Executive Director - Application Development - Advice, Loyalty, and Rewards

Why USAA?

At USAA, our mission is to empower our members to achieve financial security through highly competitive products, exceptional service and trusted advice. We seek to be the #1 choice for the military community and their families.

Embrace a fulfilling career at USAA, where our core values – honesty, integrity, loyalty and service – define how we treat each other and our members. Be part of what truly makes us special and impactful.

The Opportunity

Let’s do something that really matters!

At USAA, our mission is to empower our members to achieve financial security through highly competitive products, exceptional service and trusted advice. We seek to be the #1 choice for the military community and their families. 

Embrace a fulfilling career at USAA, where our core values – honesty, integrity, loyalty and service define how we treat each other and our members. Be part of what truly makes us special and impactful.

The Opportunity

An exceptional opportunity awaits a proven leader like you to step into the Executive Director role within our Enterprise Digital Technology organization. If you're passionate about shaping the future of our digital landscape and driving impactful change, this is your chance to lead high-performing teams, influence strategic direction, and advance your career within a flexible, 4-day/week office environment in our office in San Antonio or Plano.

** Relocation Assistance is available for this position **

Job Description Summary

• Plans, coordinates, and supervises all activities related to the design, development, and implementation and maintenance of the organization's applications development and analysis function.
• Manages multiple development teams often supporting one or more lines of business or business functional areas.
• Works closely with clients in order to map and support their operational needs.
• Responsible for developing, distributing, supporting, enforcing, and integrating best practices and technology standards across the organization, including ensuring all Information Technology General Controls, Processes and Procedures are followed as applicable and appropriate.

What you’ll do

• Performs workload management and prioritization duties in support of operations for the functional area assigned.
• Applies subject-matter-expert functional knowledge to lead subordinate workers in producing work deliverables in support of departmental initiatives.
• Develops functional policies, procedures and guidelines.
• Identifies opportunities and facilitates major improvements to processes and systems.
• Ensures that the assigned application group develops processes and tools that contribute to the company business objectives.
• Ensures that all application processes developed internally or by external service providers are conducted in line with corporate social responsibility, environmental and technical policies and applicable standards and legislation.
• Oversees the assessment of the technical and business fitness of the application portfolio and their associated costs and risks.
• In partnership with CTO, Infrastructure and IT Security, ensures that the organization's applications are effectively secured and that risks are mitigated and comply with legal and corporate privacy and confidentiality rules.
• Establishes management routines to ensure appropriate oversight of the organization’s software development and maintenance activities.
• Serves as financial steward for the organization and manages relationships with major vendors and service providers to ensure they cost-effectively meet the needs of the organization.
• Evaluates and selects third party vendors to provide value added services. Facilitates the contracting process through the Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) enterprise process.
• Responsible for contract company/service performance providing timely feedback to ensure the best value for USAA.
• Collaborates with CTO to ensure that solutions are consistent with technology standards.
• Works across IT and business partners to reduce technical debt.
• Collaborates with other leaders and/or stakeholders and develop an application development strategy that aligns with business strategy, adds value and is within budget constraints.
• Responsible for team’s adherence to SDLC and applicable controls.
• Works to ensure teams have appropriate, development plans consistent with domain of expertise.
• Mentors across the technical community.
• Provides oversight to the engagement with the business DPO and ensures deliverables adhere to Agile practices/methodologies.
• Ensures risks associated with business activities are effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.

What you bring to USAA

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer information systems or related field of study; OR 4 years of related experience (in addition to the minimum years of experience required) may be substituted in lieu of degree.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience of general IT management competencies.
• 4+ years of people leadership experience in building, managing and/or developing high-performing teams required.
• Strong technical background of web-based application architecture, system and database architecture, security application integration and object-oriented languages in a large enterprise environment.
• Extensive experience in all stages of the software development life cycle: requirements gathering, design, development, testing, and implementation.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate technical information to a non-technical audience.
• Experience collaborating with key resources and stakeholders, influencing decisions and managing work to achieve strategic goals required.
• Demonstrated experience in vendor contract management and management of distributed development teams and resources.
• Demonstrated financial acumen involving budgets, forecasting, and executing on the budgets for applicable technology support function.
• Understanding of relevant industry frameworks, i.e. COBIT, ITIL, SAFe, etc.
• Understanding of Legislative and Regulatory Compliance Requirements.
• Experience overseeing the technology life cycle from requirements analysis, feasibility estimates, design, code, documentation, testing, implementation, and support.
• Technical knowledge and understanding of technical domains that reside within Infrastructure Services, Security, Data or Application Development.
• Experience conducting cost benefit analyses and leveraging results to drive technology support solutions.
• Demonstrated thought leadership in embedding intuitive story telling of technology support functions
• including concise presentation of complex technical details.
• Experience and ability to drive a culture of quality and personal accountability through technology support teams.

What sets you apart

• Proven track record of successfully delivering high-quality, scalable and reliable digital experiences and platforms.
• Extensive experience building and managing high-performing engineering teams.
• Experience with Agile software development methodologies, DevOps practices, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience managing budgets, forecasting resource needs, and optimizing engineering processes.

Ideal Technical Skills:

• Deep understanding of digital architectures, including microservices, APIs, cloud computing (AWS, Azure, GCP), and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Expertise in software engineering best practices, including design patterns, code review, testing, and security.
• Experience with a variety of programming languages and frameworks (e.g., Java, Python, Node.js, React, Angular).
• Strong understanding of data management principles, database technologies (SQL, NoSQL), and data analytics.
• Experience with monitoring, logging, and alerting tools.

Desired Leadership and Soft Skills:

• Exceptional leadership and communication skills, with an ability to inspire and motivate engineering teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a data-driven approach to decision-making.
• Excellent strategic thinking and planning abilities, with the ability to align engineering strategy with
• business goals.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with product management, design, and other stakeholders.
• Proven ability to build strong relationships with vendors and partners.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and manage multiple priorities.
• Strong customer focus and a passion for delivering exceptional user experiences.

Preferred Domain Knowledge:

• Understanding of Advice, Loyalty and Rewards, and Perks strategies along with business models and market trends.
• Knowledge of industry best practices for digital engineering and operations.
• Familiarity with relevant regulatory and compliance requirements (e.g., PCI DSS, HIPAA).

Compensation range: The total compensation range for this position is: $195,230 - $351,410

USAA does not provide visa sponsorship for this role. Please do not apply for this role if at any time (now or in the future) you will need immigration support (i.e., H-1B, TN, STEM OPT Training Plans, etc.).

Compensation: USAA has an effective process for assessing market data and establishing ranges to ensure we remain competitive. You are paid within the salary range based on your experience and market data of the position.

Employees may be eligible for pay incentives based on overall corporate and individual performance and at the discretion of the USAA Board of Directors.

The above description reflects the details considered necessary to describe the principal functions of the job and should not be construed as a detailed description of all the work requirements that may be performed in the job.

Long Term Incentive Plan: Cash payment for Executive level roles only, representing a cash payment which is both time and performance based.

Benefits: At USAA our employees enjoy best-in-class benefits to support their physical, financial, and emotional wellness. These benefits include comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans, 401(k), pension, life insurance, parental benefits, adoption assistance, paid time off program with paid holidays plus 16 paid volunteer hours, and various wellness programs. Additionally, our career path planning and continuing education assists employees with their professional goals.

For more details on our outstanding benefits, visit our benefits page on USAAjobs.com.

Applications for this position are accepted on an ongoing basis, this posting will remain open until the position is filled. Thus, interested candidates are encouraged to apply the same day they view this posting.

USAA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.