Sr. Manager of Application Development - HR Systems

Senior Manager, Application Development

Chicago, IL (Onsite)

Position Summary

The Senior Manager, Application Development is a senior technology leader responsible for leading multiple software engineering and application delivery teams in the design, development, modernization, implementation, and support of secure, scalable, cloud-enabled enterprise applications. This role oversees a portfolio of business-critical applications, including Human Resources, Finance, SaaS, custom-developed, integration, workflow, and reporting solutions, while driving excellence in Agile delivery practices across the organization.

The Senior Manager provides strategic and technical leadership to ensure technology solutions align with business objectives, enterprise architecture standards, security requirements, and operational expectations. The role serves as a key partner to business leaders, product teams, enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, infrastructure, data, risk, compliance, and IT leadership to deliver innovative and sustainable technology solutions.

Success in this role requires strong expertise in software engineering, cloud technologies, Agile delivery, DevSecOps practices, talent development, and application modernization within a complex and highly regulated environment.

Key Responsibilities

Technology Leadership & Engineering Excellence

• Lead the planning, design, development, implementation, and support of enterprise applications, integrations, workflows, reporting capabilities, and SaaS platforms.
• Oversee the full software development lifecycle, including architecture, development, testing, deployment, support, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure applications are secure, scalable, reliable, maintainable, and aligned with enterprise architecture and technology standards.
• Partner with business and technology stakeholders to define application roadmaps, modernization strategies, and investment priorities.
• Promote modern engineering practices including API-first development, cloud-native architectures, automated testing, code reviews, reusable components, and continuous integration and deployment.
• Provide leadership and guidance for complex technical, operational, and production support challenges.

Cloud, DevSecOps & Modern Application Delivery

• Lead teams responsible for developing and operating applications in cloud environments.
• Drive adoption of cloud-native technologies, infrastructure as code, automation, observability, and platform resiliency practices.
• Champion DevSecOps principles by embedding security, quality, compliance, and testing throughout the development lifecycle.
• Establish standards for monitoring, logging, alerting, performance management, and operational readiness.

Agile Delivery Leadership

• Lead and continuously improve Agile delivery practices, frameworks, processes, tools, and governance.
• Support Scrum, Kanban, and other Agile methodologies to improve delivery predictability, quality, transparency, and business outcomes.
• Partner with delivery leaders, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Business Analysts to manage priorities, dependencies, risks, and delivery commitments.
• Utilize delivery, quality, and operational metrics to drive continuous improvement and organizational effectiveness.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning.

Business Partnership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Build trusted relationships with business leaders and stakeholders to understand business priorities and translate requirements into technology solutions.
• Serve as a strategic advisor on technology opportunities, modernization initiatives, and application capabilities.
• Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences, including executive leadership.
• Balance business priorities, technical complexity, operational risk, resource constraints, and delivery objectives.

Talent Development & Team Leadership

• Recruit, develop, coach, and retain high-performing technology professionals.
• Lead teams that may include software engineers, engineering managers, DevOps engineers, quality assurance professionals, business analysts, and application support personnel.
• Establish clear performance expectations and development plans to support career growth and succession planning.
• Promote a culture focused on accountability, inclusion, innovation, technical excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Build organizational capabilities needed to support evolving business and technology strategies.

Risk, Security & Compliance

• Ensure applications and development practices meet security, risk management, compliance, audit, and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with cybersecurity, risk, compliance, audit, and infrastructure teams to embed appropriate controls throughout the application lifecycle.
• Promote secure coding, vulnerability management, change control, automated testing, and operational governance.
• Ensure production releases are appropriately tested, documented, monitored, and supported.

Strategy, Planning & Financial Management

• Contribute to technology strategy, application portfolio planning, budgeting, resource forecasting, and investment prioritization.
• Support digital transformation, modernization, cloud migration, and application rationalization initiatives.
• Manage vendor and third-party relationships to ensure quality, performance, security, and delivery expectations are met.
• Monitor delivery performance, operational health, resource utilization, and financial outcomes to support informed decision-making.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• 15+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, application development, or technology delivery.
• 5+ years of experience leading and developing high-performing software engineering teams.
• Experience managing enterprise application portfolios that include SaaS platforms, custom applications, integrations, workflow solutions, and reporting capabilities.
• Proven success delivering large-scale, business-critical technology solutions using Agile methodologies and cloud technologies.
• Strong experience with application modernization, digital transformation, and cloud migration initiatives.
• Experience working in regulated industries and navigating security, compliance, and risk management requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in a related field.
• Experience supporting Human Resources, Finance, ERP, and enterprise SaaS platforms such as Workday.
• AWS or other cloud platform certifications.
• Agile certifications such as Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Professional Scrum Master (PSM), SAFe, or PMP.
• Experience with modern engineering toolchains, CI/CD platforms, observability tools, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

Technical Competencies

• Software Architecture & Engineering Leadership
• Cloud Computing & Cloud-Native Development
• AWS Services & Platform Engineering
• DevSecOps, CI/CD, and Automation
• API Development & Integration Patterns
• Microservices & Distributed Systems
• Agile, Scrum, Kanban, and Scaled Agile Practices
• Application Modernization & Digital Transformation
• Secure Software Development
• Observability, Monitoring & Operational Readiness
• Enterprise Application Integration
• Data, Reporting & Workflow Automation

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic Thinking and Technology Vision
• Talent Development and Coaching
• Executive Presence and Communication
• Stakeholder Relationship Management
• Business and Technology Alignment
• Change Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness
• Delivery Excellence and Operational Discipline
• Risk Management and Decision Making
• Collaboration and Cross-Functional Leadership
• Continuous Improvement and Innovation