Director of IT Applications

Supporting educators isn't just our specialty, it's our passion. From basic school supplies to curriculum-based solutions, School Specialty's unmatched selection of quality, value-driven education products, services and programs has been assembled to help educators and their students succeed.  

Come join our 2,300 associates who are part of a company that truly makes a difference in the lives of children.  We are currently searching for a Director of IT Applications to join our Corporate Headquarters located in Greenville, WI.  Along with a competitive salary and benefits package, we offer a culture where you can wear jeans everyday, enjoy free coffee and popcorn and get involved in your schools and community with 24 hours of paid time off for such activities.

This position is responsible for all aspects of the School Specialty enterprise application portfolio, including the appropriate financial and technical planning, development, configuration and support activities.  Delivery will be consistent with SSI’s established architecture, information security standards and development guidelines.  Because this position is an integral part of SSI’s Business Technology leadership team, superior execution and communication skills, and the ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with business unit and technology leaders are essential to the position. 

Additionally, Associate development, recognition and performance management are included in the scope of responsibility. 

Job Duties:

Execution

o    Influence the content and manage feature set requirements for each functional release

o    Plan, manage, and execute critical technology initiatives through project managers, business analysts and developers to deliver projects on time and on budget

o    Work with the project managers, business analysts and developers to ensure post implementation support service levels are met on existing production applications.  This includes ensuring technical stability, timely 7/24 support, and successful implementation of prioritized enhancements.

o    Work with the relevant external providers to ensure application features and availability meets the business requirements.

o    Drive continuous improvement (productivity and quality) in application development by initiating and creating an environment that is conducive to change.

Relationship management

o    Partner with BT leadership team to develop strategy, budget and other essential deliverables.

o    Partner with Technology Solution Partners to understand, and where appropriate, influence business strategies

o    Partner with Technology Solution Partners to map strategies to projects required to meet business objectives

o    Develop appropriate business leader relationships and a thorough understanding of the business units to appropriately guide the application team in implementation of new projects and support of ongoing requirements. 

o    Create and maintain productive relationships with SSI’s executive management team to promote the effective and profitable use of technology.

Personnel management

o    Develop and mentor team of managers, business analysts, Technical leads, and developers in order to build and maintain a high performance team.

o    Ensure annual staff performance objectives are established with reference to results, quality and productivity standards, and time schedules.  Align these with the overall BT objectives.

o    Ensure all career development activities and recognition opportunities are completed in a timely and meaningful way. 

o    Responsible for managing a team size of 30-40 associates

Department leadership

o    Develop and recommend annual and long-term software development plans, staffing plans and budgets.  Be an advisor for senior management and the BT leadership team.

o    Responsible for participating with the BT management team in setting long term direction for the department

o    Drive innovation and creative solutions that deliver business results

• Bachelors Degree or equivalent experience with 10+ years experience managing systems development projects.   Experience with large development teams preferred; managing concurrent development and maintenance efforts.

• Expert knowledge in application development methodologies, tools, and techniques.
• Proven success leveraging technology to meet business objectives.
• Broad technology experiences, including complex systems integration, infrastructure, and application roadmap expertise.
• Results-oriented individual with strong problem-solving, influencing, consensus building and negotiating skills.
• Articulate and persuasive oral and written communications skills.
• Demonstrated expertise in project management methodologies, tools, and techniques.
• Strong experience in
  •  Oracle EBS applications version 11.5.10 or later required
  • Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse required.
  •  DB2, Oracle 10G or later, Microsoft SQL required.
  • CRM, e-Commerce and Search Engine Marketing preferred.
• Extended vendor management experience preferred

Candidates will be required to complete a pre-employment drug screen and background check for employment.

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