Sr Director, Information Systems

Travelers • Hartford, CT

1d • $146,400 - $241,600

About The Position

Travelers is seeking a Sr. Director, Engineering and Operations Effectiveness, to join Business Insurance (BI) Technology as we transform engineering and technology operations. Engineering Excellence and Operations (EXO) leads engineering transformation and modernization across BI Technology. In this role you will lead the function that connects EXO's three functional areas, Engineering Transformation, Portfolio Modernization, and Technology Operations, to every partner that depends on them. That includes Value Streams, Operations, Planning & Execution, and various enterprise partners. In that capacity, you are accountable for EXO's engagement model, emerging demand pipeline, vendor and contract strategy, operational metrics our leadership team makes decisions from, and a team of Delivery Leads embedded across the portfolio. Since this is a change catalyst role, you are expected to drive delivery effectiveness, leverage and infuse AI throughout our delivery practices, and ensure a unified stakeholder engagement model. This role plans at a strategic level and manages the effective use of resources. Directs assigned staff to implement and/or maintain systems and/or assigned project(s). Moderate to broad scope of responsibility as defined by such things as span of control, number of systems/projects, and/or complexity of systems/projects. Works closely with key stakeholders to build relationships and to ensure timely completion of deliverables. Influences technical direction of projects and system support. Provides talent management to team members.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in a related field.
• 9 years of technology or business related experience.
• 3 years of experience managing others.
• A record as a change catalyst. You have taken an operating model, standard, or practice from documented to practiced across a large organization, and you can describe what you stopped doing as clearly as what you started.
• Influence without authority. You have held a cross-organizational forum together where none of the participants reported to you, and produced decisions from it.
• Delivery leadership at scale. Agile at scale, planning and dependency management across multiple teams, and comfort with flow and DORA-style delivery metrics.
• Vendor and contract fluency. Managed service agreements, tiered service models, time and materials versus outcome-based structures, burn rate management, chargeback, and working partnerships with Sourcing, Finance, and HR.
• Demonstrated AI fluency. You have personally used AI tooling to change a process you owned, you can reason about where agents and automation replace coordination work, and you can hold a credible conversation about what AI leverage should do to vendor pricing, staffing mix, and delivery metrics.
• Metrics and data judgment. You know the difference between a metric that changes behavior and performance theater.
• Stakeholder management as a discipline. You measure satisfaction, act on what it tells you, and raise the difficult thing early rather than letting it surface in a steering forum.
• Broad conceptual understanding of capabilities and direction of technology, coupled with an in-depth knowledge of the technology required and the needs of business environment necessary to support assigned systems and/or projects.
• Develops solutions to meet business needs that reflect a clear understanding of the objectives, practices & procedures.
• Has a thorough understanding of staff responsibilities, abilities and development needs.
• Provides direction and effectively leads by example to ensure that all services are meeting the business objectives on a timely basis with excellent quality, at a reasonable cost.
• Suggests solutions that make sense and are in line with future technology direction.
• Keeps all areas informed of developments affecting their function.
• Demonstrates flexibility, anticipates customer needs, and effectively communicates in a manner consistent with the audience.
• Educates and influences customers on the most effective use of technology, from a short- and long-term perspective.
• Demonstrates advanced analytical and diagnostic skills dealing with issues that are novel and not readily defined, lack known precedent or appear contradictory.
• Able to develop solutions by applying accepted processes or is able to create new approaches to leverage technology from abstract information.
• Sees the big picture and is fully aware of technology and business directions.
• Has department, corporate and group objectives in focus while identifying and removing barriers.
• Optimizes the use of all available resources.
• Manages cross-functional objectives/priorities supporting an assigned business area(s).
• Responsibilities are assigned with considerable latitude for decision making.
• Results reviewed periodically according to predefined objectives.
• Sets level of risk taking, and gathers/synthesizes information to all appropriate levels of the organization.
• Insures all planning done on the area level is supportive of the business strategic plans.
• Appropriately delegates while maintaining accountability; sees that projects are assigned by workload and capabilities.
• Completes projects accurately and on time.
• Critical planning is required as modifications are difficult and costly and may impair achieving of departmental/corporate objectives.
• Change requires reassessing and adjusting tactical and/or operational direction.
• Knowledge of Agile methodology and ability to apply them to projects of moderate complexity.
• In the Agile environment the Sr Director level typically performs as the Release Train Engineer or Kanban Service Delivery Manager.
• Team Orientation.
• Financial Awareness.
• Human Resource Management.
• ITIL.
• Kanban/Agile/SAFe.
• High School diploma or equivalent.
• 5 years of technology or business related experience.

Responsibilities

• Own EXO's Unified Engagement Model across its core stakeholder groups and full functional portfolio including engineering transformation, application modernization, vendor provisioned Managed Services, and production operations.
• Own emerging demand end to end. Be the single source of truth for demand coming into EXO from the enterprise and the value streams. Run the intake and demand forums, drive prioritization with the functional leads and other stakeholders, and manage demand from intake through readiness and implementation.
• Own EXO vendor and technology contract management. Be the single point of accountability for contracts, vendor management, and cost. Rationalize the portfolio, drive equivalent terms and cost reduction across vendors, and reshape vendor scope and pricing as AI changes expectations.
• Build and lead the EXO delivery center of excellence. Transform delivery practice from separate functional interpretations into one repeatable standard, with the playbooks, cadences, and assessments to sustain it.
• Own EXO metrics and reporting for EXO's partners and stakeholders. Define the reporting requirements, govern the underlying data and engineering health indicators, and produce reporting that drives decisions.
• Lead the Delivery Lead team. The Delivery Leads report to you and are matrixed into the functional areas. You set the standard for what a Delivery Lead does here: planning rigor, execution discipline, dependency management, impediment removal, and insights leaders can act on. You are accountable for their performance, coaching, formal reviews, and development.
• Directs assigned staff to implement and/or maintain systems of high complexity and/or projects of major business unit significance.
• Contributes significantly to the strategic technology operational plans and department budget. Has responsibility for developing/ implementing a tactical and/or operational plan and staying within the departmental budget.
• A technology leader in the effort to utilize technology to develop and/or redesign the organization's processes.
• Has awareness of Enterprise strategies and impact on the line of business or functional area of responsibility.
• Provides key project stakeholders and IT leadership with timely status updates and/or system performance updates.
• Applies knowledge of current industry trends and techniques to formulate solutions within the context of assigned projects and/or enhancements.
• Accountable for directing team in order to achieve deliverables.
• Manages team direction and the day-to-day work of direct reports.
• Responsible for providing consistent performance feedback/coaching and completing formal performance reviews.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Health Insurance: Employees and their eligible family members – including spouses, domestic partners, and children – are eligible for coverage from the first day of employment.
• Retirement: Travelers matches your 401(k) contributions dollar-for-dollar up to your first 5% of eligible pay, subject to an annual maximum. If you have student loan debt, you can enroll in the Paying it Forward Savings Program. When you make a payment toward your student loan, Travelers will make an annual contribution into your 401(k) account. You are also eligible for a Pension Plan that is 100% funded by Travelers.
• Paid Time Off: Start your career at Travelers with a minimum of 20 days Paid Time Off annually, plus nine paid company Holidays.
• Wellness Program: The Travelers wellness program is comprised of tools, discounts and resources that empower you to achieve your wellness goals and caregiving needs. In addition, our mental health program provides access to free professional counseling services, health coaching and other resources to support your daily life needs.
• Volunteer Encouragement: We have a deep commitment to the communities we serve and encourage our employees to get involved. Travelers has a Matching Gift and Volunteer Rewards program that enables you to give back to the charity of your choice.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director