Ahold Delhaize is one of the world's largest food retail groups and a leader in both supermarkets and e-Commerce. Its family of great, local brands serves more than 50 million customers each week in Europe, the United States and Indonesia. Together, these brands employ more than 420,000 associates in more than 7,000 grocery and specialty stores. Our Global Support Office (GSO) is based in Zaandam in the Netherlands, but GSO associates also work in all the countries we serve. This team supports all our great local brands in finance, HR, IT, legal, communications, sustainable retailing, and other key functions. . 

Head of Tech Lifecycle

The Head of Tech lifecycle is responsible for a specific domain within a Technology or Data platform. He/she has elaborate and substantive experience and knowledge regarding the subject matters of a specific domain.

He/she is responsible for:

• The IT and/or Data service delivery of the specific domain
• Develop improved/new IT/Data service delivery in collaboration with stakeholders
• Improve the domain output quality from a substantive point of view
• Leading internal and external subject-matter experts and professionals to deliver maximum value for the domain
• Development and enablement of employers and managing the domain
• Delivering substantive input to successful realization of value within the domain in relation to the platform vision
• Managing the effective and efficient execution of IT/data service delivery in close collaboration with the business
• Fulfilment of agreements regarding customer satisfaction, business orientation, realizing desired change, subject matter quality, costs and improvements of the domain
• Maintaining a solid relationship with suppliers that are selected for development and maintaining the (business) applications, aimed at maximizing value of delivery
• Inspiring leadership to the teams in the domain and offering insights in new technological developments in the domain

About Ahold Delhaize

We’re Ahold Delhaize, one of the world’s largest food retail groups and a leader in both supermarkets and e-commerce. Together with our 19 strong local retail brands all over the world, we aim to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our customers, our people and the world around us. We offer a highly dynamic, international work environment in which our employees thrive.

Key responsibilities of your role

Your role is highly diverse and encompasses various responsibilities. Here are the key ones:

Strategy and Planning Cycle

• Responsible for the quality and continuity of the agreed upon the service delivery policies and strategy
• Formulates IT policy and strategy for the specific domain, aimed at the optimal use of technology and data
• Knowledgeable on technical best practices in its domain and the chosen technology and leverages knowledge of the teams to policies
• Balances decisions in the landscape (from architecture) with the ability of the teams in his domain to be as productive as possible
• Acts as a ‘trusted advisor’ towards the management level above him/her
• Follows market/technical developments and makes year plans

Innovation and Improvement

• Responsible for the innovation and improvement of the specific domain
• Programs, agile teams, projects
• Ensures a solid decision making in prioritizing and guards the execution of agile teams and projects on a strategic level
• Makes decisions and prioritizes initiatives in collaboration with the business management/business owners
• Ensures an effective operation by adequately cooperating with other Heads of Tech and Strategic/Business Technology Consultants and Product owners with regard to prioritizing conform the roadmap
• Ensures funding and releases and monitors realization of the desired customer journey, epics and features
• Organizes the subject-matter expertise that is required to improve business processes with IT and data, in collaboration with the business
• Ensures necessary or desired changes in current applications are prioritized and effectively executed
• Aligns regarding improvements of the domain with stakeholders
• Is able from their own engineering background to build an engineering culture in his domain

Management

• Responsible for the governance, personnel and supplier performance
• Governance
• Sets goals and secures results and goals for the team
• Motivates teams to first use technical best practices before starting to prototype as true professionals
• Challenges team to focus on orchestrating suppliers and acquire market solutions instead of building in house in accordance with business activity modality
• Optimizes individual performance and ensures continuous development, professional behavior, and positive, inclusive and safe working atmosphere
• Guards the performance of suppliers and takes action to ensure this
• Works with suppliers to set-up metrics (technical) which objectify performance

What’s in it for you?

Aside from what we ask of you in this role, we also have a great deal to offer you: plenty of growth opportunities and various cross-brand career options; flexible working hours; a hybrid working model (we ask you to spend at least 50% of your working time at the office); and the chance to drive meaningful change on a global scale. You can look forward to a good work-life balance, and the chance to work in an inclusive environment that wholeheartedly encourages growth and welcomes you just the way you are.

Requirements

We think you’ll be best geared for success if you meet the following requirements:

• Master’s degree (level of thinking) within the specific focus area
• Minimum of 5 years of experience
• Proven knowledge of recent and modern applied architectures, techniques, methods, products and services within the field of working,
• Relevant experience with Agile and release management in a complex (multi-vendor) environment and/or comparable standards and frameworks
• Elaborate project management experience processes
• Excellent communicative skills
• Strong verbal, written and presentation skills
• Strong leadership and management skills and experience
• Able to challenge subject matter experts’ content wise
• Strong stakeholder management skills
• Advanced knowledge of domain subject matters
• Responsible for managing internal and external people within the delivery teams of the domain
• Responsible for budget, including setup of financial roadmap and accountability of the domain
• Gathers different visions and uses these as input for their own vision and the total vision of the domain

Apply now!
Are you keen to join the team? Even if you don’t tick all the boxes, but you still believe you have the personality and skills that make you a suitable candidate, we strongly encourage you to reach out to us. Apply now via the button on this page, or feel free to contact Katie Hillman via Katherine.hillman@aholddelhaizeusa.com if you have any questions.

At Ahold Delhaize and our local brands, we broadly define diversity as being inclusive of thoughts and skills, generational differences, LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disabilities, nationalities and more, and we accept all people for who they are.

The GSO sets global strategies frameworks, facilitates the sharing of best practice and encourages economies of scale. Great examples include sharing technology and digital know-how, so we can continue to lead in online and in-store retailing, setting global targets for healthy and sustainable products-including reducing food waste, use of plastics and making our products healthier to use and eat, and championing development for our future leaders-from learning about the digital mindset to leading our stores of the future.

Under the federal Transparency in Coverage rule, group health plans are required to make publicly available machine-readable files that include in-network rates and out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges. Click  the link to view the in-network rates and out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges under the welfare benefits plan in which GSO participates

We are an equal opportunity employer. We comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws. Qualified applicants are considered without regard to sex, race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, marital status (including civil unions), military service, veteran status, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions), genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, legally recognized disability, domestic violence victim status or any other characteristic protected by law.