Director, Application Support

FirstHealth of the Carolinas, Inc.•UNAVAILABLE, UNAVAILABLE

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Application Support provides strategic, operational, and administrative leadership for the health system’s clinical, business, imaging, and enterprise applications. The role ensures technology solutions support organizational goals, patient care, operational efficiency, regulatory requirements, and workforce productivity. It serves as a key business relationship-management link between Information Services and organizational leaders, partnering with clinical, revenue cycle, financial, and operational stakeholders to develop application strategies, prioritize investments, oversee implementations and optimizations, and ensure reliable application services. The Director is accountable for application lifecycle management, governance, service delivery performance, vendor management, portfolio planning, resource management, budgeting, and continuous improvement. The role works closely with physician and nursing leaders, operational executives, and Information Services teams—including cybersecurity, infrastructure, EHR, biomedical, medical informatics, and project management—to advance strategic initiatives and digital transformation. The Director promotes customer service, accountability, innovation, operational excellence, and continuous improvement. The work is primarily in office and healthcare environments, with occasional travel between organizational locations. Availability outside business hours is required for critical system events, implementations, and organizational emergencies. Hybrid remote work is considered.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Health Informatics, Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, or a related field.
At least seven years of progressively responsible experience in information technology, health informatics, digital health, or a related field.
At least three years of formal leadership responsibility for a complex applications, informatics, service delivery, project delivery, or healthcare technology function.
Strong healthcare operational knowledge across clinical, financial, and administrative domains.
Understanding of healthcare interoperability standards, including HL7, FHIR, APIs, and integration technologies.
Knowledge of healthcare regulatory requirements, including HIPAA, CMS, DNV/Joint Commission, and other applicable standards.
Strong business relationship-management skills.
Strategic planning and organizational leadership capabilities.
Financial management and budgeting expertise.
Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.
Strong negotiation and vendor-management abilities.
Experience leading organizational change and digital transformation initiatives.
Ability to influence executive, physician, clinical, and operational stakeholders effectively.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, Health Informatics, Information Systems, or a related discipline.
Experience with clinical systems, imaging systems, revenue cycle technologies, ERP systems, or other major healthcare application platforms.
Experience leading large-scale implementations, optimizations, and transformation initiatives.
Experience with budgeting, vendor management, and contract negotiations.
Relevant certification such as ITIL, PMP, CPHIMS, Lean Six Sigma, or an applicable enterprise-platform certification. Equivalent demonstrated experience will be considered.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute application strategies aligned with organizational goals, clinical priorities, and business objectives.
Partner with operational and clinical leaders to identify workflow optimization, automation, standardization, and innovation opportunities.
Participate in application governance, including intake, prioritization, and oversight of requests and initiatives.
Contribute to strategic planning, digital transformation initiatives, and technology roadmaps.
Evaluate emerging technologies, artificial intelligence solutions, and digital health opportunities that may improve patient care and operational performance.
Lead the health system’s enterprise, clinical, imaging, and business application portfolio.
Ensure application reliability, availability, performance, and supportability.
Establish application lifecycle practices for implementation, optimization, upgrades, retirement, and replacement.
Oversee application optimization to maximize organizational value and user satisfaction.
Ensure appropriate application documentation, configuration management, and change control.
Direct daily application support operations and service management activities.
Direct and manage IS Division help desk and customer support.
Direct and manage the web development team and organizational intranet and internet needs.
Assist in developing and monitoring performance indicators, including service levels, system availability, and customer satisfaction.
Lead issue escalation processes and ensure timely resolution of critical application incidents.
Establish and maintain operational standards, policies, procedures, and best practices.
Promote ITIL-based service management principles.
Review and advise operational leaders on IS software and service contracts for consistency with IS requirements.
Provide leadership, mentoring, coaching, and professional development for assigned staff.
Set clear performance expectations and accountability measures.
Foster collaboration, innovation, customer service, and continuous improvement.
Support workforce engagement and succession planning.
Advise on and request staffing structures and workforce planning to meet organizational needs.
Develop and manage departmental operating and capital budgets.
Monitor resource utilization, productivity, and financial performance.
Participate in vendor selection, contract negotiations, renewals, and performance management.
Develop business cases and cost-benefit analyses for application investments with operational departments.
Identify opportunities to maximize returns on technology investments.
Collaborate with Materials Management Procurement on vendor negotiations.
Ensure applications comply with healthcare regulations, accreditation requirements, privacy standards, and organizational policies.
Work with information security, privacy, compliance, and risk management teams to mitigate technology risks.
Support cybersecurity initiatives, including vulnerability remediation, access management, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning.
Ensure application controls support regulatory and audit requirements.
Execute identity and access verification for system access through the help desk team.
Sponsor and oversee application implementations, upgrades, and optimization initiatives.
Collaborate with the CIO on project governance, stakeholder engagement, communication, and change management.
Collaborate with project management resources to deliver strategic initiatives successfully.
Monitor project outcomes and achievement of expected organizational benefits.