Director, Data Engineering and Business Applications

PEAK6•Austin, TX

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Data Engineering and Business Applications is responsible for setting the strategic vision and leading the execution of FOCUS’s enterprise data engineering and business applications capabilities. This role owns the architecture, development, and lifecycle management of data pipelines, integration platforms, and the business application portfolio that powers FOCUS’s insurance operations. The Director partners closely with the CIO, business unit leaders, and technology peers to ensure that data infrastructure and application systems are scalable, reliable, and aligned with FOCUS’s strategic growth objectives. This position also serves as a key driver of FOCUS’s broader data strategy, enabling analytics, reporting, and AI/ML initiatives through sound data engineering practices. The ideal candidate is a hands-on technology leader with deep expertise in modern data platforms, enterprise application management, and team development within the insurance or financial services sector.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Engineering, or a related field required.
Minimum of 10+ years of experience in data engineering, data architecture, or enterprise application management, with at least 4 years in a senior leadership role managing technical teams.
Demonstrated experience designing and operating large-scale data platforms using modern cloud technologies (e.g., Azure, AWS, Snowflake, Databricks) within the insurance, financial services, or other highly regulated industries strongly preferred.
Proven track record of managing enterprise business application portfolios (e.g., policy administration, agency management, billing, or claims systems) and leading application modernization or migration initiatives.
Experience building and developing high-performing engineering teams, including hiring and growing senior individual contributors and team leads.
Experience engaging with and presenting to executive and C-suite stakeholders on technology strategy, platform investments, and delivery outcomes.
Deep expertise in modern data engineering practices, including ETL/ELT pipeline development, data lake/lakehouse architecture, data warehousing (e.g., Snowflake, Redshift, Synapse), and real-time/streaming data frameworks.
Strong understanding of enterprise application management, including vendor management, SLA governance, application lifecycle management, and integration architecture.
Proficiency with cloud data platforms and tools such as Azure Data Factory, AWS Glue, dbt, Apache Spark, Airflow, Kafka, and modern BI/analytics platforms (e.g., Power BI, Tableau).
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate complex data and technology concepts into clear business outcomes for executive and non-technical audiences.
Strong people leadership skills with a track record of hiring, developing, and retaining high-performing engineering and technical teams.
Solid understanding of data governance, data quality frameworks, master data management (MDM), and regulatory data requirements relevant to the insurance and financial services industry.
Ability to operate strategically while remaining grounded in technical execution, and to drive results in a fast-paced, complex, and evolving environment.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, or Business Administration (MBA) strongly preferred.
Relevant certifications (e.g., AWS/Azure/GCP Data certifications, Databricks, Snowflake, or similar cloud data platform credentials) preferred.

Responsibilities

Define and execute the strategic roadmap for FOCUS’s enterprise data engineering platform, including data pipelines, ETL/ELT processes, data lakes, data warehouses, and integration frameworks.
Establish architectural standards for data ingestion, transformation, storage, and access that support analytics, reporting, and AI/ML use cases.
Partner with business and technology leaders to prioritize data platform investments and ensure alignment with enterprise strategy and regulatory requirements.
Provide executive-level reporting on platform health, data quality, and delivery outcomes.
Own the lifecycle management of FOCUS’s business application portfolio, including policy administration, agency management, billing, claims, and document management systems.
Oversee vendor relationships, licensing, contract renewals, and SLA performance for all business applications.
Lead application rationalization, modernization, and integration efforts to improve operational efficiency and reduce technical debt.
Partner with business stakeholders to evaluate new application capabilities and drive adoption of technology solutions that improve productivity and support FOCUS’s growth strategy.
Lead, grow, and develop a high-performing team of data engineers, integration developers, and business application specialists.
Drive talent strategy, succession planning, performance management, and professional development across the function.
Establish engineering standards, development practices, and operational KPIs for the team.
Directly manages Data Engineering team leads/managers and Business Applications managers, and may directly manage senior individual contributors (e.g., Principal Data Engineers, Senior Application Analysts).
Indirectly leads a broader organization of data engineers, integration developers, business application specialists, and related technical roles.
Accountable for hiring, performance management, succession planning, and professional development across the Data Engineering and Business Applications functions.
Sets standards, priorities, and quality expectations for all data engineering and application delivery work within FOCUS IT.