Software Development Manager

Key Responsibilities:

• Team Leadership & Management:
• Lead, mentor, and manage globally distributed application support teams, with a particular focus on teams in India and Latin America (LatAM).
• Oversee the hiring, onboarding, and development of high-performing teams in multiple regions, ensuring effective collaboration and operational efficiency across time zones.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, providing regular coaching and development opportunities for team members.
• Application Support Strategy:
• Develop and implement a global application support strategy that aligns with organizational goals, ensuring reliable, high-quality service delivery.
• Drive the adoption of proactive monitoring and automated incident detection to prevent service disruptions.
• Continuously optimize support processes, leveraging industry best practices and emerging technologies to improve response times and minimize downtime.
• Incident & Problem Management:
• Lead the resolution of high-priority incidents and major outages, ensuring rapid root cause analysis and implementation of long-term fixes.
• Ensure adherence to ITIL processes, focusing on incident, problem, and change management.
• Establish a robust escalation process for critical incidents and ensure proper communication with business stakeholders.
• Collaboration & Stakeholder Management:
• Serve as the primary point of contact between application support teams, development teams, and business stakeholders to ensure smooth resolution of issues.
• Work closely with software engineering, infrastructure, DevOps, and other cross-functional teams to ensure continuous delivery of high-quality application support.
• Manage third-party vendor relationships, ensuring that external support teams meet SLAs and performance standards.
• Performance Monitoring & Reporting:
• Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs) to measure and report on the efficiency and effectiveness of the application support function.
• Regularly review application performance, identifying trends and areas for improvement.
• Provide executive-level reporting on support operations, incident trends, and performance metrics.
• Process Optimization & Automation:
• Lead efforts to automate repetitive tasks and manual processes, reducing response times and minimizing human error.
• Champion the adoption of DevOps best practices in the support organization, including the integration of continuous monitoring and feedback loops into development pipelines.
• Customer Service & Satisfaction:
• Ensure that the application support team consistently delivers exceptional service to internal and external stakeholders.
• Implement feedback mechanisms to continuously improve service levels and address customer needs effectively.
• Lead initiatives to enhance the user experience and improve overall satisfaction with application services.

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (Master’s preferred).
• 10+ years of experience in application support or IT operations, with at least 5 years in a leadership or managerial role.
• Proven track record of managing large, globally distributed teams, particularly in India and Latin America (LatAM).
• Extensive experience in hiring, onboarding, and managing offshore and nearshore teams, ensuring effective collaboration across time zones and regions.
• Proven ability to drive application performance improvements and handle high-priority incidents on a global scale.

Technical Skills:

• Deep understanding of application architecture, databases (SQL/NoSQL), cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), and enterprise IT infrastructure.
• Expertise in managing application support for both on-premise and cloud-based applications.
• Experience with ticketing systems (e.g., Jira, ServiceNow) and monitoring tools (e.g., Datadog, Splunk, New Relic).
• Familiarity with DevOps and CI/CD processes.
• Knowledge of ITIL practices and frameworks, including incident management, problem management, and change control.

Leadership & Management:

• Strong leadership skills with a proven ability to build, mentor, and lead high-performing, globally distributed application support teams, particularly in India and LatAM regions.
• Extensive experience in scaling and optimizing offshore and nearshore teams to ensure high availability and operational efficiency.
• Experience in working with cross-functional teams, including software engineering, DevOps, infrastructure, and business stakeholders.
• Ability to manage vendor relationships, SLAs, and third-party application support services.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills with a focus on delivering results in high-pressure environments.

Communication & Collaboration:

• Excellent communication skills, capable of conveying technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize tasks effectively, manage multiple projects simultaneously, and meet deadlines.
• A customer-centric mindset with a strong focus on delivering high-quality service to end users and clients.

Strategic & Operational Skills:

• Experience developing and executing application support strategies, including proactive support models, continuous improvement initiatives, and automation efforts.
• Ability to drive performance improvements through root cause analysis, and the creation of metrics and KPIs to measure and enhance team efficiency.
• Experience in establishing and managing remote operations, ensuring smooth collaboration between teams in different geographic regions.
• Capacity to manage budgets, resources, and headcount effectively within a department.

Additional Requirements:

• Willingness to work in a fast-paced environment with potential 24/7 availability for critical issues.
• Experience in the financial, healthcare, or other highly regulated industries is a plus.
• Certifications such as ITIL, PMP, or relevant technical certifications are desirable.
• Experience in Supporting SaaS Product / FinTech /Hedge Fund / Private Equity (BigPlus)