DIRECTOR, IT APPLICATIONS

Joining the Hope Gas team means being part of a company that truly values its employees and fosters a supportive and inclusive work environment. We have built a strong reputation in West Virginia by prioritizing our commitment to the local community and the well-being of our dedicated team. With the state's abundant natural resources and thriving energy sector, Hope Gas offers the perfect platform for ambitious individuals seeking career growth and stability. Not only will you find fulfilling career opportunities with us, but you'll also contribute to the sustainable growth and prosperity of West Virginia through our community engagement and environmental stewardship efforts. As we continue to deliver essential energy services to the region, we invite you to join us and become an integral part of our history, shaping our future together. Read more to discover the exciting possibilities waiting for you at Hope Gas!

Position Summary

The Director of Application Support will lead and manage the team responsible for the support, maintenance, and optimization of all business-critical software applications. This role is critical in ensuring high availability, performance, and user satisfaction across the application portfolio. The Director will establish and enforce best practices for incident management, problem management, change management, and service request fulfillment. They will also play a key role in continuous improvement initiatives, collaborating closely with telecom, networking, infrastructure, and business teams.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Planning:

- Develop and implement a comprehensive application support strategy aligned with business objectives and IT goals.

- Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs) for application support, ensuring adherence and continuous improvement.

- Identify and implement automation opportunities to enhance support efficiency and reduce manual effort.

- Contribute to IT budgeting and resource planning for application support.

- Proactively identify potential issues and risks related to application performance and stability, developing mitigation strategies.

Team Leadership & Management

- Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of application support analysts and specialists.

- Foster a culture of excellence, responsiveness, and continuous learning within the support team.

- Conduct performance reviews, set clear objectives, and provide regular feedback to team members.

- Oversee talent acquisition, onboarding, and retention for the application support department.

- Manage resource allocation and scheduling to ensure adequate coverage for all supported applications, including on-call rotations if applicable.

Incident & Problem Management

- Establish and mature robust incident management processes, ensuring timely identification, diagnosis, and resolution of application issues.

- Oversee the escalation matrix for critical incidents, ensuring appropriate communication and engagement of stakeholders.

- Implement and manage problem management processes to identify root causes of recurring incidents and prevent future occurrences.

- Ensure proper documentation of incidents, problems, and resolutions in a knowledge base.

Service Delivery & Optimization

- Oversee the fulfillment of service requests related to applications, ensuring efficiency and user satisfaction.

- Manage application releases and deployments in collaboration with development and operations teams, ensuring smooth transitions and minimal disruption.

- Monitor application performance, availability, and resource utilization, proactively addressing potential bottlenecks or issues.

- Work with development teams to ensure supportability is built into new applications from the design phase.

- Oversee regular health checks, maintenance activities, and patching schedules for supported applications.

Collaboration & Communication

- Serve as a primary point of contact for application support issues, communicating effectively with internal business users, IT teams, and external vendors.

- Collaborate closely with application development teams to provide feedback on application stability, performance, and common issues, influencing future development.

- Work with IT infrastructure teams to address underlying system issues impacting application performance.

- Provide regular reports on application performance, support metrics, and team achievements to senior leadership.

Compliance & Documentation

- Ensure all application support processes adhere to relevant IT policies, compliance requirements (regulatory), and industry best practices.

- Maintain comprehensive documentation for all supported applications, including configurations, runbooks, disaster recovery plans, and support procedures.

Qualifications

Education:

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field.

Experience

- 10+ years of progressive experience in IT, with at least 5+ years in a leadership or management role specifically in application support, operations, or a similar field.

- Proven experience leading and managing technical teams in a fast-paced environment.

- Experience with a wide range of application technologies and platforms, including both on-premise and cloud-based solutions.

- Experience working with ticketing systems.

Technical Skills

- Solid understanding of SAP ERP and CRM&B application architectures

- Familiarity with various programming languages.

- Knowledge of cloud platforms) and SaaS application support.

- Understanding of IT security principles and best practices.

Soft Skills

- Exceptional leadership, coaching, and team-building abilities.

- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex technical information to non-technical audiences.

- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a methodical approach to troubleshooting.

- Customer-focused mindset with a dedication to providing high-quality service.

- Ability to manage multiple priorities, projects, and incidents simultaneously under pressure.

- Proactive, adaptable, and resilient in a dynamic environment.

At Hope, we offer a variety of plans and programs that reflect the wants and needs of our employees. As part of our mission to support our employees within the workspace and outside of it, we provide a comprehensive benefits package that offers health insurance including Medical, Dental, Vision, FSA and HSA with a company match. Income protection such as Company-Paid Life Insurance, Sickness Benefits, and more are also available. Hope Gas offers a 401(k) plan that incorporates a company contribution and a company match. Paid vacations, paid holidays, floating holidays and sick time are available alongside other lifestyle benefits such as Adoption Assistance, Auto/Home Insurance, Education Assistance Programs, and so much more! These benefits, programs and perks are offered to enhance your physical, mental, emotional, and financial wellbeing because here at Hope you are not just an employee, you are family.

Join our team because together we can accomplish a job worth doing, and a life worth living.