Sr. Manager, Applications

The Senior Manager, Application is responsible for leading the strategy, delivery, and operations of the organization’s business-critical applications, spanning both software development and quality assurance functions. This role provides leadership, direction, and oversight to ensure that applications are scalable, secure, reliable, and aligned with business priorities. The Senior Manager partners with senior leadership, business stakeholders, and cross-functional teams to translate organizational strategy into actionable technology roadmaps and high-quality deliverables. This role is critical to driving operational excellence, technical innovation, and team development that enable business growth and continuous improvement.

Essential Duties

Define and execute the strategic roadmap for application development and quality assurance, ensuring alignment with overall IT and business strategy.

Provide leadership and oversight for end-to-end delivery of the application portfolio, ensuring high quality, performance, and reliability across all initiatives.

Build, develop, and mentor a high-performing technical organization; drive talent acquisition, retention, performance management, and succession planning.

Partner with senior business stakeholders, product owners, and IT leadership to define priorities, requirements, and measurable outcomes.

Establish and enforce engineering, quality, and governance standards, ensuring consistency, security, and compliance across the application portfolio.

Manage operating budgets, vendor relationships, and resource planning to optimize cost, quality, and delivery outcomes.

Drive adoption of modern engineering and quality practices, including Agile, DevOps, CI/CD, cloud, and test automation.

Oversee architectural and technology decisions for application platforms; identify and mitigate risks across delivery, security, compliance, and operations.

Represent the application function in executive forums, governance committees, and cross-functional initiatives; perform other duties as assigned.

Compentencies

• Strategic thinking and the ability to translate vision into execution.
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to inspire, develop, and retain technical talent.
• Excellent stakeholder management and executive communication skills.
• Sound judgment and decision-making in complex, ambiguous situations.
• Strong financial acumen, including budget management and vendor negotiation.
• Ability to drive change and influence at all organizational levels.
• Broad technical literacy across application development, quality engineering, and modern delivery practices.
• Commitment to operational excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
  

Qualifications

Education Qualifications and Certifications

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field. Master’s degree (MBA, MS) or relevant management certifications preferred.

Previous Work Experience, including Leadership Experience

10+ years of progressive experience in software development and/or quality assurance, with at least 4–5 years in a management role leading multi-disciplinary technical teams.

Technical / Domain Specific / Functional Experience and Knowledge

• Broad experience overseeing enterprise application development and quality assurance functions.

• Strong understanding of modern application architectures, including microservices, APIs, and cloud platforms (AWS preferred).

• Familiarity with development stacks (e.g., Java, Spring, NodeJS, Angular/React) and QA automation tools (e.g., Playwright).

• Deep knowledge of Agile/Scrum, DevOps, CI/CD, and software lifecycle governance.

• Experience managing operating budgets, vendor partnerships, and outsourced delivery models.

• Working knowledge of application security, data privacy, and IT compliance frameworks.

GIA or G&J Industry Specific Experience and Knowledge

Familiarity with laboratory, grading, or operational technology environments is preferred but not required.

Critical Experiences (including challenges that were overcome, proven skills, demonstrated outcomes, etc.)

Demonstrated track record of leading and scaling application and quality functions, delivering complex enterprise programs, and building high-performing technical teams that consistently deliver measurable business outcomes.

Disclaimer: This job description indicates in general terms, the type and level of work performed as well as the typical responsibilities of employees in this classification and it may be changed by management at any time. Other duties may also apply. Nothing in this job description changes the at-will employment relationship existing between the Company and its employees.