Director of Enterprise Applications

Plante Moran•Southfield, MI

19h•$160,000 - $250,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Enterprise Applications is a senior Technology Services (IT) leadership role responsible for the strategy, delivery, operations, and continuous improvement of the firm’s enterprise applications portfolio, including core platforms supporting HR, Finance, Marketing, and other firm services. This role is a member of the IT leadership team, reports to the CIO, and partners with fellow Directors to shape and execute enterprise IT strategy and roadmaps, improve delivery and operations, and build a high-performing technology organization.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred (technology, information systems, engineering, or business).
15+ years of progressive experience in technology/enterprise applications/ERP (or related), with substantial leadership overseeing delivery, support, and transformation at scale.
Proven domain experience leading enterprise application portfolios that support multiple corporate functions such as Finance, HR, Marketing, Operations, or other internal services areas.
Experience with Workday and/or other enterprise SaaS platforms, including strategy, implementation, enhancements, operations, release/change management, and vendor partnership.
Strong experience partnering with senior business leaders to define roadmaps, prioritize investments, resolve competing demands, and ensure technology initiatives drive measurable business outcomes.
Demonstrated success building and leading high-performing teams, including managers and cross-functional delivery resources, while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and talent development.
Experience with enterprise operating models including governance, intake/prioritization, portfolio and change management, service management, and disciplined execution.
Strong understanding of integration architecture, information/data architecture, controls, and security considerations for enterprise systems.
Experience with vendor management and building strategic partnerships with software providers, implementation firms, and managed service partners.
Excellent analytical, conceptual, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to balance strategic thinking and hands-on execution.
Exceptional verbal, written, interpersonal, and executive communication skills, including the ability to facilitate complex discussions, influence decisions, and represent IT credibly with senior leadership.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in professional services or similarly complex, matrixed, multi-stakeholder environments is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead the strategy, roadmap, delivery, support, and continuous evolution of the firm's enterprise applications portfolio, including Workday and other core platforms supporting HR, Finance, Marketing, and related internal firm services functions.
Own the end-to-end lifecycle for enterprise applications - from planning and investment prioritization through design, implementation, enhancement, release management, support, and sustainment - ensuring reliable and scalable services for the firm.
Partner with firm services leaders and business owners to understand goals and challenges, translating needs into clear roadmaps, priorities, and measurable outcomes.
Serve as the senior IT relationship leader for enterprise functions, building trusted advisory partnerships, shaping demand, and helping leaders make informed tradeoffs across scope, sequencing, investment, risk, and value.
Develop and maintain a multi-year enterprise applications strategy and roadmap aligned to firm priorities, technology strategy, architecture standards, and business needs.
Lead the application portfolio with a firmwide perspective, including evaluation of current capabilities, identification of gaps and redundancies, and recommendations to enhance, standardize, consolidate, modernize, or retire solutions to improve business value and total cost of ownership.
Ensure operational excellence across supported platforms through strong service management, issue resolution, support processes, release/change discipline, and performance against defined service levels and business expectations.
Establish and mature governance, intake, prioritization, and planning processes, ensuring transparent decisions and alignment across competing demands.
Partner with Enterprise Architecture, Data, Security, Infrastructure, and delivery teams to ensure enterprise applications are secure, well-integrated, support high-quality data flows, and align with enterprise standards for architecture, integration, controls, and sustainability.
Provide financial leadership for enterprise applications, including investment planning, resource forecasting, budget oversight, vendor spend management, and business cases for major initiatives.
Own strategic vendor and partner relationships, including performance management, roadmap alignment, contracts, licensing, and value realization.