Director of Digital Operations & Continuous Improvement

Company: ViziRecruiter,LLC.
Location: Springfield
Posted on: March 7, 2025

Job Description:

IntroductionWe're motivated by the fact that educators take care of our children's future, and we believe they deserve someone to look after theirs. We help educators identify their financial goals and develop plans to achieve them. This includes insurance to protect what they have today and financial products to help them prepare for their future.OverviewHorace Mann is seeking an experienced and strategicDirector of Digital Operations & Continuous Improvementto lead two critical teams within IT:

• Team 1:Focused on support, bug resolution, and defect management for all digital assets.
• Team 2:Dedicated to small enhancements and routine modifications to existing digital systems.This leader will play a pivotal role inensuring the stability, efficiency, and continuous improvement of digital platforms, balancing business priorities while driving technical excellence. The ideal candidate will possess astrong technical background, deep understanding of business needs, and exceptional decision-making skillsto evaluate and prioritize requests that maximize business value. The candidate will encourage teams to use generative AI to enhance productivity and creativity.This role requires someone who ishighly organized, confident in making firm prioritization decisions, and skilled in communicating trade-offs to stakeholders. The director must be able to navigate competing demands, align technology work with strategic goals, and create a structured approach to digital system support and incremental enhancements.ResponsibilitiesStrategic Prioritization & Business Alignment
  • Evaluate andprioritize incoming requests based on business impact, urgency, and technical feasibility.
  • Setclear expectations with stakeholders, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
  • Communicate trade-offs transparently, advocating for business value over reactive task execution.
  • Develop a structured framework for prioritization that ensuresmission-critical support needs are met while also advancing small enhancementsthat drive continuous improvement.Leadership & Team Management
    • Lead, mentor, andempower two high-performing teamsresponsible for support, defect resolution, and small system enhancements.
    • Ensure cross-team collaboration, fostering a shared understanding of priorities, dependencies, and technical solutions.
    • Create and upholdaccountability structuresto ensure work is completed efficiently and with high quality.
    • Drive aculture of ownership, problem-solving, and continuous learning.
    • Promote the use of generative AI tools to boost team creativity, efficiency, and skill development.Operational Excellence & Process Improvement
      • Establish and refineprocesses for managing digital defects, incidents, and enhancement requests, ensuring smooth workflows and minimal disruption.
      • Improve and implementbest practices for ticketing, resolution timelines, and stakeholder communication.
      • Analyze trends in defects and enhancement requeststo identify opportunities for proactive improvements and efficiency gains.
      • Drive continuous innovation by incorporating emerging trends and tools, including generative AI, into project workflows.Technical & Business Understanding
        • Serve as the bridge betweentechnology teams and business stakeholders, ensuring both sides understand priorities, constraints, and impacts.
        • Maintain a strongtechnical grasp of digital systems, workflows, and potential challenges, ensuring informed decision-making.
        • Provide guidance onbest practices for system stability, scalability, and continuous improvement.Stakeholder Communication & Expectation Management
          • Setfirm but fair expectationswith business stakeholders, ensuring they understand how and why prioritization decisions are made.
          • Provide regular updates onprogress, challenges, and key outcomesrelated to support and enhancements.
          • Communicaterealistic timelines, risks, and trade-offswhen managing requests.Requirements
            • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field.
            • 6+ years of experience in IT leadership, with a focus onmanaging digital operations, technical support, and system enhancements.
            • Proven track record ofmaking strategic prioritization decisions that drive business value.
            • Strong background intechnical support, bug resolution, and application enhancement.
            • Experience implementing generative AI technologies in development workflows.Technical & Business Expertise
              • Strong understanding ofdigital applications, software development lifecycles, and IT support models.
              • Ability to translatebusiness needs into technical priorities and vice versa.
              • Familiarity withmodern ticketing systems (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira, Azure DevOps) and IT service management best practices.
              • Proficiency in leveraging generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, or similar to enhance development workflows.Decision-Making & Prioritization
                • Ability toassess competing priorities and make firm, strategic decisions.
                • Skilled in identifyinghigh-impact improvements while maintaining system stability.
                • Experience inbuilding structured prioritization frameworksfor IT support and enhancement requests.Leadership & Communication
                  • Strong people leadership skills, with the ability tomotivate and guide teamsin a fast-paced environment.
                  • Ability toset clear expectations and communicate priorities firmly yet diplomaticallyto stakeholders.
                  • Experience innegotiating and influencing senior leaders on digital priorities and trade-offs.Preferred Qualifications
                    • Experience leadingIT support and continuous improvement teamsin a large enterprise environment.
                    • Familiarity withcloud platforms (AWS, Azure), ITIL frameworks, and Agile methodologies.
                    • Strong understanding ofmetrics-driven decision-making and process optimization.
                      #J-18808-Ljbffr

Keywords: ViziRecruiter,LLC., Springfield , Director of Digital Operations & Continuous Improvement, Executive , Springfield, Illinois