Director, Information Technology - Data Platforms

USAA • San Antonio, TX

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

At USAA, our mission is to empower our members to achieve financial security through highly competitive products, exceptional service and trusted advice. We seek to be the #1 choice for the military community and their families. Embrace a fulfilling career at USAA, where our core values – honesty, integrity, loyalty and service – define how we treat each other and our members. Be part of what truly makes us special and impactful. The Opportunity The Director, Information Technology role within the Data Platforms organization is vital for sustaining operational excellence, strategic execution, and leadership continuity across a highly complex, association-wide data and analytics ecosystem which powers data acquisition, storage, preparation, delivery, information management, governance, reporting, data science, and artificial intelligence. The role also carries material responsibility for managing significant annual spend and key vendor relationships operating on multiple platforms, making it a critical function for financial stewardship and risk mitigation. The candidate selected for this position will lead a large team of engineers and third-party resources, building and supporting the data and analytics infrastructure that underpins business operations and analytics. You will work closely with technology partners and business leaders to drive the modernization and reliability of our data platforms, including Snowflake, and play a pivotal role in the migration of legacy systems to cloud-based solutions. The candidate must be able to demonstrate strong leadership, financial acumen, and a proven track record in managing complex data environments and large-scale technology migrations. Ideally, you will have hands-on experience in both on-premise and cloud architectures (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS), and deep interest and experience in broad enterprise platforms and cloud patterns. This is a high-impact role functioning on a talented team responsible for powering the data infrastructure that supports every line of business (Insurance, Investments, LifeCo, Bank) and shared services (CFO, CLO, GRC, HR), making it essential to the organization’s long-term success and strategic goals. The Data Persistence team, composed of expert platform engineers and third-party partners, powers the data infrastructure that supports every line of business and shared services, making this role essential to the organization’s long-term success. The portfolio is made up of strategic initiatives such as the migration to Snowflake and modernization of legacy platforms. We offer a flexible work environment that requires an individual to be in the office 4 days per week. This position will be based out of our San Antonio, TX office. Relocation assistance is not available for this position.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree; OR 4 years of related experience (in addition to the minimum years of experience required) may be substituted in lieu of degree.
• 8 years of experience in a technology function in a Software Development/Engineering or Infrastructure environment.
• 3 years of direct team lead or management experience of IT professionals.
• Experience overseeing the technology life cycle from requirements analysis, feasibility estimates, design, code, documentation, testing, implementation, and support.
• Technical knowledge and understanding of technical domains that reside within Infrastructure Services, Data or Application Development.
• Experience conducting cost benefit analyses and leveraging results to drive technology support solutions.
• Demonstrated thought leadership in embedding intuitive story telling of technology support functions including concise presentation of complex technical details.
• Previous experience managing multiple tasks and responsibilities in high-pressure environments; excelling at pinpointing and resolving problems in early stages to avoid cost/time expenses.
• Experience and ability to drive a culture of quality and personal accountability through technology support teams.
• Demonstrated experience in vendor contract management and management of distributed development teams and resources.
• Demonstrated financial acumen involving budgets, forecasting, and executing on the budgets for applicable technology support function.
• Advanced facilitation, collaboration and consensus building skills, with experience in presenting to cross-functional teams and Senior/Executive leaders.
• Experience in inspiring, leading, and defining vision, strategy and organizational change.
• Demonstrated experience in explaining complex technology decisions to both technical and nontechnical audiences at all levels in the organization.
• Demonstrated ability to influence change at the executive level and team level.
• Understanding of relevant industry frameworks, i.e. COBIT, ITIL, SAFe, etc.
• Understanding of Legislative and Regulatory Compliance Requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Proven experience providing technical, operational, and strategic leadership to engineering or technology teams.
• Deep knowledge of hybrid technology environments, including on-premise, private cloud, and public cloud (e.g., AWS, Snowflake).
• Demonstrated ability to build, develop, and lead high-performing teams, including recruiting, retention, coaching, and performance management.
• Applied experience in security and risk management, including the development and monitoring of internal controls.
• Hands-on experience leading large-scale migration efforts from legacy platforms and architecting scalable enterprise solutions.
• Ability to develop and operationalize multi-year technology strategies, including defining and tracking KPIs and KRIs.
• Strong background in technology support functions, including documentation standards, quality assurance, and compliance.
• Experience managing sizable budgets, vendor relationships, contract negotiations, renewals, and expense forecasting.
• Track record of building and maintaining strong relationships with IT and business stakeholders.
• Demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement, agile methodologies, and fostering a culture of innovation.
• Experience evaluating and implementing emerging technologies to enhance system performance and reliability.
• Strong analytical skills for identifying, researching, and analyzing business, process, and technology opportunities.
• Experience ensuring compliance with risk and compliance policies, standards, and procedures.
• Ability to model and promote organizational mission, core values, and a sound risk culture.
• US military experience through military service or a military spouse/domestic partner

Responsibilities

• Responsible for developing, maintaining, testing, and monitoring an internal control environment, including preventative and detective controls, to effectively manage risks.
• Builds and oversees a team of employees for assigned technology support area through ongoing execution of recruiting, development, retention, coaching and support, performance management, and managerial activities.
• Oversees efforts in establishing documentation standards and quality assurance methodologies for technology support functions and ensure adherence to standards across teams.
• Accountable for the identification, research, and analysis of end to end business, processes, and technology support opportunities.
• Develops and oversees metrics for technology support capabilities and/or processes (KPIs, KRIs, etc.).
• Creates a multi-year plan to operationalize a technology support strategy, with key milestones, deliverables, and realization targets.
• Oversees the creation and execution of departmental budgets and forecasts for applicable technology support function.
• Oversees the availability management of technology solutions / domains by applying strong change and incident management practices.
• Works across multiple functional areas and influences future business strategy to be able to best utilize available technology support functions as well as future ones.
• Stays abreast of industry trends and understands the direction of applicable technology support capabilities and ensures technology environment is agile enough to change quickly to support.
• Builds successful stakeholder relationships with other IT and business leaders by developing a clear understanding of business needs, acting as a trusted advisor, and ensuring cost-effective delivery of technology support services to meet those needs.
• Participates in the development of 3rd Party vendors strategy and provides oversight to ensure achievement of technology support objectives
• May provide oversight of vendor management activities including service agreements, staff augmentation and technology contracts.
• Builds and oversees a team of employees for assigned functional area through ongoing execution of recruiting, development, retention, coaching and support, performance management, and managerial activities.
• Ensures risks associated with business activities are effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.

Benefits

• At USAA our employees enjoy best-in-class benefits to support their physical, financial, and emotional wellness.
• These benefits include comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans, 401(k), pension, life insurance, parental benefits, adoption assistance, paid time off program with paid holidays plus 16 paid volunteer hours, and various wellness programs.
• Additionally, our career path planning and continuing education assists employees with their professional goals.
• For more details on our outstanding benefits, visit our benefits page on USAAjobs.com.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees