Background information about the job or company (e.g., role context, company overview)

The Copperbelt University is a Public University established through an Act of Parliament No. 19 of 1987. The University’s core business is Teaching, Research, Innovation, Industrialisation and Community Engagement as a service to the nation. The University is an equal opportunity employer and hereby invites applications from suitably qualified and experienced candidates for appointment to fill in the following support staff positions:

1.0 DIRECTORATE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

1.1 Position: Head – Systems and Software Development (x1)

Job Purpose:

To plan, execute, and finalise projects according to strict deadlines and within budget including overseeing quality control throughout software development life cycle.

Main Duties and Accountabilities:

• Supervises and motivates software development members of staff, and influences them to take positive action and accountability for their assigned work;
• Directs and manages software development project from beginning to end;
• Builds, develops and grows any business relationships vital to the success of the department and the University at large;
• Runs the software development department;
• Builds capacity to enhance and achieve the University development strategic plan;
• Identifies gaps in the software industry, and develops such gaps into solutions;
• Defines software development project scopes, goals and deliverables that support business goals;
• Develops and delivers progress reports, proposals, requirements documentation, presentations, and project milestones; and
• Performs any other duties as may be assigned by the Director.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Grade 12 or Form V Certificate (or its equivalent) with 5 “0” levels including English and Mathematics;
• A Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems or equivalent;
• Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or equivalent;
• Minimum of Five (05) years leading software development teams, including assigning tasks, conducting code reviews, setting standards, and ensuring highquality deliverables; and
• Must be a member of the Information and Communication Technology Association of Zambia.

Required Competencies and Behavioral Attributes:

• End-to-End Project Management Hands-on experience managing full software development lifecycle (SDLC) projects—from requirements gathering, analysis, design, development, testing, deployment, to maintenance.
• Team Building & Performance Management Experience recruiting, mentoring, coaching, and evaluating developers; fostering a collaborative and high-performance engineering culture.
• Agile/Scrum Methodologies Demonstrated experience working in Agile environments, running sprints, backlog grooming, sprint planning, and using tools like Jira, Azure DevOps, or Trello.
• Architecture & System Design Strong background in designing scalable, secure, and robust software architectures, including micro services, APIs, integration patterns, and cloudbased solutions.
• Technical Expertise Solid hands-on development experience in modern programming languages such as Java, C#, Python, PHP, JavaScript/Typescript, or mobile frameworks.
• DevOps & CI/CD Pipelines Familiarity with automated deployments, source control (Git), testing frameworks, containerization (Docker), and pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Jenkins).
• Stakeholder Engagement Experience working with business units, end-users, and senior management to translate requirements into technical solutions.
• Risk Management & Quality Assurance Experience identifying project risks, implementing mitigation strategies, and enforcing quality assurance processes.

Reporting Relationships:

• Immediate Supervisor: Director
• Salary Scale: PSS02

Any other provided details (e.g., benefits, work environment, team info, or additional notes)

Female applicants are encouraged to apply. Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

• Supervises and motivates software development members of staff, and influences them to take positive action and accountability for their assigned work;
• Directs and manages software development project from beginning to end;
• Builds, develops and grows any business relationships vital to the success of the department and the University at large;
• Runs the software development department;
• Builds capacity to enhance and achieve the University development strategic plan;
• Identifies gaps in the software industry, and develops such gaps into solutions;
• Defines software development project scopes, goals and deliverables that support business goals;
• Develops and delivers progress reports, proposals, requirements documentation, presentations, and project milestones; and
• Performs any other duties as may be assigned by the Director.

• End-to-End Project Management
• Team Building & Performance Management
• Agile/Scrum Methodologies
• Architecture & System Design
• Technical Expertise
• DevOps & CI/CD Pipelines
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Risk Management & Quality Assurance

• Grade 12 or Form V Certificate (or its equivalent) with 5 “0” levels including English and Mathematics;
• A Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems or equivalent;
• Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or equivalent;
• Minimum of Five (05) years leading software development teams, including assigning tasks, conducting code reviews, setting standards, and ensuring highquality deliverables; and
• Must be a member of the Information and Communication Technology Association of Zambia.