprise IT, ideally with responsibility for multiple teams or technology domains.

• Experience leading through other leaders, including coaching and developing team leads, building leadership capability, and creating clear accountability across an organisation.

• Demonstrated ability to build and evolve IT organisations and capabilities, including organisational structures, operating models, governance, roles, and ways of working.

• Strong understanding of Enterprise Application Management and Application Lifecycle Management, including governance, ownership, lifecycle, vendor management, security, and operational accountability.

• Solid understanding of modern software engineering, APIs and integration, DevOps, automation, cloud/platform concepts, and emerging technologies such as AI.

• Proven ability to operate as a senior partner to business leadership, balancing business demand, technology strategy, risk, cost, and organisational capacity.

• Ability to operate effectively as part of a senior leadership team, taking collective responsibility and contributing beyond the boundaries of your own area.

• You communicate confidently in English and work effectively in an international environment.

• You are based in Portugal or Serbia (at this stage, we are not offering visa-based relocation).

If you feel you don't meet all the requirements, we are still happy to get to know you, learn more about your ambitions and ideas and look forward to receiving your application!  

We welcome people from all backgrounds, regardless of their gender, personality, national origin, race, religion, colour, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, disability or veteran status.