IT Manager - Data Integration Products & Services at Lesschwab

POSITION SUMMARY: 

The Manager of Data Integration Services is responsible for leading a specialized team that builds, manages, and supports the company's core data integration platform products and services. This team acts as a center for enablement, providing the foundational tools, standards, and reusable patterns that empower federated integration developers within the Business Products & Services (BPS) teams. This manager will take ownership of the core integration platforms treating them as products for internal consumers. The ultimate goal is to increase the speed and quality of data delivery across the enterprise by enabling BPS teams to self-serve their integration needs in a governed and supported manner. This role is critical for ensuring that data flows reliably and accurately between operational and analytical systems that support business domains, while fostering a culture of best practices among a distributed community of developers.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

30% - Integration Platform Product Management

• Own and manage the entire lifecycle of the core data integration platforms (e.g., EAI, EDI, etc.), treating them as products for internal developers.

• Develop and maintain a strategic roadmap for the integration platforms, focusing on providing capabilities that accelerate development for business aligned teams and ensure data quality objectives are met.

• Create and manage a portfolio of reusable integration patterns, templates, and services that can be consumed by developers across the IT organization.

• Lead the evaluation and implementation of new platform capabilities to enhance developer productivity and ensure architectural consistency.

• Act as the primary subject matter expert on the core integration platforms and advocate for their adoption and proper use.

30% - Enablement, Governance, and Support

• Establish and lead a "community of practice" for integration developers to share knowledge and promote best practices.

• Develop, document, and enforce data integration governance standards, policies, and development guidelines to ensure consistency, quality, and security.

• Provide expert-level consultation and Tier 3 support to federated developers on complex integration challenges.

• Create and deliver training materials and workshops to upskill developers on our core integration platforms and standards.

• Manage the operational health, monitoring, and performance of the core integration platforms.

20% - Team Leadership and Development

• Lead, mentor, and manage a central team of highly skilled integration platform specialists.

• Manage team workload and resource allocation, prioritizing the development of platform capabilities that provide the most value to business aligned teams.

• Responsible for the performance management, career development, and technical training of direct reports.

• Foster a culture of being a "force multiplier" within the team, focusing on enabling the success of others.

• Lead and mentor a team in partnering with internal and external teams in a way to foster healthy, credible relationships while also achieving the intended business outcome. 

20% - Stakeholder Collaboration and Financial Management

• Serve as the primary liaison between the platform team and the business aligned development community.

• Manage relationships with technology vendors for our integration platforms.

• Provide input into the departmental budget and manage expenses related to the integration platform product portfolio.

Educational/Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.

• 7+ years of experience in the IT field, with at least 5 years focused on enterprise data integration and middleware technologies and with an additional 2 years of experience in lieu of a degree. 

• 3+ years of experience in a supervisory or management role, leading technical teams.

• Experience working in a hybrid or federated IT model, acting as a service provider to other technical teams, is highly desirable.

• Experience in a retail or multi-location business environment is strongly preferred.

Required Technical Skills/Knowledge:

• Hands-on experience with enterprise Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) solutions is required; specific experience with modern EAI tools is strongly preferred.

• Experience with Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards and platforms.

• Knowledge of modern, cloud-native integration patterns and technologies, including experience with AWS services (e.g., Lambda, S3, Glue) and.

• Strong understanding of API-led connectivity, web services (REST, SOAP), and data formats (JSON, XML).

• Experience with integrating major enterprise SaaS platforms such as HRM, FCM, SCM, and Point of Sale (POS) systems.

• Proven ability to establish technical governance and standards and influence their adoption across multiple teams.

• Experience developing and managing a catalog of reusable technical services.

General Knowledge and Abilities:

• Product Mindset: A strong ability to view and manage technical platforms as products with a defined lifecycle, roadmap, and internal customer base.

• Leadership & Influence: Proven ability to lead a direct team while influencing and enabling developers in other parts of the organization without direct authority.

• Enablement Focus: A passion for creating tools and processes that make other developers more productive and successful.

• Communication: Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate a clear vision for a platform and document standards effectively.

• Collaboration: A highly collaborative work style with the ability to build a strong community and foster cooperation between central and embedded teams.

• Problem Solving: Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to architect robust, scalable platform solutions.

Physical Requirements: Primarily desk position; regularly required to sit, occasionally required to stand and walk.  Requires frequent and repetitive use of hands and fingers to operate computer, mouse, keyboard, and office related equipment and the ability to reach with hands and arms.  This position requires lifting no more than 10 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close visual acuity and the ability to adjust focus.  Requires the ability to communicate verbally and exchange information by phone and in person.

Work Environment: Office, non-manual work; the worker is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions.  The worker must be available when urgent issues arise that require their coordination or escalation.  Urgent-availability needs are rare but the worker is expected to comply when they occur.  This may include performing work outside of regular hours and/or supporting teams performing off-hours work by checking in remotely and/or in person as necessary.

BENEFITS:

• Annual profit-sharing bonus

• Medical, dental, vision for employees

• Company-funded retirement plan - no cost to employee

• Paid holidays

• Paid time off

• Flex remote arrangements (work 1 day/week from home)

• Tuition Assistance

• Employee discount

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions/primary responsibilities. This job description is not all inclusive and is subject to change. Additional duties and tasks may be assigned, as necessary. Employment remains “AT WILL” at all times.