Manager Application Development - Hybrid; PA​/NJ​/DE

Position: Manager Application Development - Hybrid (PA/NJ/DE)
Bring your drive for excellence, teamwork, and customer commitment to Independence. Join us as we renew and reimagine the future of health care. Together we will achieve our mission to enhance the health and well-being of the people and communities we serve.

Job Summary

The Manager of Application Development leads a cross-functional team responsible for designing, building, enhancing, and supporting Sales and Broker-facing applications within the Health Insurance plan domain. This leader partners closely with developers, testers, Business Analysts, project teams, business stakeholders, and external vendors to deliver high-quality, scalable application solutions. You will provide architectural guidance, oversee development practices, manage workload allocation, and ensure adherence to SDLC and change management standards.

This role blends technical leadership, team management, and strategic planning to ensure modern, efficient, secure application delivery.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Strategy

• Set technical direction for assigned applications and ensure alignment with enterprise technology strategies/
• Provide leadership, coaching, mentoring, and career development for application development team members.
• Establish team objectives, define roles & responsibilities, and manage performance expectations.
• Partner with Application Service Delivery leadership to forecast demand, allocate resources, and maximize utilization across projects, enhancements, and maintenance activities.
• Drive continuous improvement, innovation, and adoption of best practices, including reusable assets, tooling, and coding standards.

Technical Ownership

• Lead the design and development of high-quality application software, including architecture contributions for multi-tier, cloud-integrated, and vendor-based solutions.
• Oversee system integration efforts across enterprise platforms, cloud services, and external vendor solutions.
• Ensure applications meet standards for performance, resiliency, scalability, and security.
• Conduct and lead code reviews, design reviews, and technical walkthroughs.
• Research and evaluate alternative technologies or design patterns to drive efficiency, cost effectiveness, and long-term sustainability.

Execution & Delivery

• Oversee project execution involving multiple developers, large technical teams, and cross-functional delivery groups.
• Collaborate with PMO and business stakeholders on project planning, estimation, risk identification, and prioritization.
• Ensure team adherence to Dev Ops and modern CI/CD practices, including proper use of Git Hub, Jenkins pipelines, and artifact management
• Maintain responsibility for ensuring work is completed within committed timelines and budget.
• Guarantee that detailed design documents, technical specifications, and architectural artifacts are produced and maintained.

Collaboration & Communication

• Partner with Business Analysts and business partners to translate business problems, requirements, and user stories into functional and technical solutions.
• Work with infrastructure teams, cloud engineering, and vendor partners to ensure full solution delivery.
• Represent the technical team in governance, planning sessions, and stakeholder reviews.
• Maintain clear, proactive communication with leadership on team performance, risks, and opportunities.

Vendor & Resource Management

• Manage external development vendors, ensuring adherence to quality standards and contract expectations.
• Support supplemental staffing strategies and participate in recruiting, onboarding, and skill identification processes.
• Optimize workload distribution and minimize unassigned resources.

Required Qualifications

• BA/BS in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of experience as a technical lead or senior developer.
• 5+ years of experience in web application development and support.
• 3-5+ years managing software development teams.
• Strong leadership, communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
• Proven ability to lead architecture, design, build, and implementation efforts for enterprise-grade applications.
• Solid understanding of Agile and Dev Ops practices.
• Abili…