Associate Director, Application Support

Description

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is seeking an Associate Director of Application Support to oversee a team responsible for providing technical support to users of business applications, including troubleshooting issues, managing service levels, implementing updates, and collaborating with other departments to ensure smooth system operations; monitor performance metrics, and identify areas for improvement. Reporting to the Managing Director of Data & AI, the Associate Director will stay abreast of top industry trends and changing technologies to effectively administer ADA’s business applications which includes implementation, configuration, user adoption, maintenance, security, reporting and operational support. This role will require strong leadership, technical expertise, and the ability to collaborate with various stakeholders to meet business objectives.

Responsibilities

Team Leadership:

• Manage a team of application support analysts, assigning tasks, providing guidance, and coaching staff to ensure efficient issue resolution.
• Conduct performance reviews, identify training needs, and contribute to team development.
• Develop a strong ability within the team to perform effective Incident Management from incident start through resolution, partnering with IT, Application Stakeholders and vendors to determine root causes.
• Coordinate testing, release/upgrade implementation, databases, business system administration, training and user adoption
• Work within IT, cross-functionally and with vendors to successfully identify, prioritize and resolve issues; ensure issues and tickets are effectively tracked, managed, documented and maintained
• Identify process improvement opportunities; develop operational standards and processes and proactively mitigate problems
• Forecast future support needs and resource allocation to ensure sufficient coverage.
• Manage other projects and tasks as needed and assigned
  
  

Technical Support:

• Act as a point of escalation for complex technical issues, providing expert troubleshooting and solutions.
• Monitor application performance, identify potential problems, and proactively address issues before they impact users.
• Analyze support tickets to identify trends and recurring problems, implement preventative measures.
• Develop and maintain documentation and knowledge resources for the support team.
  
  

Service Level Management:

• Establish and maintain service level agreements (SLAs) with internal stakeholders, ensuring timely response and resolution of issues.
• Develop and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) related to application support, reporting on performance and identifying areas for improvement.
• Continuously improve support processes to meet or exceed SLAs.
  
  

Project Management:

• Collaborate with engineering team on application updates, patches, and new features, ensuring smooth implementation and minimal disruption to users.
• Lead small-scale application improvement projects, including requirements gathering, testing, and deployment.
  
  

Communication and Collaboration:

• Facilitate communication between the application support team and other departments like development, business users, and IT operations.
• Provide clear and concise updates on application issues and resolutions to stakeholders.
  
  

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum 5+ years of experience in managing and leading teams.
• Strong understanding of ITIL framework and best practices for application support.
• Strong technical knowledge depending on the specific application(s) being supported. (e.g., ERP, CRM, custom applications, SQL, HTML, etc.)
• Proven experience managing and leading a technical support team.
• Expertise in troubleshooting complex application issues across different platforms.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to effectively interact with diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to analyze data and identify trends to improve support processes
• Strong analytical thinking, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication, time management and organizational skills.
• Ability to prioritize tasks and manage deadlines effectively.
• Understanding of change management principles.
• Proficiency in using support ticketing systems.
• Ability to work well under pressure.
• Exceptional customer service skills and a customer-centric mindset.
• Familiarity with project management methodologies and tools.
  
  

WHY WORK HERE

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) offers a rewarding career working for one of the premier voluntary health organizations in the world supporting people with type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes. Our employees like working at the ADA because of our mission, the inclusive environment, work-life balance, our benefits and our culture:

• Industry competitive base pay ranging from $106,000 - $116,000 for this role. Base offers are determined by several factors including but not limited to your relevant work experience, education, certifications, location, internal pay equity, etc.
• A culture of recognition including new hire welcome announcements, service anniversary awards, referral bonuses, monthly All Employee Assembly, appreciation awards
• Generous Paid Time Off, including holidays, vacation days, personal days and sick days
• Comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), disability & life insurance, pet insurance and retirement savings
• Guided by our mission, we provide top tier diabetes supply coverage through our medical benefits program
• A company focus on offering mental health programs and work/life balance with most of our employees working remote
• Joining our dedicated team affords the gratification of knowing beyond a doubt that you will impact the lives and well-being of millions
  
  

Req Number INF-25-00002

About the Organization The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a leader in the fight to end diabetes. Our mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. We provide lifesaving education and resources backed by trusted experts to help people learn how to make life with diabetes easier until the day diabetes is gone for good. Through research, the ADA searches relentlessly for a cure and supports the professionals who provide direct care. Our team is on the ground fighting for those with diabetes who suffer discrimination, health inequity, high health care costs and so much more. Employees of the ADA embrace this mission and vision and keep people living with diabetes at the center of everything we do.

EOE Statement It is the policy of the American Diabetes Association to provide equal employment opportunity to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.