Applications Development Manager

APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

DIRECT HIRE | PERMANENT OPPORTUNITY

$145,000 $170,000 + FULL BENEFITS

LOCATIONS: MILWAUKEE OR MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL

Are you an experienced technology leader who thrives at the intersection of software development, people leadership, application delivery, and business strategy?

We are seeking an Applications Development Manager who can lead a talented technical team, bring structure and accountability to the development lifecycle, and serve as a trusted technology partner to business and executive stakeholders.

Excellent communication and relationship-building skills are essential.

Reporting to the Vice President, Insurance Platform Delivery, this leader will oversee the development, support, maintenance, modernization, and continuous improvement of critical business applications, including a key life insurance policy administration platform.

WHY THIS OPPORTUNITY STANDS OUT

• Direct-hire, permanent position with a well-established organization
• $145,000 $170,000 base salary + comprehensive benefits
• Lead and develop an experienced Applications Development team
• Influence technology strategy, architecture, governance, and delivery
• Drive modernization of software development and DevOps practices
• Work closely with business leaders and technology stakeholders
• Own critical application delivery and production support
• Make a meaningful impact on process, technology, and organizational transformation

WHAT YOU'LL LEAD Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop the Applications Development team while creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and high performance.
• Participate in hiring, performance management, professional development, succession planning, and resource planning.
• Establish clear expectations, priorities, and performance metrics for the team.

Software Development & Application Delivery

• Oversee the complete software development lifecycle, from architecture and solution design through development, testing, deployment, production support, and continuous improvement.
• Establish and enforce development standards, governance, documentation, source control, testing, quality assurance, and release-management practices.
• Lead software architecture, design reviews, and code reviews, ensuring solutions meet business, technical, security, performance, and scalability requirements.
• Provide technical direction across application development, database development, integration, and data migration.

Insurance Platform Leadership

• Manage configuration and controlled changes for the organization's life insurance policy administration system.
• Oversee product configuration, business rules, workflows, calculations, forms, version control, testing, and controlled environment promotion.
• Support policy administration conversions and other strategic application initiatives.

DevOps, CI/CD & Technology Modernization

• Develop and manage CI/CD pipelines and DevOps processes designed to improve software quality, delivery speed, reliability, and efficiency.
• Identify opportunities to modernize development practices, technology, processes, and tools.
• Establish metrics around quality, productivity, capacity, performance, delivery, and continuous improvement.

REQUIRED

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 10+ years of progressive software development and technology leadership experience.
• Proven experience leading technical teams and providing hands-on technical guidance.
• Strong software and database development background, including the ability to conduct architecture, design, and code reviews.
• Strong experience with the Microsoft technology stack, including:
  • C#
  • .NET
  • Visual Studio
  • Azure DevOps
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Web technologies
  • SQL Server
• Demonstrated experience establishing and managing software development frameworks, governance, source control, documentation, testing, and CI/CD processes.
• Strong understanding of the complete software development lifecycle.
• Experience managing configuration for a life insurance or annuity policy administration system, including product configuration, business rules, workflows, calculations, forms, testing, and controlled environment promotion.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience within life insurance, annuities, financial services, or another highly regulated industry
• Agile software development experience
• Experience leading application modernization or technology transformation initiatives
• Experience managing CI/CD and DevOps transformation

This isn't simply a role managing software development! It's an opportunity to lead people, influence technology strategy, modernize development practices, and help shape the future of critical business applications.

If you're a technology leader who combines technical credibility, strong leadership, business acumen, and exceptional communication skills, we'd like to hear from you.