Managing Director IT, Application Architecture

Plan, organize, direct and control all efforts relative to the design, definition, development, implementation and maintenance of computer systems, applications, projects and programs.

Job Profile Summary:

The Managing Director (MD) of Application Architecture is responsible for leading the design, development, and modernization of the organization's application portfolio built on public cloud (primarily Azure). We are seeking a visionary to lead the transformation of our technology stack and drive innovation across our product portfolio. As a key member of our leadership team, you will be responsible for designing, building, and scaling our next generation application architecture to support our ambitious growth plans.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience managing complex, cross-functional teams, with a proven ability to balance technical challenges with business needs in a fast-paced environment. The successful candidate will have a strong platform and product engineering mindset with accompanying experience in security, data governance, compliance, and operational excellence.

Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive applications and platform strategy supporting the organization's goals.
• Drive transformation of engineering practices towards design thinking and tech. simplification.
• Provide thought leadership and guidance on emerging application development trends and technologies.
• Collaborate with executive leadership to identify and prioritize initiatives.
• Collaborate with platform engineering, product strategy and development teams to augment digital transformation efforts by identifying and piloting use cases.

Architectural Design:

• Identify and implement the optimal application architecture, leveraging both open-source and commercial tools.
• Build a practice of innovation and experimentation through rapid prototyping and iterative development.
• Oversee the migration of legacy systems to modern cloud-based architectures, leveraging technologies like event-driven, microservices, and serverless paradigms.
• Ensure the security, reliability, and maintainability of internal and external facing applications and services.
• Translate complex technical concepts into actionable insights for senior leadership, ensuring application and platform strategies support broader organizational goals.
• Stay up to date on the latest application, platform, data and AI technologies and best practices.

Team Management:

• Lead and mentor a team of application architects and other engineering professionals.
• Foster a culture of innovation and collaboration within the enterprise architecture teams.
• Lead cross-functional teams in creating reusable services that can be leveraged across the enterprise, fostering a product engineering mindset within the enterprise architecture organization.

Technology Partnerships:

• Evaluate and select appropriate application technologies and platforms.
• Manage relationships with technology partners and vendors.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to ensure data-driven solutions are aligned with business priorities and drive measurable outcomes.

Product and Platform design:

• Design and implement robust, scalable, and secure platforms that support our consumer-facing products and internal operations.
• Architect and engineer internal and external developer portals to empower developers and foster a culture of innovation.
• Ensure adherence to best practices in software development lifecycle (SDLC) and site reliability engineering (SRE) to deliver high-quality, reliable products.
• Collaborate with design teams to create intuitive and user-friendly interfaces that enhance the overall user experience.

Skills Profile:

Technical Proficiency:

• Proven experience in leading large-scale technology transformations to modern cloud-based architectures.
• Extensive experience in design thinking and building consumer-facing products deployed on a globally distributed platform.
• Strong understanding of cloud-native architectures, including microservices, event-driven, and serverless patterns.
• Startup mindset with a focus on rapid experimentation and incremental proof points.
• Deep knowledge of Azure cloud platform and its offerings, such as Azure Functions, Azure App Service, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Event Hubs, and Azure Cosmos DB.
• Expertise in common event processing stack like Kafka, Flink etc.
• Expertise in common UI/UX frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js.
• Proficiency in programming languages like Java, Golang or Python.
• Proficiency with containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD pipelines (Git, Azure DevOps).
• Experience with API design and development (REST, GraphQL).
• Understanding of data modeling, database design, and query optimization.
• Experience with serverless computing and low-code platforms.
• Expertise in building and managing internal and external developer portals.
• Strong knowledge of platform engineering principles and practices.
• In-depth understanding of SDLC and SRE methodologies.
• A strong understanding of data privacy and security regulations is beneficial.
• Solid grasp of data engineering and AI frameworks.

Soft Skills:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical abilities.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Passion for innovation and continuous learning.

Essential Functions

• Lead teams responsible for IT design and maintenance.
• Provide strategic direction for systems and application enhancements.
• Lead design projects and provide information to executives.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Domicile/Relocation Information: This position can be domiciled anywhere in the United States. The ability to work remotely within the United States may be available based on business needs.

Minimum Education

Bachelor's Degree/equivalent in computer science, math or business or related field with emphasis in a quantitative discipline.

Minimum Experience

Extensive experience in systems development including design, development, implementation and maintenance of large batch or online transaction based systems. Experience in the majority of the following: mainframe, distributed systems, client server, relational systems, transaction and message systems, embedded systems, imaging and systems management and operation.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Previous management experience, strong leadership, human relations and communication skills required.

Preferred Qualifications:

Pay Transparency: This compensation range is provided as a reasonable estimate of the current starting salary range for this role across all potential locations. If this opportunity includes multiple job levels, the range is a reasonable estimate of the current starting salary for the lowest level to the current starting salary of the highest level. Actual starting pay would be determined by experience relative to the job, market level, pay at the location for this job and other job-related factors starting salary for the lowest level to the current starting salary of the highest level. Actual starting pay would be determined by experience relative to the job, market level, pay at the location for this job and other job-related factors

Pay: Pay range: 149,718.24 - 274,483.44

Additional Details: Application Criteria: Upload current copy of Resume (Microsoft Word or PDF format only) and answer job screening questionnaire by 5pm Central on January 2, 2025.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. Reasonable accommodations are available for qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application process. Applicants who require reasonable accommodations in the application or hiring process should contact recruitmentsupport@fedex.com.

Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws:

• Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law
• EEO is the Law Supplement
• Pay Transparency Policy
• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act

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