Director, IT Solutions – Enterprise Application Development

Job Summary

This role will lead and own technology solution development and service delivery for the newly formed Enterprise Application Services functions of the organization, reporting to the AVP of Enterprise Data and Application Services.  The role will be responsible for delivery and ownership of defined capabilities and the lifecycle of commercial and open source application development, integration, and middleware technologies.

The Director, IT Solutions will lead team members that include contractors, consultants, and full-time employees.  The Enterprise Application Development team will partner with other teams within IT to build necessary capabilities to fulfill outcomes and goals.  A successful leader in this role will be able to manage informally as well as formally.

Duties and Responsibilities:   

• Lead teams responsible for technical design, builds and operational support across enterprise application development.  This includes ensuring quality, timeliness, adherence to requirements, SDLC and budget compliance
• Oversee and provide direction for our standardized application development and integration platform tooling, and teams supporting those environments
• Contribute to and guide development and governance of standard processes, templates, and methods used to advance IT and Business strategy
• Openly collaborate and work closely with IT Solution Delivery, Information Security, Infrastructure and Architecture teams 
• Contribute to strategic roadmaps and technical direction of application development methodologies, tools, and solutions architecture with peers
• Identify and prioritize data and application architecture, security, and process requirements 
• Communicate technical decisions, issues and risks to IT Leadership and manage technical dependencies internal or external to service delivery
• Contribute to and participate in Architecture Review Board to ensure sound solutions are implemented
• Explain and document technical changes, standards, and best practices, as well as associated benefits to a diverse group of stakeholders
• Review and own technical deliverables produce from team members
• Provide technology oversight and manage technology related objectives and goals of the Enterprise Data and Application Services team
• Support and actively collaborate with IT vision of technical ecosystem in alignment with Enterprise Architecture and Information Security policy, standards, and guidance
• Contribute to designing systems and solutions in alignment with company vision
• Contribute to and execute on technical roadmaps to modernize, enhance, and support the application development, integration and middleware technologies

Experience and Education Requirements   

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer and Information Science, Computer Engineering, Computer Management, Management Information Systems, Information Technology or related field
• 8+ years leading enterprise application development solutions and support functions
• 5+ years leading technology development teams
• Strong understanding of application and data integration services and architectures
• Strong understanding of IT management, governance, ITSM, and development operations

Preferred Requirements   

• MBA or Master of Computer Science or related field
• Experience with life/annuity and financial services company operations
• Experience with cloud or hybrid platforms
• Experience with commercial and open source application development platforms and associated tools

 Skills and Abilities   

• Strong leadership skills to lead teams with a mix of internal, external resources and with a mix of formal reporting relationships (dotted line and solid line)
• Visionary and change agent to provide compelling future state and overcome hurdles to change
• Strong ability to solve problems; Strategic thinker 
• Proven verbal and written communication and conflict resolution skills
• Strong understanding of enterprise data and application architectures as well as cloud solutions
• Strong analytical skills 
• Self-starter can proactively address issues and concerns  
• Ability to organize and manage multiple priorities   
• Ability to weigh options and associated risks/benefits identifying best solutions 
• Working knowledge of modern application development tools, languages, and platforms
• Working knowledge of modern integration concepts, principles, and platforms