Application / Production Support Manager

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Application / Production Support Manager to lead the support, stability, and performance of mission-critical business applications and production systems. This role is responsible for ensuring high availability, operational excellence, and rapid incident resolution while providing leadership to a team of application support professionals. The ideal candidate is both a strategic leader and a hands-on technical expert who thrives in fast-paced, 24x7 environments. You will work closely with infrastructure, development, security, vendors, and business stakeholders to ensure applications remain reliable, secure, and performant.

Key Responsibilities

Production Support & Operations

• Lead day-to-day application and production support operations
• Ensure availability, performance, and reliability of business-critical applications and services
• Monitor production environments and proactively address issues before they impact users
• Coordinate support activities across internal technology teams and third-party vendors
• Manage support coverage, escalation procedures, and on-call support processes

Incident & Problem Management

• Lead Major Incident Management (MIM) activities and coordinate rapid service restoration
• Drive root cause analysis (RCA) efforts and implement long-term corrective actions
• Track recurring incidents and identify opportunities for permanent remediation
• Ensure compliance with Incident, Problem, Change, and Release Management processes
• Facilitate post-incident reviews and continuous improvement initiatives

Service Delivery & Operational Excellence

• Define, monitor, and report on service-level agreements (SLAs), KPIs, and operational metrics
• Proactively follow up on persistent production issues through remediation and resolution
• Drive service improvement initiatives focused on system reliability, scalability, and efficiency
• Ensure adherence to operational standards, governance requirements, and regulatory obligations

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of application support engineers and analysts
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, customer service, and continuous learning
• Support recruiting, onboarding, training, and career development activities
• Establish clear performance expectations and operational objectives

Application Lifecycle & Release Support

• Partner with development teams during deployments, upgrades, and releases
• Review production readiness and support transition-to-operations activities
• Participate in change management and release management processes
• Maintain support documentation, runbooks, knowledge articles, and operational procedures

Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the primary point of contact for production support matters
• Communicate outages, risks, mitigation plans, and operational updates to leadership
• Collaborate with Infrastructure, Security, Development, PMO, and business teams
• Manage relationships with software vendors, service providers, and external partners

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education, certifications, training, and experience
• 7+ years of IT experience with at least 3 years in Application Support, Production Support, or Service Operations leadership
• Experience supporting enterprise applications in a 24x7 production environment
• Strong SQL skills for data validation, troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and production support
• Experience with Incident, Problem, Change, and Release Management processes
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving abilities
• Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams during high-priority incidents

Preferred Qualifications

• ITIL Foundation or ITIL Managing Professional certification
• Experience in healthcare, health systems, hospitals, payer organizations, or life sciences environments
• Knowledge of HIPAA and healthcare regulatory requirements
• Experience supporting clinical, operational, and business applications
• Experience supporting Electronic Health Records (EHR), Claims Processing, Revenue Cycle, or other healthcare platforms
• Familiarity with application monitoring, observability, and service management tools

What Success Looks Like

• Consistently meeting or exceeding SLA and operational performance targets
• Reduction in recurring production issues through proactive problem management
• Improved application stability, availability, and customer satisfaction
• Strong collaboration across technology and business teams
• Effective leadership of a high-performing support organization