Director - Advanced Technology

Function and Scope:

The Director of Interactive technologies has primary responsibility for driving the strategy and direction of the online and interactive marketing channels of the Affinion Group. This includes the online web self service (websites), online transactional (site to site interaction) and SMS channels. The duties include the identification and adoption of emerging technologies as well as the documentation and implementation of standards for the technologies. Responsible for developing and evangelizing the architectural roadmap that identifies the multi-year strategy for the technologies and platforms within this space.

 

The position reports directly to the Chief Architect and will be an active member of the Advance Technology team that encompasses the architectural oversight and strategy board for Affinion Group. Responsible for coordinating with the leaders within the Application Development group to implement the technology strategies and provide oversight and architectural direction to the team during the lifecycle of the technology within the enterprise.

 

The Director is accountable for developing the technology strategy within the context of the enterprise architecture and execution of that strategy within the interactive domain ? not through direct management of either application developers or project teams, but rather through clear understanding of the problem space and articulation of the architectural strategy throughout the enterprise, through structured technology adoption practices, through evangelism of the direction with both technical and non-technical staff, through appropriate surveillance and oversight of progress, and through appropriate escalation / communication to management as needed. 

 

Duties and Responsibilities:

? Design and implement architectural guidelines, artifacts, and standards. 

? Conduct formal and informal audits of projects at various stages, at whatever rate of coverage as is necessary to assure compliance with architecture guidelines, competency of staff.

? Develop and evangelize technology roadmaps for the interactive domain

? Assist in the recruitment and/or assessment of personnel in the application development group

? Meet regularly, both formally and informally with section heads of every technology section to discuss roadmap progress, feedback from IT?s customers, and solicit challenges and opportunities to enhance architectural strategy. 

? Meet regularly, both formally and informally with key IT Customers to assure architectural direction is well understood, and to solicit challenges and opportunities to enhance architectural strategy.

? Assure that those policies and practices, related to enterprise architectural governance (within the defined space) and other certifications are adequate, well documented, and followed. 

? Contribute to a repository of lessons learned and best practices.

? Provide formal and informal training for IT staff on architectural best practices.

? Provide vision, direction, and detailed standards as needed.

 

? Domain Expert ? Beyond engineering, the role requires an understanding of emerging technologies, system maturity and stability analyses and a demonstrated ability to define the problem space in addition to the solution space.

? Software Development Expert ? In order to set architectural direction for the application development staff the role requires a detailed understanding of software development methodologies.

? Communicator ? Excellent written and oral communication skills are crucial. An ability to convey complex technical issues and strategies to technical and non-technical staff is a requirement and considered to be a cornerstone for success in the role.

? Strategist ? Work with the Advance Technology team leadership to define and articulate the coordinated, multi-year plan for technology adoption, convergence and exploitation.

? Consultant ? The role requires an ability to work with various lines of business in order to get a detailed understanding of current and future business issues and provide guidance on how technology can be leveraged to address those issues.

? Technologist ? The role requires the Director to be the senior technologist in the space.

? Evangelist ? Sell the architectural vision to technical and non-technical staff. Many of the architectural strategies are executed against multi-year plans. It is a requirement of the job to be able to sell the vision and maintain momentum towards the goal ? regardless of the obstacles.

? Politician ? The role requires experience / competency in dealing with multiple, geographically disparate, constituencies. 

 

Minimum requirements:

? 4+  years in hands on architecture role(s) with large/complex, and geographically diverse projects and a complete understanding of the project life cycle.

? 2+ years in position of leadership in an architecture role, in a setting with formal methodologies for enterprise architecture management. 

? Extensive knowledge of the use of various typical project artifacts and commercial methodologies used in application development

? Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Business or related discipline. Advance degree preferred.

? Experience with CMM certification preferred

? Process oriented with strong attention to details.

? Excellent presentation skills.

? Demonstrated ability to lead and influence through expertise, relationship building, and value delivery

? Proficiency in Visio.

? Experience with commercial collaboration tools, such as Sharepoint,  MeetingPlace, etc.

? Experience in distributed, virtual environment

? Attentive to detail

? Critical thinker

? Highly analytical

? High degree of flexibility and ability to tolerate ambiguity

? Strong financial savvy

 

Please send your resume with cover letter including salary requirements to: jobs@affiniongroup.com  

 

Affinion Group is the premier provider of membership-based services.  We partner with major companies worldwide to market a variety of products and services including consumer protection, merchandise purchase and credit card protection, travel, shopping, home improvement and auto purchasing services to name a few. Through our membership club and loyalty product businesses, we touch the lives of more than 100 million people across America. We offer our members consumer protection, exceptional values and savings with the added convenience of shopping at home or online.

 

Our business began in 1973 and has grown to serve more than 25 million members across America. Our 3,000 employees deliver high-value programs and services to our members. These programs, combined with superlative service and turnkey operations, help enhance brand loyalty and revenue for our affinity marketing partners.  Visit us at http://www.affiniongroup.com

 

The Affinion Group offers an excellent base salary and annual incentive eligibility for these positions.  In addition, medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; 401(k) with matching funds; paid-time off; tuition reimbursement, company sponsored employee activities and much more! EOE M/F/D/V