Director, Applications Development

West Coast University, Inc.-posted about 1 month ago
Full-time • Director
Irvine, CA
11-50 employees
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Reporting to the VP, Application Development in a multi-faceted, multi-location academic setting, the Director, Applications Development provides hands on technical and people leadership across web application engineering, AI enabled solutions, and application portfolio management for American Career College, West Coast University, and Administration. This role translates institutional strategy into a practical technology roadmap and delivers measurable outcomes that enhance student, faculty, and staff experiences. The Director partners closely with academic leaders, Information Technology pillar owners, and operations to prioritize investments, modernize platforms, and accelerate time to value—while maintaining strong security, privacy (FERPA), accessibility, and reliability standards. Conducts periodic reviews of the application portfolio and works with the Information Technology leadership team as well as the academic leaders to build business cases for enhancing technology necessary to anticipate institutional needs, enhance stability and/or improve price/performance. Works closely with information technology clients, information technology pillar owners, academic solutions architects, and information technology operations to ensure correct solutions are built and implemented.

  • Own the Applications Roadmap across American Career College, West Coast University, and Administration; align initiatives, funding, and sequencing with institutional goals. Build business cases and total-cost-of-ownership analyses; manage investment trade offs and present executive-ready recommendations.
  • Provide architecture direction; review designs and code; lead proofs of concept; unblock complex issues. Set engineering standards: coding practices, testing, performance, security, documentation, and accessibility.
  • Deliver AI-enabled experiences using Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Search, vector stores, and Azure Machine Learning as appropriate. Establish AI application development patterns, prompt management, model evaluation, telemetry, and guardrails; lead Responsible AI governance with Security, Legal, and Compliance.
  • Lead development of React/TypeScript front ends and .NET 8/ASP.NET Core APIs and microservices. Leverage Azure services: App Service, Functions, API Management, Service Bus/Event Grid, Key Vault, Application Insights, Azure SQL/Cosmos DB, Storage, and optionally AKS/containers where justified. Ensure accessibility (WCAG 2.2), performance, resiliency, and scalability.
  • Drive API-first integration with SIS/ERP/CRM/HCM and LMS ecosystems (e.g., CampusNexus/CampusVue, Salesforce, Oracle HCM, etc). Implement data and event integration patterns; partner with Data/Analytics on Synapse/Fabric (or equivalent) where applicable.
  • Implement CI/CD (GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps), Infrastructure as Code (Bicep/Terraform), automated quality gates, and environment management. Embed security and privacy by design: threat modeling, secure SDLC, SAST/DAST/Secrets scanning, RBAC/least privilege with Entra ID, data classification/retention, and FERPA/PCI considerations. Establish SLOs/SLIs, observability (Application Insights/OpenTelemetry), incident response, and problem management.
  • Hire, develop, and coach managers and engineers; foster an inclusive, high accountability culture. Lead vendor/partner strategy: evaluate solutions, negotiate SOWs, define SLAs, govern delivery, and track ROI. Communicate effectively across audiences—executive updates, stakeholder demos, written narratives, and technical deep dives.
  • Bachelor degree in computer science, information systems, electronics engineering, voice/data communications, public/business administration, or a related field required; Master's degree preferred.
  • 10+ years of progressive leadership in application development and delivery, including leading managers and multidisciplinary teams.
  • 5+ years managing vendors/partners and complex program budgets.
  • Hands‑on expertise with: React and TypeScript; modern front‑end build tooling. .NET 6/7/8, ASP.NET Core, RESTful APIs, and integration patterns. Azure PaaS (App Service, Functions), API Management, Service Bus/Event Grid, Key Vault, Application Insights, Azure SQL/Cosmos DB; CI/CD with GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps; Infrastructure as Code (Bicep/Terraform).
  • Demonstrated delivery of AI‑enabled applications using Azure OpenAI/OpenAI APIs, vector search/Azure AI Search, and Responsible AI practices.
  • Exceptional communication skills: able to translate technical concepts into business outcomes for executives, faculty, and partners.
  • Demonstrates a high level of understanding of enterprise architecture discipline. Has in-depth knowledge of current and planned Information Technology systems portfolio.
  • Demonstrates a high level of business knowledge.
  • Ability to manage and work effectively in a highly ethnic and culturally diverse student and associate community.
  • Excellent analytical and organizational skills.
  • Strong communication skills, both written and verbal. Must be able to communicate technical matters into messages that can be broadly understood across the organization.
  • Strong customer service skills.
  • Ability to self-direct, self-pace, multi-task and function well under pressure of deadlines and conflicting priorities.
  • Willingness to work a flexible schedule.
  • Ability to travel/drive locally on a weekly, daily and/or on an as needed basis.
  • Experience with CampusVue, Salesforce CRM, Oracle HCM and Great Plains preferred.
  • Previous experience with higher education strongly preferred.
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