Application Support Analyst

My client a leading Global insurer is currently looking for an Application Support Analyst to join their team in London. You will be responsible for a full range of activities which ensure the operational effectiveness of a variety of applications and services provided to the business community and supported by the IT Change team.

Ideally my client is looking for someone who has 3-5 years experience within a Support function, ideally to perhaps have moved into Application Support or is interested in doing so. My client is open to giving training and guidance for the candidate to become a functional expert on a range of applications used within the organisation, whether developed internally or by third party vendors.

General duties include maintaining a queue of service desk tickets in an effective and timely manner, providing support to the business by resolving service queries or acting as an escalation point where necessary, liaising with third party suppliers to resolve issues, executing operational activities to support business processing, and assisting project teams with expert knowledge of applications and their utilisation within the business.

You will be assisting with normal and standard releases for a range of applications, in co-ordination with internal and/or external teams as appropriate.

Flexible working is being offered as well as an excellent package.

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

• Customer focused and able to work to agreed standards and service level agreements
• The ideal candidate will have experience of working within an application support environment with a proven service ethic
• Capable of prioritising and managing multiple tasks simultaneously
• Able to analyse and solve problems quickly and effectively, either independently or by obtaining consensus and/or approval where required
• Good self-management skills and able to balance competing priorities in time sensitive situations
• Analytical skills, including a thorough understanding of how to interpret business users' issues and translate them into practical solutions
• Able to travel to European offices on occasions and in general have a flexible approach to working hours to meet the requirements of the business
• Able to foster relationships within the team, other business departments, and 3rd party vendors
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience of the software development life cycle and familiarity with project management methodologies
• Excellent interpersonal, consultative and communication skills. Ability to interact effectively at all levels with clients, consultants, vendors, peers, and IT management and staff
• Advanced computer skills including Microsoft Office Suite, SharePoint, Skype for Business, and other business productivity systems
• Experience with service management tools and software
• Some experience in SQL skills and an understanding of relational databases
• Familiarity with typical IT and infrastructure architectures.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform a combination of the following list of non-exhaustive duties in line with the companies processes and procedures:
• Provide application support on a day-to-day basis, managing user expectations aligned to agreed service levels using the appropriate service management tools
• Mobilise, co-ordinate and monitor 3rd party support to ensure the operational requirements of the business are met
• Own and co-ordinate vendor system upgrades and deployments
• Assist with the transition of new business application software into production, working closely with development and project teams as required
• Support end user functionality queries, and train and guide users on application usage best practices
• Transfer application knowledge to improve first level support
• Guide and assist other members of the team, ensuring that application knowledge is shared in such a way as to avoid dependence on named individuals
• Ensure that project and business application support documentation is developed and maintained
• Produce knowledge base articles to ensure that intellectual capital is captured in a reusable and persistent form