Assistant Director, Application Development and Integration

GENERAL SUMMARY

The IT Assistant Director, Application Development and Integration provides technical leadership for the University's application and integration services, including configuration, development, and software support. This position leads a team of system administrators, oversees internal and external developers and engineers, and manages the software development lifecycle (SDLC), ensuring applications and integrations are secure, reliable, maintainable, and aligned with the evolving needs and priorities of the University. The role works closely with IT leadership and cross-functional teams to understand business needs, address technology challenges, improve processes, and deliver technology solutions that provide meaningful value and support the University's operational and strategic priorities.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Responsibilities include:

Team Leadership & Delivery

Lead, mentor, and develop a team of application development and integration staff and contractors by establishing clear expectations, priorities, performance goals, and opportunities for professional growth.
Manage staff and contractor performance, including providing corrective counseling, initiating performance improvement plans, and making recommendations regarding hiring, promotion, and termination.
Prioritize work and allocate internal and external resources based on institutional needs, business priorities, risk, operational requirements, resource skills, available capacity, and budgetary considerations.
Monitor, analyze, and optimize key performance indicators (KPIs) related to application support, ensuring that service delivery meets or exceeds established targets for response times, resolution rates, and customer satisfaction
Partner with IT and business leaders to understand needs and deliver solutions that support the University priorities and the strategic roadmap.
Manage relationships with technology vendors and contractors including monitoring deliverables, quality, performance, SLAs, KPIs, and compliance with University standards and contractual requirements.
Participate in vendor selection, technical evaluations, and contract management activities as appropriate.

Application Engineering & Technical Leadership

Provide hands-on technical leadership for application development, configuration, customization, integration, and product support
Establish and maintain development standards and practices for code management, testing, documentation, deployment, maintenance, automation, version control, and CI/CD.
Guide technical decisions and review solutions to ensure they are scalable, maintainable, secure, reliable, and appropriate for the University's technology environment.
Oversee and continuously improve the software development lifecycle (SDLC), from requirements and design through development, testing, deployment, and ongoing support.
Stay current with emerging development technologies, frameworks, integration approaches, and industry practices and evaluate their applicability to the University's environment.

Operations, Security & Compliance

Identify recurring application and integration issues and lead improvements to reliability, performance, and operational effectiveness.
Ensure security is incorporated throughout the application lifecycle, including secure development, configuration, access controls, testing, vulnerability remediation, and protection of University data.
Ensure applications and integrations meet applicable compliance, data privacy, security, and University requirements by establishing, monitoring, and regularly validating the effectiveness of required controls.
Ensure timely and effective resolution of technical incidents and problems by coordinating resources, troubleshooting issues, and escalating critical situations, as necessary.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

May perform other duties and responsibilities that management may deem necessary from time to time.

Administer/configure software solutions as needed.
Review and resolve application support tickets as needed.

POSITION IN ORGANIZATION
Reports to: Executive Director, IT Customer Solutions
Positions Supervised: System Administrators

TECHNICAL, MANAGERIAL & PEOPLE SKILLS REQUIRED
To perform this job successfully an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Incumbents will be evaluated, in part, based on performance of each essential function. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Demonstrated ability to lead IT professionals while providing hands-on technical direction and support.
Strong technical knowledge of full-stack development, application administration, deployment pipelines, and enterprise application technologies.
Demonstrated ability to design, develop, document, and integrate APIs and services in distributed application environments.
Strong knowledge of programming languages and experience with cloud platforms, relational databases, data warehousing, and business intelligence technologies.
Strong project management, organizational, and leadership skills, with the ability to manage complex technology initiatives and competing priorities.
Knowledge of application security, data privacy, regulatory compliance, and IT controls, with the ability to incorporate security and compliance requirements into application development and integration practices.
High attention to detail and ability to manage multiple competing priorities simultaneously.
Excellent oral and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences.
Self-motivated and adaptable, with the ability to work independently and collaboratively.
Demonstrated ability to learn and apply new technologies, tools, and skills quickly and effectively.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field required. Master’s or MBA degree with a concentration in Information Technology or Cybersecurity preferred.

A minimum of 5 years of progressive information technology experience, including experience leading application development and/or integration teams in a collaborative, customer-focused IT environment.
Higher education IT experience strongly preferred.
Experience working in an Agile/Scrum development environment preferred.

TRAVEL
Up to 25% domestic travel may be required.

BUSINESS COMPETENCIES
To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

Collaborates - Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
Being Resilient - Rebounding from setbacks and adversity when facing difficult situations.
Instills Trust - Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
Drives Results - Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
Innovation - Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
Customer Focus - Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
Drives Engagement - Creating a climate where people are motivated to do their best to help the organization achieve its objectives.
People Leadership - Leads by example when it comes to finding and developing talent, with a focus on talent acquisition strategies, setting performance targets that raises standards and development of high potential talent.

Business Acumen: He/she will have good financial and budgeting skills and understand ROI. Will have experience aligning technology expenditures with business objectives.
Leadership Skills: A self-starter who can excel in a team environment of an aggressively growing and dynamic enterprise. A nonpolitical team player, who can build immediate credibility with the leadership team and with all the IT personnel staff within the division and headquarters. It is essential that this individual can personally solve problems, coach others, step up and take decisive action to rectify any divergences and can work in a matrix environment.
Mentor and Training: A passion for sharing project management best practices with others ' all in pursuit of 'institutionalizing' PM within an enterprise. Support those interested in knowing more about the profession.
Strong Execution Skills. Drives flawless execution of projects as well as contributing to continuous improvements of critical projects and programs. The ability to understand complex needs to ensure IT plans are delivered as promised.

WORK ENVIRONMENTWork is performed primarily in a standard office environment but may involve exposure to moderate noise levels. Work involves operation of personal computer equipment for six to eight hours daily and includes physical demands associated with a traditional office setting, e.g., walking, standing, communicating, and other physical functions as necessary.