Director Application Development - Birmingham - Books A Million

Description

Overview

Position Overview: We are seeking a technical leader who blends executive-level software leadership with deep, hands-on architectural expertise. This role owns the strategy, architecture, and execution of all web applications, APIs, and backend systems while directly leading modernization efforts across legacy platforms.

This is a player–coach role: accountable for vision and delivery, while remaining technically credible and occasionally hands-on where it matters most—especially around architecture, legacy refactors, and complex integrations.

The ideal candidate has repeatedly turned technical debt into stable, scalable platforms, can translate business needs into architectural direction, and earns trust equally with engineers and executives. The ideal candidate would possess the following attributes:

• Exceptional leadership, coaching, and mentoring abilities. Driving positive culture and change within the department.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• A customer-first mindset, with a focus on delivering business value and a high level of ownership.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership
  • Define and execute the software development strategy and architecture, aligning it with organizational goals and customer needs.
  • Oversee the development of all web applications, APIs, and backend systems.
  • Lead efforts to modernize legacy systems and transform technical debt into modern frameworks, ensuring scalability, security, and performance.
  • Champion architectural decisions that future-proof the organization's technology stack.
• Business Engagement
  • Act as the primary technical liaison with business stakeholders, ensuring alignment of technical solutions with business requirements.
  • Build strong, collaborative relationships with key internal and external partners.
  • Translate business needs into actionable technical strategies and prioritize initiatives to maximize value delivery.
• Software Engineering Oversight
  • Oversee development of all web applications, APIs, and backend systems.
  • Lead architecture and design for RESTful APIs, integrations, and internal platforms.
  • Ensure systems are secure, performant, and resilient.
  • Drive best practices across coding, testing, deployment, documentation, and maintenance.
• Hands-On Technical Leadership
  • Stay close to the codebase where architectural risk or complexity demands it.
  • Lead or review designs for major refactors, migrations, and integrations.
  • Perform code reviews and technical troubleshooting when needed.
  • Act as final technical escalation point for complex system issues.
• Team Leadership & Development
  • Lead, mentor, and inspire a diverse team of developers, fostering a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.
  • Provide coaching and professional development opportunities to grow technical and leadership skills within the team.
  • Ensure effective resource allocation and team scalability to meet business demands.
• Operational Excellence
  • Oversee the software development lifecycle (SDLC), ensuring high-quality, timely delivery of projects.
  • Ensure alignment with best practices, BRDs, and IT PMO standards.
  • Improve delivery predictability, quality, and operational stability.
  • Establish and monitor performance metrics for teams and systems, driving operational improvements.
  • Implement best practices for coding, testing, deployment, documentation, and maintenance.
• Technology Leadership
  • Drive the adoption of modern frameworks, tools, and cloud-based solutions to improve system reliability and efficiency.
  • Lead the design and development of scalable, robust architectures for web applications and APIs.
  • Ensure robust integration between systems and third-party applications via well-designed APIs.
  • Stay current with industry trends and emerging technologies, identifying opportunities to leverage them for competitive advantage.

Qualifications And Education Requirements

• Proven experience in a senior leadership role managing large-scale software development teams.
• Expertise in Perl, Python, PHP, Laravel, MySQL, with experience in .NET and SQL Server a strong plus.
• Deep understanding of web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and modern frameworks.
• Extensive experience with RESTful APIs, microservices, and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure).
• Demonstrated success in transforming technical debt into modern, scalable solutions.
• Strong strategic thinking and the ability to align technical goals with business objectives.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with a proven ability to build trust and influence decision-making at all levels.
• Strong knowledge of SDLC, Agile methodologies, business requirement documentation (BRD), and working within an IT PMO framework.

Preferred Skills

• Experience leading modernization initiatives, such as migrating legacy systems to modern frameworks.
• Familiarity with modern frontend frameworks (e.g., React, , Angular).
• Knowledge of DevOps practices and tools, including CI/CD pipelines.

Physical And Environmental Requirements

• Must be able to sit at a computer or desk for extended periods of time
• Must be able to operate keyboard and telephone for repetitive motion activities
• Must be able to lift objects up to 25 lbs. with or without assistance
• Must be able to communicate using speech, sight, and sound with or without assistive device