Director- IT Application Development, Catering and Inflight Mobile Technology

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About the role

The Director of IT Application Development, Catering and Inflight Mobile Technology leads a team in the modernization, development, implementation, and maintenance of Application Development business and technical systems. This leader oversees the technology portfolio that powers United's onboard service ecosystem, including catering, inflight products, and flight attendant mobile capabilities. Working closely with business partners, the role drives digital transformation initiatives that improve operational efficiency, elevate employee experience, and support the delivery of a world-class customer experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop a multi-year application development strategy that aligns with corporate and IT-related goals and vision; adapt strategy as technology and business needs evolve.
• Stay abreast of business strategy, goals, objectives, and operational performance.
• Understand and provide recommendations for improvement of business processes by applying existing IT capabilities, identifying improvements to existing IT capabilities, and defining new strategic IT capabilities.
• Act as a point of contact and facilitate the work request demand and prioritization process.
• Advance, assist, and follow through on the resolution of issues related to the delivery of technology solutions.
• Communicate strategy, goals, and measurable components to senior IT and business leadership to drive success and accountability across the organization.
• Establish and maintain strong business relationships with both senior and operating-level business leaders to ensure effective delivery of business deliverables and technology solutions.
• Educate business partners on roles, responsibilities, processes, and work required to ensure effective delivery of new technology solutions.
• Lead and oversee projects to ensure delivery of work requests and projects are within committed budget, on schedule, and the quality of individual projects meets the overall department performance goals.
• Align with business partners on delivery success criteria and ensure technology solutions follow architectural standards.
• Provide cost estimates and business case updates to support overall IT performance metrics, monthly project status reporting, and quarterly resource planning review.
• Identify needs, secure commitments, and monitor progress of tasks from internal and external service provider teams.
• Successfully integrate project and program initiatives with other software applications.
• Responsible for escalating, assisting, and following through on the resolution of issues related to the delivery of technology solutions.
• Guide teams in designing, building, testing, and deploying changes to existing software.
• Ensure adherence to code scanning and other security protocols during releases.
• Oversee the application admin team assigned to financial applications.
• Transform Tech Ops applications by leveraging cloud capabilities.
• Remain informed of new technologies and/or business processes and incorporate those technologies to improve the productivity of the applications staff and software systems' maintainability.
• Empower, coach, and develop team members.
• Establish department and individual goals, including performance reviews and career and performance plans.
• Develop and maintain an overall sourcing plan which includes creative sourcing options and alternatives to ensure supply capacities meet work demand, role, and skills required, and cost objectives.
• Assess and recommend improvements to the organization structure, roles, and responsibilities.

This role is hybrid in Chicago or Houston.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree.
• 8+ years of proven experience.
• 5+ years of management experience in an IT or leadership-related role.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, with the ability to draft presentations for executive leadership.
• Strong project organization, execution, and delivery skills.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship.
• Successful completion of interviews required to meet job qualifications.
• Reliable, punctual attendance is an essential function of the position.
• Demonstrates an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of generative AI tools and effectively leverages them to support research, analysis, content creation, and problem-solving. Applies critical thinking to validate AI-generated outputs while adhering to organizational policies for responsible AI use, data privacy, and security.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree.
• Experience in application development delivery of medium-to-large scale projects/programs.
• Experience in Technical Operations, Supply Chain, and/or airline technology.

Pay

The base pay range for this role is $175,750.00 to $228,818.00. This position is also eligible for bonus and/or long-term incentive compensation awards.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Life, accident, and disability insurance.
• Parental leave.
• Employee assistance program.
• Commuter benefits.
• Paid holidays and paid time off.
• 401(k).
• Flight privileges.