Application Specialist

APPLICATION SPECIALIST

Location: Manchester
Salary: £44,399.10 per annum
Contract: 12-month fixed-term contract
Working arrangement: Hybrid, with the office and home-working split to be agreed with the hiring manager
Department: IT
Reports to: Operations Team Lead

THE OPPORTUNITY

We are recruiting an experienced Application Specialist to support and maintain a range of business-critical applications for a Manchester-based housing organisation.

This is a hands-on position covering core housing systems, mobile solutions, digital applications and online services. The successful candidate will help maintain application performance, availability and user satisfaction while providing effective second-line support and delivering continuous system improvements.

Proven hands-on experience with Aareon QL and practical SQL knowledge are both essential. Candidates must be able to explain how they have supported Aareon QL in day-to-day operation and provide clear examples of personally writing SQL queries to interrogate, analyse, reconcile or manage application data.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Support, maintain and improve core housing, mobile, digital and online applications.

Provide effective second-line support for incidents, problems and service requests.

Investigate technical and functional issues through to resolution and service restoration.

Take ownership of application incidents and keep users informed throughout the process.

Identify recurring operational problems, complete root-cause analysis and implement improvements.

Configure application fields, workflows, parameters, permissions and other system changes.

Use SQL to query, analyse, reconcile and manage application data.

Monitor application availability, capacity, security and performance.

Support application patching, upgrades, testing, deployment and release activities.

Prepare and complete system testing and support user acceptance testing where required.

Coordinate application changes with internal IT teams, business users and external suppliers.

Work with third-party vendors to investigate issues and ensure timely resolution.

Maintain application procedures, technical documentation and knowledge-base articles.

Provide guidance and training to users on application functionality and processes.

Support change, release, incident, problem, availability, capacity and risk-management processes.

Ensure the security, confidentiality and integrity of organisational systems and information.

Contribute to continuous improvement, automation and the effective lifecycle management of applications.

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE

Demonstrable hands-on experience supporting Aareon QL.

Strong practical SQL skills, including personally writing and executing queries.

Experience supporting complex or business-critical applications.

Experience diagnosing and resolving application incidents and recurring problems.

Understanding of relational databases and application data structures.

Experience undertaking application configuration and system changes.

Ability to prioritise competing incidents, requests and business requirements.

Experience working with internal stakeholders and third-party suppliers.

Strong analytical, troubleshooting and problem-solving abilities.

Clear written and verbal communication skills.

Ability to explain technical information to non-technical users.

Awareness of information security, data confidentiality and system integrity.

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE

Previous experience within social housing, a housing association or a local authority.

Knowledge of housing-management processes and systems.

Experience with Aareon QL workflows, modules, configuration or administration.

Experience writing SQL queries directly against Aareon QL data.

Exposure to application patching, upgrades, deployments and releases.

Experience producing test scripts and supporting UAT.

Knowledge of ITIL-aligned incident, problem, change and release management.

Experience automating scheduled application monitoring or maintenance activities.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

The successful candidate will be an experienced and proactive applications professional who can combine technical problem-solving with strong customer service.

You should be comfortable taking ownership of issues, investigating underlying causes and working with colleagues, users and suppliers to deliver reliable solutions. You must be able to provide detailed examples demonstrating both your Aareon QL and SQL experience.

CONTRACT AND WORKING ARRANGEMENT

This position is offered as a 12-month fixed-term contract paying £44,399.10 per annum.

The role offers hybrid working in Manchester. The precise office and home-working split will be agreed with the hiring manager, so applicants must be able to attend the Manchester workplace when required.

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply with an up-to-date CV clearly detailing:

Your hands-on Aareon QL experience.

The Aareon QL modules, functions or workflows you have supported.

Examples of SQL queries you have personally written.

Your application-support and incident-resolution experience.

Your involvement in configuration, testing, patching, upgrades or releases.

Your current salary, notice period and availability.

Your ability to work on a hybrid basis in Manchester.

Applications without clear evidence of both hands-on Aareon QL and practical SQL experience may not be progressed