Applications Manager

We are seeking an experienced and operationally focused Enterprise Applications Manager to lead the firm’s Product Owner function and oversee the performance, alignment, and continuous improvement of the enterprise application portfolio.

This role is responsible for establishing and reinforcing a structured product ownership model that ensures business-critical applications are effectively owned, prioritized, and supported. The position combines people leadership and operational accountability, managing a team of Product Owners while maintaining visibility into backlog priorities, application performance, and delivery outcomes.

Operating with a strong ownership mindset, this role partners closely with business stakeholders, delivery teams, and vendors to ensure applications are aligned to business needs and delivered with consistency, quality, and accountability.

The ideal candidate brings a balance of leadership discipline and delivery execution, with a focus on standardization, governance, and continuous improvement across the application portfolio.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not all inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities as the position and department evolve. Incumbents must be able to perform all essential functions with or without reasonable accommodation.

• Lead and manage a team of Product Owners / IT Ambassadors across the enterprise application portfolio, providing coaching, mentorship, and performance feedback to drive consistency and capability across the team
• Establish and reinforce a standard Product Owner operating model, including clear expectations for application ownership, backlog management, stakeholder engagement, and delivery accountability
• Maintain overall accountability for the health and performance of the enterprise application portfolio, ensuring each application has defined ownership, an active and prioritized backlog, and alignment to business priorities
• Define and enforce consistent processes for intake, prioritization, and backlog management, ensuring work is well-defined, actively managed, and aligned to business value
• Provide oversight of release planning and execution across applications, ensuring coordination of user acceptance testing (UAT), release readiness, and communication of changes
• Monitor delivery outcomes, including timelines, quality, and adoption, and intervene as needed to address risks, gaps, or execution issues
• Oversee vendor engagement models supporting application delivery and support, and ensure effective coordination between Product Owners and external partners
• Monitor vendor performance, including responsiveness, delivery quality, and alignment with expectations
• Ensure application support processes are effectively managed, including incident and request backlogs, escalation handling, and resolution tracking
• Monitor support performance and identify recurring issues or trends, driving improvements based on data and user feedback
• Partner with business stakeholders, delivery teams, and infrastructure and security teams to ensure alignment between business needs, backlog priorities, and delivery execution
• Act as an escalation point for cross-functional conflicts, competing priorities, and delivery challenges
• Drive continuous improvement and standardization across product ownership practices, backlog management, and release coordination
• Identify gaps in process, ownership, or execution and implement practical improvements to improve consistency and delivery outcomes

The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required to satisfactorily perform the essential functions of this position. Michael Best will always consider candidates with an equivalent combination of relevant experience and education.

• 5–7 years of experience in application management, product ownership, delivery leadership, or IT operations
• Demonstrated experience leading or managing Product Owners, analysts, or delivery teams
• Strong understanding of product ownership models, application lifecycle management, backlog prioritization, and release cycles
• Ex…