The Applications Manager will have a balanced skill set with proven experience in application development, managing a development team, and integrating and supporting in-house developed systems, off-the-shelf products and legal industry applications. He/she will serve as a key advisor to the CIO with respect to product management, short and long term solutions planning, legal industry applications trends and vendor product roadmaps. The Applications Manager will perform the product manager role for a portfolio of IT applications in a global environment for all business areas.

The Applications Manager will apply best practices and procedures, produce accurate resource utilization estimates, develop and manage the technical process, and oversee the development and implementation of applications. He/she will manage the resource allocation of developers and govern application standards, processes and performance metrics for applications. Identify project requirements and priorities, the analysis of needs and the identification of systems solutions that address business/operation technology problems and opportunities.

Develop activity plans, time and resource estimates; coordinate resources and activities of staff for each phase of the project, ensuring that systems changes and enhancements are carried out properly and on a timely basis. Manage external relationships with vendors and consultants. Understand vendor strategies and research & development opportunities and advise the CIO on findings.

Requirements:

15-plus years IT experience, 10-plus years managing application staff

Strong leadership skills in a global environment

Strong analytical information management ability and the skill to concisely articulate the related facts in the context of a legal practice

Exceptional project planning and management skills

A strong sense of urgency and the ability to manage others to respond to time deadlines

Broad systems thinking: understands the connections and relationships across functions and entities for both internal and external constituencies; thinks appropriately into the future

Has a thorough understanding of project management principles and experience managing complex projects; has a complete understanding of the software development life cycle, application test plans and associated quality assurance activities

Ability to implement proven development best practices, including architecture, engineering, design, and code reviews

Law Firm experience very highly desirable

Ability to:

1. Advise and counsel the CIO on the application needs of attorney and staff users
2. Recommend appropriate software applications to meet user needs
3. Act as the firm’s representative with software vendors and maintain strong vendor relations
4. Assess staffing needs and manage staff to effectively deliver technology services
5. Successfully manage multiple high-priority, complex technology projects
6. Participate in a collaborative design and solution delivery environment
7. Assess staff performance and motivate a team
8. Participate in a collaborative design and solution delivery environment
9. Interface with high-demand low availability users