Director of Technology & Innovation

Brightshore Mortgage•Ocala, FL

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Technology & Innovation is responsible for leading BrightShore Mortgage's technology strategy, development, infrastructure, cybersecurity, systems administration, and day-to-day technology operations. This position serves as the Company’s senior technology leader and is accountable for ensuring BrightShore's technology environment is secure, reliable, scalable, well documented, and continually evolving to support BrightShore’s growth, operational objectives, borrower experience, and client needs. The Director leads the continued development and enhancement of BrightShore's proprietary and internally developed technology, including Conversational AI, artificial intelligence and knowledge solutions, borrower and client applications, automation, data integrations, reporting capabilities, and other technology developed to improve the mortgage servicing experience. The position assumes responsibility for development activities previously supported through Deep Elevations and establishes these capabilities as part of BrightShore's internal technology organization. This position is responsible for establishing and maintaining disciplined development practices, including project prioritization, development standards, source control, testing, user acceptance testing, change management, release management, production deployment, technical documentation, system architecture documentation, and ongoing application support. The Director will maintain a transparent technology roadmap and development backlog and provide regular updates to leadership regarding priorities, project status, upcoming releases, risks, dependencies, and completed enhancements. The Director is also responsible for BrightShore's overall IT environment, including infrastructure, servers and cloud environments, networks, devices, applications, user access, system availability, technology vendors, ticketing and support processes, backups, disaster recovery, and business continuity technology. The position establishes appropriate service levels and escalation procedures and utilizes ticketing, monitoring, and reporting to ensure technology issues are properly documented, prioritized, followed through, and resolved timely. Cybersecurity and information protection are critical responsibilities of the position. The Director works with internal resources and external partners to maintain appropriate security controls, access management, vulnerability and patch management, endpoint protection, monitoring, incident response, backup and recovery capabilities, and other safeguards necessary to protect BrightShore, borrower, client, and employee information. The position also supports SOC examinations, regulatory reviews, investor and client due diligence, audits, risk assessments, and other technology and information security requirements. The Director leads and develops BrightShore's technology team and coordinates internal team members, developers, contractors, and technology vendors. This is a hands-on leadership position requiring the Director to actively participate in technology development, troubleshooting, architecture, implementation, documentation, project management, and problem resolution while also establishing priorities and holding team members and vendors accountable for results. A key responsibility of the role is identifying opportunities to use technology, artificial intelligence, automation, data, and system integration to improve how BrightShore operates. The Director partners with business leaders and team members to understand operational challenges, evaluate potential solutions, prioritize development opportunities, and deliver technology that reduces manual work, improves accuracy, strengthens controls, enhances the borrower and client experience, and allows the organization to scale efficiently. The Director will establish meaningful technology performance measures, including system availability, ticket response and resolution times, project delivery, development backlog, release cadence, defects, cybersecurity remediation, vendor performance, and other measures necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the technology organization. Success in this role requires more than maintaining existing technology. The Director of Technology & Innovation is expected to continuously challenge how BrightShore uses technology and lead the development of new capabilities that differentiate the Company within the mortgage servicing industry. The successful candidate will combine strong technical knowledge with hands-on execution, leadership, creativity, sound judgment, documentation discipline, cybersecurity awareness, and a strong sense of ownership while building a technology organization capable of supporting BrightShore's continued growth.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Development, Information Systems, Cybersecurity, Business Technology, or a related field preferred. Equivalent combination of education, technical certifications, and demonstrated professional experience may be considered in lieu of a four-year degree.
Minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in information technology, software development, systems administration, technology operations, or a related field.
Prior experience leading or supervising technology employees, developers, contractors, or technical vendors strongly preferred.
Demonstrated experience managing both day-to-day IT operations and technology development or implementation projects.
Hands-on experience supporting business-critical applications, infrastructure, networks, servers or cloud environments, endpoints, user access, and enterprise technology.
Experience managing or participating in software development, application implementation, system integration, or internally developed technology.
Experience with APIs, system integrations, data movement, databases, and integration between business applications.
Experience establishing or working within structured software development lifecycle, testing, UAT, change-management, release-management, and production deployment practices.
Experience managing development backlogs, technology projects, priorities, deliverables, and competing business requirements.
Experience with artificial intelligence, Generative AI, Conversational AI, large language models, RAG/knowledge solutions, workflow automation, or related emerging technologies strongly preferred.
Experience implementing automation designed to reduce manual work, improve accuracy, or increase operational scalability.
Experience with cybersecurity controls, identity and access management, endpoint protection, vulnerability management, patching, monitoring, backup and recovery, and incident response.
Experience managing technology ticketing or service-management environments and establishing appropriate response, escalation, and resolution expectations.
Intermediate in Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Word processing (speed and accuracy)
MSP or FICS’ Mortgage Servicer a plus
Email
Internet software
Use typical office equipment (computers, fax, phones, copiers, scanners, etc.)
Vision (with or without correction) sufficient to read a computer screen and to operate office equipment
Clear speaking voice on the telephone, in person, and recorded
Hearing within normal ranges in noise environments typical of office
Able to sit for long periods of time at computer or other workstation and in meetings
Able to use computers and operate equipment
Able to lift 10 pounds occasionally unassisted

Nice To Haves

Relevant professional certifications in information technology, cybersecurity, cloud computing, software development, project management, or related disciplines are preferred but not required.
Demonstrated commitment to continued professional development and staying current with rapidly evolving technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and software development practices.

Responsibilities

Lead the overall Technology function for BrightShore Mortgage, including application development, artificial intelligence, infrastructure, systems administration, cybersecurity, technology support, integrations, automation, and technology vendors.
Develop, maintain, and execute a technology roadmap aligned with the BrightShore’s strategic objectives, growth plans, operational priorities, borrower experience, and client needs.
Take ownership of BrightShore's internally developed technology and transition appropriate development activities previously performed through Deep Elevations into a disciplined, documented, and scalable BrightShore technology environment.
Lead the continued development and enhancement of BrightShore's Conversational AI, knowledge and RAG solutions, borrower-facing technology, client-facing applications, internal tools, automation, reporting, and other proprietary technology.
Partner directly with BrightShore’s leadership and operational teams to understand business challenges and translate them into practical technology solutions.
Maintain a prioritized development backlog that clearly identifies projects, enhancements, defects, business owners, priorities, responsible resources, dependencies, status, and anticipated delivery timelines.
Establish disciplined software development lifecycle standards encompassing requirements, design, development, source control, code review, testing, UAT, approval, deployment, validation, documentation, and ongoing support.
Establish appropriate development, testing, staging, and production environments and ensure changes are appropriately controlled before being introduced into production.
Establish and maintain formal change-management and release-management practices for internally developed and third-party technology.
Publish appropriate release notes and technology updates so team members and leadership understand significant enhancements, new functionality, resolved issues, upcoming changes, and how new capabilities should be used.
Maintain comprehensive technical documentation, including system architecture, applications, integrations, APIs, data flows, configurations, development standards, procedures, credentials management, vendor dependencies, recovery procedures, and other critical technology information.
Build a culture where documentation is part of completing the work rather than an activity performed later.
Oversee BrightShore’s technology infrastructure, including servers, cloud environments, networks, endpoints, telecommunications, applications, connectivity, storage, backups, and related technology.
Maintain appropriate monitoring of critical systems and proactively identify availability, capacity, performance, security, or reliability concerns before they materially affect the business.
Ensure critical technology environments are appropriately backed up and that restoration and disaster recovery capabilities are periodically tested rather than simply assumed to work.
Lead cybersecurity activities in partnership with appropriate internal and external resources, including identity and access management, multifactor authentication, endpoint protection, vulnerability management, patching, security monitoring, incident response, penetration testing, vendor security, and remediation activities.
Maintain appropriate role-based access and periodically review system access to ensure employees and third parties retain only the access necessary to perform their responsibilities.
Establish and maintain an effective technology ticketing and service-management process, including appropriate use of Genuity or other designated platforms, ticket categorization, assignment, prioritization, escalation, service expectations, aging management, documentation, and closure.
Ensure technology requests and issues receive appropriate follow-up. Tickets should not remain unresolved because ownership is unclear or because the requesting team member stopped asking for an update.
Analyze recurring technology incidents and support requests to identify root causes and implement permanent solutions where possible rather than repeatedly addressing the same symptoms.
Establish meaningful service levels and technology performance reporting, including ticket response and resolution times, aging, system availability, project delivery, development throughput, defects, cybersecurity remediation, and other key performance indicators.
Maintain accurate inventories of technology assets, applications, licenses, vendors, contracts, systems, integrations, domains, certificates, and other technology resources.
Manage technology vendors, consultants, managed service providers, software providers, and contractors and hold third parties accountable for performance, responsiveness, security, cost, documentation, and contractual commitments.
Regularly evaluate technology expenses, licenses, applications, and vendor relationships to identify unnecessary costs, overlapping solutions, underutilized technology, or opportunities to negotiate improved pricing and service.
Oversee integrations and data movement between FICS Mortgage Servicer and BrightShore's applications, vendors, reporting environments, borrower technology, client technology, and other systems
Establish appropriate controls and monitoring around interfaces, APIs, automated processes, and data transfers to ensure information remains accurate, complete, secure, and timely.
Identify opportunities to eliminate repetitive or inefficient manual processes through automation, system integration, artificial intelligence, workflow redesign, and other technology solutions.
Work closely with operational team members who perform the work to understand the actual process before designing technology intended to improve it.
Encourage team members to challenge existing processes and bring forward ideas. Evaluate ideas based on their potential impact rather than solely on how work has historically been performed.
Promote responsible experimentation and a fail-forward culture where thoughtful innovation is encouraged, lessons are documented, adjustments are made quickly, and unsuccessful approaches become information used to build better solutions.
Ensure artificial intelligence solutions are developed and maintained with appropriate controls, testing, knowledge management, monitoring, security, compliance involvement, and human oversight based upon the risk and intended use of the solution.
Monitor the quality and effectiveness of Conversational AI and other AI solutions and continuously improve responses, knowledge, workflows, integrations, and user experiences based on actual performance and feedback.
Keep borrower experience at the center of borrower-facing technology decisions and continually evaluate whether technology makes it easier for borrowers to understand their mortgage, obtain assistance, complete tasks, and interact with BrightShore.
Maintain the same focus on creating raving fans internally by providing technology and support that enables team members to perform their jobs effectively rather than creating unnecessary obstacles.
Partner with Compliance, Risk, Legal, Operations, and other stakeholders when developing or implementing technology involving regulatory requirements, borrower communications, sensitive information, or material business processes.
Support SOC examinations, cybersecurity assessments, regulatory examinations, investor and agency reviews, client due diligence, internal audits, penetration testing, and other technology-related reviews.
Take ownership of identified technology, security, audit, or compliance findings and ensure remediation activities are documented, assigned, tracked, and completed within required timelines.
Maintain and test technology components of the BrightShore’s Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery programs and participate in exercises designed to validate operational readiness.
Develop technology capabilities capable of supporting continued company growth without requiring staffing and technology costs to increase at the same rate as servicing volume.
Research emerging technologies and mortgage-industry developments and make recommendations regarding solutions that could meaningfully improve BrightShore's competitive position, efficiency, controls, borrower experience, or client offering.
Communicate candidly and transparently with leadership regarding technology risks, project delays, security concerns, resource constraints, failures, and other issues. Problems are expected to be surfaced early along with a proposed path toward resolution.
Provide regular technology updates to leadership covering major initiatives, completed releases, development priorities, significant incidents, cybersecurity matters, performance measures, risks, and upcoming decisions.
Develop and mentor Technology team members, encourage professional growth and cross-training, and build a team that demonstrates ownership, curiosity, urgency, accountability, positivity, and a willingness to continually improve.
Create an environment where team members are comfortable challenging ideas respectfully, acknowledging mistakes, asking for help, sharing knowledge, and proposing better solutions.
Demonstrate a hands-on leadership approach and become personally involved when significant technology, development, security, or operational issues require additional attention.
Balance innovation and speed with appropriate security, compliance, testing, documentation, and risk management. Moving quickly should not require sacrificing responsible execution.
Maintain confidentiality and appropriately safeguard borrower, client, employee, Company, financial, and proprietary information.
Perform additional duties and lead special projects necessary to support BrightShore's growth, technology strategy, and continued development.