Functional Application Manager (Medior)

Athumi was founded in 2023 by the Flemish government as the first data utility company in Europe and, as an externally autonomous agency under private law, has the legal mandate to process personal data and sensitive business data safely and transparently. Athumi offers companies reliable access to valuable data, supports citizens in controlling their personal information, and stimulates the data economy in Flanders. With approximately 80 employees, we are a start-up with a clear mission and a fast-growing team that is developing into a scale-up.

Your role as Application Owner

As Application Owner, you are responsible for the ownership of specific IT products within Athumi's Operational Backbone. You act as the central point of contact and coordinator for these products (within Athumi) and ensure they operate stably, securely, and efficiently. Additionally, you work closely with internal teams, business units, and external vendors to implement continuous improvements and optimizations.

What will you do?

• Application management and coordination
• You are the point of contact and coordinator for the assigned products.
• You ensure the stability, security, and efficiency of the systems.
• You organize and lead “grooming” meetings and Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings to set priorities and manage changes.
• You resolve issues reported by users, such as following up on and managing Jira tickets. You coordinate support questions together with IT management and the service desk.
• You ensure that backbone products work together seamlessly and support the technical teams with any bottlenecks.
• Process improvements and optimization
• You identify opportunities to further automate and optimize processes.
• You map out improvement points within workflows.
• You ensure that the functionalities of the component optimally meet the needs of the business units.
• Stakeholder management and communication
• You act as an active bridge between business and IT, ensuring that requirements are correctly understood and translated. You document and communicate changes in a structured manner to all relevant stakeholders.
• You train users on new functionalities and changes within the systems.
• You maintain contacts with external vendors and partners for maintenance, upgrades, and support of the components.
• You work closely with teams within Shared Services, such as PMO and IT management, to ensure efficient support.
• Project management and follow-up
• You keep track of the license and maintenance costs of the components.
• You contribute ideas for cost-saving measures, without compromising on quality.
• You manage and monitor changes (Change Requests) and projects within your applications from intake to delivery.
• You monitor progress and ensure that agreed timelines, budgets, and quality requirements are met.
• You facilitate meetings, make clear agreements with internal stakeholders and vendors, and communicate actively about progress and any risks.
• You ensure clear project documentation and report on this to involved parties.

Skills

• Demonstrable experience working with ERP or CRM systems (such as Dynamics, Business Central or similar) - Medior (2.00 years)
• Demonstrable experience in stakeholder management between IT, business, and external vendors.
• Demonstrable experience working with external vendors in a hybrid IT landscape.
• Demonstrable knowledge of ITSM tool Jira.
• At least 2 years of experience in IT management, application management, process optimization, or project management.
• Demonstrable experience in application management and coordination, including CAB and grooming meetings.
• Demonstrable experience with project follow-up regarding applications: planning, budget, and reporting.
• Analytical ability to identify and solve workflow issues.
• Knowledge of or affinity with data-driven organizations or the public sector.
• Demonstrable experience as a functional application manager - Medior (3.00 years).
• Demonstrable experience in functionally evaluating applications and formulating maintenance or conversion strategies.
• Demonstrable experience in planning and implementing organizational changes.
• Language requirement: Dutch at European CEFR level C2.
• Demonstrable experience as initiator/project leader for improvement maintenance and migration projects related to the application.
• Demonstrable experience with Application Lifecycle Management and the required development and test environments for the application.
• Demonstrable experience in applying ITIL and relevant basic processes (including configuration management, change management, etc.).