WHAT DOES AN APPLICATION SPECIALIST DO?
The Application Specialist encompasses project status reporting, secure code reviews, and the development of shared enterprise frameworks. The position requires a comprehensive understanding of business data, user functions, and adherence to modern coding practices. Operating within the EMEA region, active collaboration with architects and proactive customer support contribute to the overall success and satisfaction of the organization.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Application Specialist
1. Application Specialist Duties
- Scientific Instrument Demonstration: Demonstration of the scientific instruments.
- International Support: Supporting international applications team with scientific experiments.
- Presentations & Seminars: Applications seminars and presentations at conferences.
- Cross-departmental Collaboration: Close cooperation with development and sales departments to open up new applications fields.
- Customer-Development Liaison: Interface between international customers and the development team.
- Hardware & Software Testing: Testing of developed hardware- and software components.
- Geographic Expertise: Geographic focus: Primarily Germany, with additional European and global operations.
- Software Utilization: Utilize computer software (CET Configura and AutoCAD 2013) to generate workstation typicals and/or installation drawings to aid in the output of an electronic specification.
- Site Inspection: Perform site inspections to ensure accuracy of measurements and information to ensure complete specification and precision.
- Specification Review: Review furniture specifications with the Workplace Consultant and provide technical information to aid in presentation of specification to the customer.
- Codes & Standards Knowledge: Acquire and maintain knowledge of electrical, construction, and building codes applicable to furniture installations.
- Furniture Standards Familiarity: Maintain familiarity with customer furniture standards.
2. Application Specialist Details
- Cost-Benefit Analysis: Assists with developing project cost and benefit estimates to establish project worth.
- Systems Analysis & Recommendation: Develops alternative considerations leading to recommendations for new systems, software, frameworks, or changes to existing ones.
- Staffing & Resource Estimation: Estimates project staffing requirements. Responsible for estimating resource needs for analysts, programmers, user personnel, consultants, equipment, etc.
- Architectural Advisory: Advises on architectural decisions related to the framework.
- Complex Problem Solving & Programming: Plans and performs the full range of programming actions needed to achieve desired end-results on complex problems under the direction of the Team Leader or the Application Manager.
- Project Management: May be responsible for projects that span more than one system.
- Testing & Debugging Coordination: Develops system implementation schedules and coordinates testing and debugging for programming changes.
- Business Technology Liaison: Coordinates with business unit representatives to define and evaluate business technology needs and project feasibility.
- Documentation Preparation: Prepares program/system documentation.
- Production Problem Resolution: Independently performs problem determination and resolution in the production environment.
3. Application Specialist Responsibilities
- Reporting Skills: Prepare routine project status reports, assist with code reviews.
- Knowledge Sharing Skills: Gain an extensive working knowledge of business data and user functions and will share knowledge and train others.
- Secure Coding Practices: Practice and adhere to secure coding practices and conduct code reviews related to security.
- Development & Design Skills: Designing and developing shared frameworks, components, and services for the enterprise.
- Technology Understanding: Understanding of modern development technologies, practices, and trends.
- Collaboration Skills: Collaborating with enterprise architects and application architects.
- Customer Support Skills: Support customers, application specialists, and territory managers in the EMEA region by taking care of complex problems.
- Sales Contribution Skills: Be part of the pre-and aftersales process and contribute to the European sales organisation.
- Problem Solving & Customer Care Skills: Analyze inquiries, offer premium solutions and hands-on mentality leads to a high level of customer care and satisfaction.
- Market Insight & Reporting Skills: Report and share information about customer needs, clinical and mental environment to the Business Management.
4. Application Specialist Job Summary
- Technical Solution Design & MMD Instrument Guidance: Creation of technical solutions and guidance for the use of MMD instrument portfolio
- Global Product Management Support: Consult with and support the global product management team
- New Product Development Participation: Participation in new product development projects
- User Requirement Generation: Support generation of user requirements and specifications for new product developments, particularly from the applications and user’s point of view
- Instrument & Software Validation: Validating new instrument and Software developments via application tests using prototype products
- Application Note Creation: Creation of application notes and further sales collaterals
- Product & Application Training: Organize and perform product and application training for application specialists and customers
- Example Application Development: Develop new example applications and sales collaterals
- New Application Feasibility Studies: Feasibility studies for new applications
- Cross-functional Collaboration: Close collaboration with field application specialists/product management / RandD / customers
5. Application Specialist Accountabilities
- Project Analysis: Analyzing customers' project proposals and requirements.
- Problem Identification: Identifying potential problem areas and recommending optimum approaches for project path.
- Solution Design Support: Supporting Product Managers and R&D team in designing possible solutions.
- User Research: Investigating user problems and needs, identifying their sources, and determining possible solutions.
- Customer Meetings: Taking part in meetings with customers.
- Application Management: Configuring, installing, maintaining, customizing, and testing applications.
- Bug Fixing: Identifying and fixing bugs in cooperation with R&D team and executing tests.
- Migration Planning: Planning and monitoring the migration process's evolution and providing support during go-live and production phase.
- Demo Development: Participating in the development of demo materials and in presales activities.
- Customer Training: Providing training to the customer's resources.
- Feature Installation: Recommending and installing new features, new customizations, and new modules of the application suite.
- Documentation: Documenting problems and resolutions for future references.
6. Application Specialist Functions
- Technical Support: Provide technical assistance, application support, usage advice and guidance to customers and third parties
- Technical Leadership: Lead the technical implementation of new functionality/releases, including management of supplier resources and outputs
- Workshop Facilitation: Lead technical workshops (requirements, design, etc.) and reviews with project teams (including with suppliers)
- Change Management: Analyse changes, prepare appropriate release/change documentation according to approved processes
- Process Compliance: Ensure that all changes and releases follow the approved processes
- Quality Assurance: Ensure application functionality and system availability meet the requirements whilst ensuring that a high level of customer support is maintained
- Problem Solving: Investigate and diagnose system faults and errors to resolve technical issues
- Team Collaboration: Collaborate with colleagues in ICT teams for more complex and significant issues
- Integration Management: Coordinate system integrations and updates
- Ambassador Identification: Identify system ambassadors who can act as product specialists
- Technology Monitoring: Stay up to date with technology trends and identify possible use cases.
7. Application Specialist Job Description
- Relationship Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with colleagues and technology partners to innovate together
- Opportunity Identification: Identify needs and opportunities for new technology and integration within all levels
- Agile Project Launch: Fast launching of proof of concepts, followed by pilots and company-wide rollouts
- Project Execution & Monitoring: Execute and monitor system related projects, from sourcing, implementation, and live to support and training
- System Implementation Prioritization: Prioritize implementations of new systems or replacements of legacy applications based on impact on guest experiences, employee experiences, automation, profitability and competitiveness
- Workflow Efficiency: Create efficient support and services workflows for systems
- Issue Management: Track, coordinate, resolve and escalate system issues
- Policy & Standard Development: Create and maintain system standards, policies and procedures
- Partner Coordination: Follow up with internal teams and technology partners to ensure tasks are executed according to requirements
- Outcome Commitment: Ensure people commit towards outcome: next steps, deadlines
8. Application Specialist Overview
- Software Deployment: Plan, test, and deploy new software, current software updates, security updates.
- OS Deployment: Operating Systems deployment using Microsoft technologies such as Configuration Manager (SCCM) and Intune.
- Troubleshooting Support: Troubleshoot level 2 support tickets to aid internal clients.
- Technology Monitoring: Keep apprised of changes to current supported technology by vendor documentation or via on-the-job training.
- Collaboration: Work closely with Infrastructure, Systems, and Security teams.
- Design and Drafting: Utilize computer software (CET Configura and AutoCAD 2013) to generate workstation typicals and/or installation drawings to aid in the output of an electronic specification.
- Site Inspection: Perform site inspections to ensure accuracy of measurements and information to ensure complete specification and precision.
- Specification Review: Review furniture specifications with the Workplace Consultant.
- Technical Presentation Support: Provide technical information to aid in the presentation of specification to the customer.
- Code Compliance Knowledge: Acquire and maintain knowledge of electrical, construction, and building codes applicable to furniture installations.
- Customer Standards Familiarity: Maintain familiarity with customer furniture standards.
9. Application Specialist Details and Accountabilities
- Change Management: Driving improvements in change management processes to accommodate business change
- System Reporting: Reporting on system performance and capacity, to escalate appropriate events
- Stakeholder Communication: Following through with relevant stakeholders to address root causes
- Technology Specialization: Developing and utilizing multiple specialist technologies
- Operational Tools Creation: Creating and implementing operational maintenance tools, enabling issues impacting supported applications to be detected and resolved safely, accurately, and efficiently
- Bug Identification: Proactively identifying complex system bugs or faults and working with delivery teams to ensure resolution
- Automation Implementation: Continually seeking to identify, plan, and implement automation processes that simplify and reduce the need for manual intervention
- Senior Level Expertise: Providing senior level knowledge and specialist expertise for supported applications to the wider business and relevant operational teams
- Skill Development: Developing and improving additional skills and understanding of different technologies
- Security Compliance: Placing security at the forefront of all thinking and drives actions to ensure security compliance of supported applications
10. Application Specialist Tasks
- Design & Architecture Production: Produce and agree designs for new or updated architectures according to business requirements agreed with customers, aligning with existing architectures and strategy.
- U4BW Stack Management: Assist with the management of the U4BW stack baseline architectures in own area of assigned technical specialty (Payroll) for Hoople and Hoople customers.
- Technical Knowledge Maintenance: Maintain a high-level of technical knowledge and competence.
- Trend Monitoring & Advice: Monitoring future IT trends and provide ongoing expert professional advice and professional advocacy.
- Investment Influence & Advice: To advise on and influence infrastructure and product development investments through continual professional development.
- Payroll Solution Design & Delivery: Produce payroll solution designs and solution delivery for all new or updated U4BW architectures ensuring adherence to national and local standards.
- Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery: Ensuring the statutory requirements for business continuity and disaster recovery are included.
- IT Solutions Testing & Research: Ensuring any new IT solutions, systems, hardware and software has been robustly researched and tested.
- Standards Assurance: Assure the business appropriateness, interoperability standards and architecture standards are adhered to.
- Service Transition Support: Service Transition into Production support.
- Application Lifecycle Support: Support all elements of the application lifecycle, from implementation to decommission.