Director of Application Development

Vaco has an exciting new opportunity for a Director of Application Development with our solid client in Cincinnati, OH.
This is a direct hire, fully onsite role.

We are looking for a Director that has prior experience managing other IT department leaders, such as ERP and Business Intelligence.

The Director of Application Development will be responsible for managing and mentoring multiple software development teams—including .NET, SharePoint, Salesforce, and other platforms—while ensuring adherence to corporate software development standards and best practices. This individual will play a critical leadership role in our digital transformation journey, enabling scalable, modern, and customer-focused solutions.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead, mentor, and manage diverse application development teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure development teams adhere to company-defined software development standards, practices, and governance.
• Oversee delivery of enterprise applications across platforms (.NET, SharePoint, Salesforce, etc.) to meet business needs.
• Partner with business stakeholders, IT leadership, and project management teams to align technology initiatives with organizational goals.
• Drive the company’s digital transformation by introducing modern development methodologies, cloud adoption strategies, DevOps practices, and scalable architectures.
• Establish and track key performance metrics for development productivity, quality, and delivery timelines.
• Manage vendor relationships and evaluate third-party software and service providers.
• Stay ahead of emerging technologies and industry trends to recommend innovative solutions.
• Develop and manage departmental budgets, resource planning, and capacity forecasting.
• Champion process automation & efficiency, identifying and implementing solutions that improve speed, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness of both business and production workflows.
• Stay current on the latest in AI technologies, assessing and applying them to enhance business intelligence, automation, and operational outcomes.
• Champion change management, fostering awareness, enthusiasm, and adoption of new technologies while leading the cultural shift toward a more data-driven, efficient, and innovative organization.

Required Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (Master’s preferred).
• 10+ years of experience in software development, with at least 5 years in a leadership role within a large organization (5,000+ employees preferred).
• Proven experience managing enterprise-level development teams across multiple platforms (.NET, SharePoint, Salesforce, and others).
• Demonstrated success leading organizations through digital transformation, including modernization of legacy systems, adoption of cloud technologies, and agile/DevOps practices.
• Strong knowledge of enterprise application architecture, software development life cycle (SDLC), and governance frameworks.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience with budget management, vendor management, and resource planning.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to balance long-term vision with short-term execution.
• Deep understanding of IT infrastructure, including both cloud-based and on-premises environments, and how to design secure, scalable, and integrated solutions.