Innovation Technology Specialist

About the role

Lerch Bates is seeking an Innovation Technology Specialist to shape the future of leveraging technology, data, and emerging solutions within the company. This role bridges business operations and technology, ensuring systems are thoughtfully designed, scalable, and aligned with long-term organizational goals.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the internal subject matter expert for CRM platform strategy, architecture, and best practices, focusing on Microsoft Dynamics 365.
• Design and maintain scalable CRM data models, workflows, business processes, reporting structures, and system integrations.
• Evaluate current CRM capabilities and develop recommendations to support future growth and business objectives.
• Partner with IT teams, vendors, and external developers to ensure technical solutions align with business requirements and long-term strategy.
• Evaluate business needs and recommend technology solutions that are scalable, user-friendly, and maintainable.
• Define business requirements, functional specifications, and success criteria before development begins.
• Provide strategic guidance on build-versus-buy decisions, system enhancements, and technology investments.
• Ensure proposed solutions support operational workflows and business objectives rather than addressing individual feature requests.
• Establish and promote best practices for data governance, ownership, consistency, and quality across enterprise systems.
• Define data standards and systems of record to improve reporting accuracy and business decision-making.
• Identify data quality issues and recommend solutions that improve consistency, usability, and long-term data integrity.
• Support scalable data strategies that enable reporting, analytics, automation, and AI initiatives.
• Advocate for user-centered design when developing business processes, workflows, and system configurations.
• Identify usability challenges and opportunities to improve employee adoption and operational efficiency.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate user feedback into practical system improvements.
• Research emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, automation, and advanced analytics, to identify opportunities that improve business performance.
• Evaluate technology vendors, platforms, and solutions for alignment with organizational strategy and operational readiness.
• Support innovation initiatives that enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and improve the employee and client experience.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Business, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 5+ years of experience working with enterprise CRM platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, HubSpot, or similar systems.
• Experience designing business systems, data models, workflows, or enterprise technology solutions.
• Strong understanding of CRM architecture, business process analysis, and systems integration.
• Knowledge of data governance principles, reporting structures, and data quality best practices.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills with the ability to evaluate complex business challenges and recommend scalable solutions.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills with the ability to collaborate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to influence decision-making through thoughtful analysis, business case development, and strategic recommendations.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and initiatives in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 certifications or administration experience.
• Experience with Microsoft Power Platform, including Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate.
• Familiarity with ERP or project management platforms such as Deltek.
• Experience supporting professional services, architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), or consulting organizations.
• Experience evaluating or implementing AI, automation, or other emerging technology solutions.
• Experience supporting multi-office, multi-entity, or acquisition-driven organizations.