Director, IT Applications

Liberty Dental Plan Careers•Tustin, CA

2d•$150,000 - $200,000•Remote

About The Position

Liberty Dental Plan is seeking a Director, IT Applications to lead a critical portfolio of business applications while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement. Reporting to the VP, Application Development, this highly visible leadership role combines technology strategy, operational excellence, and people leadership. You will help shape the future of our application landscape, strengthen business partnerships, and guide a talented team responsible for delivering reliable, secure, and scalable solutions that support our members, clients, and organization. The Director, IT Applications is responsible for leading the delivery, support, maintenance, and ongoing evolution of enterprise applications across assigned business areas. This role ensures applications meet business needs, service level commitments, quality standards, and security requirements while supporting operational performance and organizational growth. The ideal candidate brings a combination of healthcare payer industry knowledge, strong people leadership capabilities, business acumen, and experience managing vendor relationships and enterprise application portfolios.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business, or a related field.
10+ years of experience in IT applications, application support, systems delivery, or a related discipline.
5+ years of people leadership experience.
Strong understanding of application delivery, support, operations, and service level management.
Experience with software development lifecycles, release management, production support, and application maintenance practices.
Experience managing vendors, budgets, resources, operational risks, and delivery governance.
Ability to build trusted relationships with business leaders, technical teams, and external partners.
Strong communication, problem-solving, decision-making, and leadership skills.

Nice To Haves

Healthcare payer experience, including Medicare and/or Medicaid environments.
Dental payer experience strongly preferred.
Experience supporting delegated healthcare models and healthcare operations.
Experience with Health Solutions Plus (HSP) and healthcare payer administration platforms highly preferred.
Experience participating in audits, regulatory reviews, RFP responses, and client-facing initiatives.
Experience with Agile delivery methodologies.
Familiarity with Azure, APIs, web portals, management information systems, and database technologies.
Experience collaborating with Scrum Masters and Project Managers.
Experience with DevOps practices and modern application delivery approaches.
Previous experience working with Conduent or similar healthcare technology partners is a plus.

Responsibilities

Lead the delivery, support, maintenance, and optimization of critical business applications.
Serve as the product owner for assigned application platforms, establishing strategic priorities, modernization initiatives, and technology roadmaps.
Partner with business leaders to understand requirements, identify process bottlenecks, and recommend technology solutions that improve efficiency and productivity.
Balance business priorities, operational stability, modernization efforts, and technical debt reduction.
Guide application strategy and influence technical direction in partnership with technical teams and stakeholders.
Ensure applications meet agreed-upon service level expectations for availability, performance, incident response, and production support.
Oversee release planning, production readiness, ongoing maintenance, and enhancement activities.
Maintain strong controls around data integrity, compliance, security, and system management.
Monitor application health, technical debt, and remediation efforts while communicating risks and progress to leadership.
Identify and proactively address operational and delivery risks to ensure successful outcomes.
Support audits, client reviews, regulatory inquiries, proposal responses, and new client implementation activities.
Build and maintain strong relationships with vendors, business leaders, and cross-functional partners.
Manage third-party resources and consulting relationships to support delivery and operational objectives.
Partner with compliance, security, infrastructure, architecture, governance, and business operations teams to ensure alignment and execution.
Navigate competing priorities effectively while maintaining strong stakeholder relationships and transparency.
Lead, coach, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of technology professionals.
Create an environment where employees feel supported, empowered, and accountable for results.
Establish clear expectations and provide ongoing performance feedback and development opportunities.
Foster collaboration, trust, continuous learning, and professional growth.
Delegate effectively while developing future leaders and building organizational capability.
Recognize and celebrate team contributions while maintaining a high-performance culture.

Benefits

Competitive pay structure and savings options to help you reach your financial goals.
Excellent 401(k) retirement benefits, including employer match, Roth IRA options, immediate vesting during the Safe Harbor period, and access to professional financial advice through Financial Engines.
Affordable medical insurance, with low-cost premiums for employee-only coverage. Liberty subsidizes the cost for eligible dependents enrolled in the plan.
100% employer-paid dental coverage for employees and eligible dependents.
Vision insurance with low-cost premiums for employee-only coverage and dependents.
Company-paid basic life and AD&D insurance, equal to one times your base salary, with options to purchase additional supplemental coverage.
Flexible Spending Accounts for healthcare and dependent care expenses.
Voluntary benefit programs, including accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity insurance.
Long-term disability coverage.
Expansive wellness programs, including company-wide wellness challenges, BurnAlong memberships, and gym discounts.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to support mental health and well-being.
Generous vacation and sick leave policies, with the ability to roll over unused time.
10 paid company holidays.
Tuition reimbursement for eligible educational expenses.
Remote or hybrid work options available for various positions.