Applications Development Manager

Reporting to the Vice President, Insurance Platform Delivery, the Applications Development Manager leads the development, maintenance, support, and ongoing improvement of Trusted Fraternal Life’s software applications. This role provides functional and technical leadership to the Applications Development team while establishing the standards, processes, and governance needed to deliver reliable, scalable, and sustainable technology solutions.

The Applications Development Manager oversees the software development lifecycle, development and deployment pipelines, database development, and data migration activities. Working closely with Quality Assurance, Product Management, business partners, and other technology teams, this leader ensures applications and solutions support business priorities, project milestones, and the organization’s evolving technology needs.

• Lead the day-to-day activities of the Applications Development team, providing direction, coaching, development opportunities, and accountability.

• Establish and oversee software development standards, governance practices, and the software development lifecycle, including source control, documentation, testing, deployment, release management, and quality assurance.

• Lead software design reviews, code reviews, and technical decision-making to ensure solutions align with business requirements, technical standards, security expectations, and long-term technology goals.

• Establish and manage disciplined configurations practices for the policy administration system, including version control, documentation, unit testing, promotion across environments, release coordination, and auditability of changes.

• Develop and manage CI/CD pipelines and development processes that support the reliable, efficient movement of code from development through production.

• Provide leadership and oversight for application development, database development, database management, data integration, and data migration activities.

• Partner with business leaders and technology teams to establish priorities, evaluate requirements, identify solution options, and deliver technology solutions that support organizational objectives.

• Develop and maintain processes to effectively prioritize, assign, track, and deliver project work, production support, policy administration conversion activities, and strategic initiatives.

• Establish and monitor meaningful operational and delivery metrics to drive productivity, quality, capacity planning, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Develop resourcing strategies, manage budget responsibilities, and ensure the team has the tools, technology, and support needed for effective and cost-efficient delivery.

• Hire, develop, mentor, and evaluate team members while fostering a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing culture and successfully leading the team through change.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive software development and technology leadership experience.

• Significant hands-on experience in software and database development, with the technical expertise to conduct code reviews, design reviews, and mentor development teams.

• Strong experience with the Microsoft technology stack, including C#, .NET, Visual Studio, Azure DevOps, Microsoft Azure, web technologies, and SQL Server.

• Experience establishing and managing software development frameworks, governance practices, source control standards, documentation standards, and CI/CD pipelines.

• Experience working across the full software development lifecycle, from solution design through implementation, support, and continuous improvement.

• Experience managing the configuration of a life insurance and annuity policy administration system, including product setup, business rules, workflows, calculations, forms, and controlled promotion of changes across environments.

• Demonstrated success leading technical teams, establishing new processes and standards, and driving organizational, process, or technology change.

• Strong analytical, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate business needs into effective technology solutions and strategic plans.

• Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders, build strong cross-functional partnerships, manage competing priorities, and deliver results in a fast-paced environment.

• Experience within the life insurance, annuity, or other highly regulated industry environment preferred. Agile development experience also preferred.

• Technical Leadership: Demonstrates strong software development expertise and technical credibility. Provides guidance on application architecture, software design, development practices, databases, policy administration system configuration, and modern software delivery approaches while effectively communicating technical concepts to diverse audiences.

• Operational Excellence: Establishes and continuously improves standards, governance, development processes, documentation practices, metrics, and delivery discipline to support scalable, high-quality technology solutions.

• People Leadership: Builds, develops, and coaches high-performing teams by creating accountability, fostering collaboration, supporting professional growth, and leading others effectively through change.

• Strategic Thinking & Partnership: Applies critical thinking and sound judgment to solve complex problems, sees the broader business impact of technology decisions, and builds strong partnerships across business and technology teams to deliver meaningful results.