IT Manager/Engagement Lead

Summary

Join Horace Mann as an IT Manager/Engagement Lead for Enterprise Data, playing a pivotal role in ensuring the stability and continuous improvement of enterprise data capabilities. You will strategically prioritize incoming requests, aligning technology work with organizational goals and maximizing business value. This leadership position requires strong communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills to navigate competing demands and foster a culture of ownership and continuous learning within the data department. Leveraging generative AI to enhance productivity and creativity is a key aspect of this role. The ideal candidate will possess practical analytical expertise, a deep understanding of business needs, and exceptional decision-making skills. You will serve as a bridge between technology teams and business stakeholders, ensuring both sides understand priorities and impacts.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field
• 6+ years of experience in IT leadership, with a focus on managing IT projects, technical support, and/or system enhancements
• Proven track record of making strategic prioritization decisions that drive business value
• Experience implementing generative AI technologies in development workflows
• Familiarity with at least one area of Data Management, including but not limited to, data intensive applications, data development lifecycles, data analytics, business intelligence, data governance, and/or data-driven decision making
• Ability to translate business needs into technical priorities and vice versa
• Ability to view the enterprise data ecosystem holistically and identify systemic issues that affect multiple teams or business areas
• Familiarity with modern planning and ticketing systems (e.g., ServiceNow, Enterprise One, Monday, Jira, Azure DevOps) and IT project/portfolio management best practices
• Familiarity with change management frameworks to support adoption of new processes, tools, or prioritization frameworks across data teams
• Proficiency in leveraging generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, or similar to enhance IT workflows
• Strong leadership skills, with the ability to motivate, support, and guide teams in a fast-paced environment
• Experience with IT portfolio planning, tracking, and senior level report outs
• Ability to set clear expectations and communicate priorities firmly yet diplomatically to stakeholders
• Experience in negotiating and influencing senior leaders on data priorities and trade-offs
• Strong facilitation and conflict resolution skills, with the ability to mediate between diverse stakeholders and align differing viewpoints

Responsibilities

• Evaluate and prioritize incoming requests based on business impact, urgency, and technical feasibility
• Set clear expectations with stakeholders, ensuring alignment with organizational goals
• Communicate trade-offs transparently, advocating for business value over reactive task execution
• Facilitate progression of effort from roadmap to project intake and project initiation, including prioritization, cost-benefit analysis, and other pre-project tasks
• Develop a structured framework for prioritization that ensures mission-critical support needs are met while also advancing right-sized enhancements that drive continuous improvement
• Ensure operational metrics, roadmaps, goals/outcomes, project status, and other critical reports outs for the data department are updated appropriately
• Identify and help remove operational roadblocks that limit team effectiveness, including process inefficiencies, unclear responsibilities, or misaligned priorities
• Facilitate necessary resource capacity/demand activities include planning, onboarding, tracking, and support for both employee and contractual staff across all enterprise data teams
• Ensure cross-team collaboration, fostering a shared understanding of priorities, dependencies, and technical solutions
• Create and uphold accountability structures to ensure work is completed efficiently and of high quality
• Drive a culture of ownership, problem-solving, and continuous learning
• Coach team leads on best practices for planning, reporting, and cross-functional collaboration
• Act as a central point of escalation and resolution for cross-team resource conflicts or competing priorities
• Promote the use of generative AI tools to boost team creativity, efficiency, and skill development
• Serve as the bridge between technology teams and business stakeholders, ensuring both sides understand priorities, constraints, and impacts
• Maintain a strong grasp of enterprise data systems, workflows, and potential challenges, ensuring informed decision-making
• Set firm but fair expectations with business stakeholders, ensuring they understand how and why prioritization decisions are made
• Provide regular updates on progress, challenges, and key outcomes related to support and enhancements
• Communicate realistic timelines, risks, and trade-offs when managing requests

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading/shaping IT data and continuous improvement teams in a large enterprise environment
• Experience within Insurance, Financial Services, or related business domain
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), ITIL frameworks, and Agile methodologies