Application Engineer

We are looking for a talented and adaptable Application Engineer to join our Business Systems team. This is a T-shaped role: you will bring deep technical expertise in at least one discipline that is of direct value to the team (AIS and REST APIs, SQL, Power Platform or Fabric), and combine it with the breadth and curiosity to act as a technical product owner across a defined portfolio of business-critical applications.

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Full job description (attached PDF)

Role overview

We are looking for a talented and adaptable Application Engineer to join our Business Systems team. This is a T-shaped role: you will bring deep technical expertise in at least one discipline that is of direct value to the team (AIS and REST APIs, SQL, Power Platform or Fabric), and combine it with the breadth and curiosity to act as a technical product owner across a defined portfolio of business-critical applications.

You will be comfortable talking to a range of people and translating technical ideas for non-technical audiences. You will work closely with business users, technology colleagues and third-party vendors to ensure your portfolio of applications remains reliable, scalable, secure and aligned to the firm's evolving needs. This will require strong troubleshooting skills and a solid understanding of system integrations, data structures and flows, and application architecture, as well as practical experience of managing the operational health of applications, including application configuration, patching and upgrade management. This is an excellent opportunity to help shape and improve our technology landscape, enhance operational efficiency, and drive digital and cloud transformation.

We are a close-knit and supportive team of 15 people, dedicated to sharing knowledge and cross-skilling to support and improve the diverse set of business-critical applications we look after. We are more interested in the quality of your technical thinking and your track record as a developer and product owner than in the specific languages you have coded in or the products you have previously managed. Above all, we are looking for someone with the flexibility and appetite to pick up new technologies and take ownership of whatever tools and platforms the role requires, which will include:

Application Portfolios

It is likely that the successful candidate will initially take joint ownership of one of the following application portfolios, dependent on their background and the team's priorities at the time of joining.

Document Management

Products in the portfolio include: iManage products (Work, SPM, IRM and RAVN), SharePoint and HighQ

Finance

Products in the portfolio include: Elite 3E, OneAdvanced Time Capture (Carpe Diem), Emburse (expenses management) and payroll systems

Key responsibilities

The key responsibilities of this role are set out below and there may be others which are not listed. You may be required on occasion to work outside our normal working hours of 9:30am to 5:30pm.

Technical Product Ownership

• Serve as the technical product owner for assigned business applications, managing their technical direction and ensuring alignment with the Technology department's roadmap, business strategy and user needs.
• Stay informed of product updates, upgrades and roadmap developments and manage their implementation.
• Maintain and prioritise the product backlog, including new features, upgrades, maintenance tasks, defect resolution and security updates.
• Serve as a subject matter expert (SME) for your portfolio, promoting optimal use of the applications and proactively identifying opportunities for business improvement.
• Engage regularly with application stakeholders and users to ensure they are informed of progress and change, and to monitor and improve user experience.

Design and Development

• Collaborate with stakeholders to gather requirements and translate them into practical application changes or enhancements.
• Work with internal and external teams to securely design, develop, test and optimise enhancements to your assigned applications.
• Participate in or lead agile ceremonies such as sprint planning, backlog refinement and retrospectives.

Application Management and Support

• Manage the configuration, deployment and ongoing support of your portfolio of applications.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues, escalating to vendors where necessary.
• Act as the primary liaison between internal users, procurement, support teams and vendors for your portfolio.
• Manage vendor relationships, including coordinating support cases, overseeing service levels, and negotiating enhancements or customisations.
• Monitor usage and performance, proactively addressing issues and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Maintain thorough documentation relating to change control, configuration, processes and procedures.

Cybersecurity and Risk

• Maintain best practice security policies and procedures for the applications, any data they handle or store and their integrations, complying with internal and external security standards.
• Identify and manage risks and vulnerabilities in your portfolio and in its roadmap, and proactively support their mitigation.
• Participate in audits, risk assessments and business continuity planning as it relates to your application portfolio.

Candidate profile

Candidates for this position must have:

Essential:

• Proven experience of managing and supporting business-critical applications in a complex professional services, or similarly demanding, environment.
• Deep technical expertise in at least one discipline directly applicable to the team: Azure Integration Services and REST APIs, SQL, Power Platform or Fabric.
• Strong troubleshooting skills and a solid understanding of system integrations, data structures and flows, and application architecture.
• Experience with application configuration, patching and upgrade management.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement, communication and documentation skills, with the ability to convey technical concepts clearly to non-technical audiences.
• A collaborative approach and a genuine enjoyment of working as part of a close-knit team.
• Adaptability and a willingness to learn new skills and ways of working and to take on additional responsibilities as the team's needs evolve.

Desirable:

• Experience in the legal sector or a similarly regulated professional services environment.
• Familiarity with legal sector compliance and IT security standards, such as GDPR, ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus.
• Experience with agile or iterative delivery methodologies and tools.

What We Offer:

• The opportunity to work in a dynamic, fast-paced environment at one of the world's leading law firms.
• A varied and evolving role with real scope to develop your technical skills and take ownership of business-critical products.
• A supportive and experienced team that values knowledge-sharing, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package.

Our recruitment process

We anticipate this being a two-stage process:

1st interview - Two of the Application Leads

2nd interview - Business Systems Manager and Head of Business Systems

We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment processes are barrier-free and as inclusive as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments for people who have a disability or long-term condition. If you have any questions or require any adjustments to be made to one or both of the application or interview processes, please contact the Recruitment Team.

We are a Disability Confident Committed employer and will offer an interview to applicants with a disability or long-term condition who best meet the minimum or essential criteria for our Business Services roles. If you would like to apply through the Disability Confident 'Offer An Interview' commitment, please apply via our online application form and not via LinkedIn. You are disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a 'substantial' and 'long-term' negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. For more information about the Disability Confident scheme, please see the government website here.

We welcome applications irrespective of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, belief or marital status.

The purpose of this description is to provide guidance in relation to the general requirements of the position referred to. It is by no means an exhaustive list of the responsibilities that will be involved.

Any offer of employment with us is subject to the firm's receipt of a satisfactory report from its third party screening and vetting provider in respect of the successful candidate. Your adviser will be able to explain how this process works in practice in the event of any questions.

At Slaughter and May, we take the protection of your personal information seriously and we are committed to safeguarding the privacy of the personal information that you share with us, or is collected by us, during the course of our interactions with you. Our Recruitment Privacy Notice ("RP Notice") supplements, and should be read alongside, the firm's Privacy Notice.

These privacy notices are always available to view within the Legal and Regulatory section of our website.

Who we are

Slaughter and May is a leading international law firm, recognised throughout the business community for its exceptional legal service, commercial awareness, and commitment to clients. We advise across the spectrum of legal matters including high-profile, ground-breaking, and complex transactions, contentious matters and all aspects of risk. We deliver innovative and bespoke solutions to our clients, domestically and internationally. We provide clear legal advice that spans the globe whilst tackling the cultural nuances between jurisdictions. Our lawyers understand how to coordinate and manage matters in the jurisdictions most relevant to our clients.

Excellence is central to everything we do, and it remains one of the first words mentioned when others are asked about the firm. We are very proud of that reputation. One reason we are known for excellence is because we have always been guided by a set of values that have been an implicit part of who we are and how we operate.

Our four core values are:

1. The highest standards;

2. Independence of thought;

3. Collective endeavour;

4. Respect for all.

They are not simply a list of characteristics. They are part of a framework, as they demonstrate our commitment to our four stakeholder groups (Our clients; Our people; The firm; Society).

At Slaughter and May, with over 1,400 partners and staff worldwide, everyone's contribution is valued, and we all enjoy an open, friendly and supportive environment. We have an underlying sense of pride in who we are and what we do, and our inclusive culture gives rise to a unique diversity of thinking, which is critical to our success and helps maintain our position as a true market leader.

Business Services Development

We offer a variety of learning and development opportunities to members of our Business Services team, including sessions open to everyone on topics ranging from personal impact and resilience to written communication. We also run a series of development programmes for supervisors and managers, as well as various bespoke team and one-to-one sessions.

Our Network of Networks

The firm has eleven employee networks run by employees and supported by partners. Collectively, we form a Network of Networks, and our aim is to foster a spirit of inclusion, both amongst the networks and the firm more widely. We work collaboratively to create a more open minded and inclusive work environment.

We strive to make people feel comfortable about bringing their authentic selves to work.

Each network offers an informal support mechanism for employees with shared backgrounds, perspectives or interests and hosts a number of exciting formal and informal events throughout the year, which are open to everyone. They're a great way to meet new people in the firm, as well as to celebrate difference and learn about a variety of experiences and perspective