The University of Miami - Director, Systems Application Development

Mark Zarbailov

The Division of Development and Alumni Relations has an exciting opportunity for a Director, Systems Application Development to work in Coral Gables, FL.

The Division of Development and Alumni Relations supports and promotes the mission, purpose, and priorities of the University of Miami through fundraising and engagement by building and nurturing strategic philanthropic relationships to improve and transform the lives of individuals and communities. We are committed to values central to the Division- Service, Gratitude, Trust, and Partnership-which guide our strategic thinking, decision-making, and day-to-day interaction with each other and our stakeholders.

The Director, Systems Application Development provides strategic, tactical, and administrative oversight and direction for the Division’s business application software and data integration solutions. The Director is responsible for delivering technical solutions to facilitate current and future goals of the Division. This individual also identifies, researches, resolves technical problems, and ensures that the solutions delivered are of high quality and in alignment with software coding and security best practices. The Director, Systems Application Development interfaces with all stakeholders affected by system changes and/or projects, ensures adherence to quality standards, and is accountable for project deliverables. The Director is accountable for evaluating the progress of team members, service levels and projects on a regular basis.

An understanding of fundraising and fundraising concepts along with the ability to apply this knowledge to application systems development is fundamental in this role.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Directs and supervises the daily activities of systems application development staff.
• Defines, creates, and implements strategically aligned software and data integration solutions roadmap for the Division of Development and Alumni Relations, including short-term, mid-term, and long term plans and objectives.
• Translates business requirements into technical designs to meet business criteria for successful software and data integration implementations.
• Designs, develops, tests and deploys software and data integration solutions. Delivers solutions on time and of highest quality meeting/exceeding customer expectations.
• Monitors and assigns work requests to appropriate team members; provides regular status updates to management and stakeholders.
• Provides level of effort estimates and resource availability for proposed projects and/or work requests.
• Performs resource planning and allocation for application system development staff based on daily operational needs in addition to active and planned projects.
• Ensures delivered solutions follow coding and security best practices, are well documented, code is peer reviewed, tested and stored in appropriate repository, and changes are communicated and approved prior to implementation.
• Provides recommendations for the business’s future technology of business application software and data integration solutions.
• Responsible for the hiring, training, supervision, goal setting and performance evaluations of staff.
• Prepare activity and progress reports regarding his/her group responsibilities as indicated by leadership.
• Identifies opportunities for change and develops plans for capitalizing on these opportunities.
• Effectively communicates relevant application and data related information to superiors and peers across the organization.
• Fosters cross-functional collaboration with all team members. Ensures team member roles and responsibilities are clearly defined to achieve desired results.
• Establishes priorities that meet the divisions and university goals and objectives. Identifies areas of improvement.
• Implements an action plan or initiative to achieve goals and objectives. Assists in preparation of annual operating budget for department.
• Establishes and continuously assesses the effectiveness of the internal controls within area of responsibility to ensure compliance with University policies and procedures.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in a relevant field required.
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant professional experience. Any relevant education, certifications and/or work experience may be considered.
• Minimum 3 years supervisory experience of technical staff.
• Experience in a non-profit education setting and an understanding of fund raising fundamentals.
• Medical implementation experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with Blackbaud CRM SDK strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of Brightvine Data Link, Zuri Velocity or similar tools strongly preferred.
• Ability to direct, manage, implement, and evaluate division/area operations as it relates to business intelligence and application development solutions.
• Excellent knowledge of SQL server database and/or other relational databases; experience with SQL, TSQL or other database extraction and/or query tools.
• Experience with software development languages/protocols such as Visual Basic, C#, ASP.net, XML.
• Proven management skills that foster an open dialog with all department staff.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects with varying levels of complexity effectively and efficiently.
• Strong problem determination and resolution skills.
• Ability to effectively communicate with users of diverse backgrounds and skill levels from the novice user to the highly skilled programmer or technical engineer.
• Proven ability to drive excellent customer service in a technical environment.
• Ability to effectively plan, delegate and/or supervise the work of others.
• Ability to lead, motivate, develop, and train others.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office suite including Word and Excel.
• Skill in completing assignments accurately and with attention to detail.
• Ability to analyze, organize and prioritize work under pressure while meeting deadlines; able to adapt to a fast-paced work environment.
• Ability to process and manage confidential information with discretion.
• Ability to work evenings, nights, and weekends as necessary.
• Commitment to the University’s core values.
• Ability to work independently and/or in a collaborative environment.