Application Development Manager; Program Manager II

Farmers believes in a culture of collaboration, creativity, and innovation, which thrives when we have the ability to work flexibly in a virtual setting as well as the opportunity to be together in person. Our hybrid work environment combines the best of both worlds with at least three (3) days in office and up to two (2) days virtual for employees who live within fifty (50) miles of a Farmers corporate office.

Applicants beyond fifty (50) miles may still be considered.

We’re hiring an Application Development Manager to lead a team responsible for enhancing, supporting, and gradually modernizing business-critical applications. This role is best suited for a strong people leader who can foster credibility and rapport, create stability, and help the team deliver reliably in a diverse IT ecosystem.

You’ll balance feature delivery, production support, and incremental modernization of legacy applications—while strengthening team routines, communication, and execution.

Guide and assist a team of approximately five developers and one customer representative by fostering transparency, coaching, prioritizing tasks, providing feedback, and supporting career growth and objectives.

Build confidence and trust through consistent leadership, clear expectations, and a steady operating rhythm.

Set priorities and manage tradeoffs between planned work (features/modernization) and unplanned work (production issues, urgent requests).

Improve execution and transparency with clear status reporting, early risk escalation, and dependency management.

Partner with stakeholders in the department, across IT and the business to align scope, timelines, and outcomes.

Guide work across legacy applications and modern engineering practices, focusing on steady improvement over “big bang” change.

Encourage a quality-focused SDLC (clear requirements, testing discipline, release readiness, and production support practices).

Promote a Dev Ops mindset—automation, repeatability, and continuous improvement—within our IT ecosystem.

• Level II: 4 years experience in an IT environment, including 1 year in a supervisory role or 1 year as a Program Manager I.
• Proven experience leading software development teams, including coaching, accountability, and building a healthy culture.
• Solid background in application development and delivering enhancements in a structured SDLC environment.
• Experience working with production systems (support, reliability, incident response, and prioritizing critical work).
• Strong communication skills—able to provide accurate, timely status, raise risks early, and drive alignment.

• Experience modernizing or refactoring legacy applications to reduce operational risk and technical debt.
• Exposure to Dev Ops practices (CI/CD concepts, automated testing, quality checks, security scanning, etc.).
• Familiarity working in a Microsoft enterprise environment (tools/platforms commonly used across Microsoft-based development organizations).

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred or equivalent, relevant experience.
• Farmers offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience, qualifications and location.
  o CA Only: $102,450 - $174,240
  o CO Only: $96,075 - $150,260
  o HI/IL/MN/VT Only: $96,075 - $160,710
  o MA Only: $96,075 - $160,710
  o MD Only: $96,075 - $160,710
  o DC/NJ/NY/OH Only: $96,075 - $174,240
  o Albany County, NY/Cleveland, OH: $102,450 - $150,260
  o WA Only: $96,075 - $182,625
• Bonus Opportunity (based on Company and Individual Performance)
• 401(k)
• Medical
• Vision
• Health Savings and Flexible Spending Accounts

Job Location(s): US - MI - Caledonia, US - MI - Grand Rapids

Farmers will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in accordance with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance or other applicable law. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1033, Farmers is prohibited from employing any individual who has been convicted of any criminal felony involving dishonesty or a breach of trust without prior written consent from the state Department of Insurance.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Farmers is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in any employer/employee relations based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, genetic information, national origin, age, disability, marital status, military and veteran's status, or any other basis protected by applicable discrimination laws.

Spokane, WA only:
Residents who prefer not to provide their address  to submit your resume via email: