Department Manager of Enterprise Applications and Solutions

Associations West; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is seeking an experienced Department Manager for the Enterprise Applications & Solutions Department. You will provide operational management and technical leadership across a growing portfolio including finance, ERP, AI, CRM, GIS, digital workplace, and talent management systems.

You will set priorities, manage budgets, and guide modernization and integration efforts, including transitioning to Workday for HRIS and financial functions.

Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years of information technology experience.
• 4 years of management or direct supervisory experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Direct and oversee the department’s people, technology, services, and partnerships to deliver enterprise solutions.
• Establish and maintain a multiyear enterprise applications roadmap including modernization and retirement of legacy systems.
• Provide technical leadership and oversight for major initiatives and vendor work.
• Oversee platform integrations and staff responsible for enterprise system connections.
• Manage cloud ERP implementation, including vendor deliverables and staffing needs.

Skills

Team leadership

Vendor management

Cloud platforms

ERP integrations

AI readiness

Clear goals

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field

Job description

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is seeking an experienced leader with strong technical judgement and a collaborative approach to fill the position of Department Manager of the Enterprise Applications & Solutions Department. Under general direction of the Chief Information Officer, this position will provide operational management and technical leadership for a growing, high-impact portfolio of business applications, including finance and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Artificial Intelligence (AI), customer relationship management (CRM), geographic information systems (GIS), digital workplace, and systems supporting talent management, learning, events, and performance management.

The Department Manager will assume management responsibility for all department services and activities, set priorities for the portfolio, and collaborate with departments across SCAG to turn business needs into effective technology solutions. This position will also support the agency’s cloud ERP implementation, implement AI tools and agents, oversee integrations between enterprise systems, and help the agency strengthen governance practices. If you bring strong technical judgment, experience leading application teams, and a collaborative approach to solving complex challenges, this may be the position for you!

The Enterprise Applications & Solutions department manages SCAG’s enterprise application and solutions portfolio, supporting multiple agency initiatives. The department configures, develops, manages, tests, supports, maintains, integrates, and consults on solutions that include finance, artificial intelligence, digital workplace, public communications, regional metropolitan planning systems, and public-facing information-sharing systems. SCAG is transitioning financial and HRIS functions to Workday, while other platforms are retained, integrated, or retired based on agency need. Major platforms include Microsoft Great Plains (GP), Copilot and Copilot Studio, Power BI, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales/CRM, Finance Management Systems (FMS), ESRI ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online, Power Platform, Azure DevOps, and ServiceNow.

In this role you can expect to

• Direct and oversee the department’s people, technology, services, and strategic partnerships to deliver effective enterprise solutions, including assigning and reviewing work, coaching staff, managing performance, and setting expectations for service delivery.
• Establish and maintain a multiyear enterprise applications roadmap including modernization sequencing, application rationalization, lifecycle status, technical debt, and retirement of legacy or redundant systems.
• Provide technical leadership and sound judgement, helping resolve complex issues, reviewing solution designs and architectural decisions, providing technical oversight for major initiatives, and reviewing consultant work.
• Oversee platform integrations and the staff or consultants responsible for developing, administering, and maintaining connections between enterprise systems.
• Provide management oversight for the cloud ERP implementation, including vendor deliverables, statements of work, and staffing needs.
• Collaborate with departments and leadership to evaluate requests, prioritize projects, and translate business needs into actionable projects.
• Develop and administer the department budget and forecasts, oversee vendor contracts, and monitor vendor performance.
• Ensure application services and projects align with SCAG policies and applicable requirements for information security, data governance, records, and responsible AI use.
• Participate in agency committees and task forces.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
  

What you'll bring to this role

A typical way to obtain the required qualifications would be with 7 years of experience in information technology, 4 years of management or direct supervisory experience, and a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field. Any combination of training, education, and experience that would provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities may also be considered.

We’ll be a great match if you also have:

• Experience effectively leading technical teams and fostering accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Experience managing systems integrators, SaaS providers, managed service providers, or other strategic technology vendors.
• Technical and management experience with cloud-based platforms and enterprise integrations, including solution design, implementation, operations, and vendor oversight.
• Experience with application portfolio management, lifecycle planning, technical-debt reduction, and legacy-system retirement.
• Ability to quickly learn and apply emerging technologies, including AI, identify and prioritize high-value use cases, guide implementation, and drive responsible innovation and modernization.
• Demonstrated ability to set clear goals, communicate expectations, and ensure successful completion of projects and deliverables.
• Experience implementing or operating a cloud SaaS ERP, business intelligence and reporting tools, and enterprise application integrations.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical information clearly and effectively for staff and stakeholders at all levels.
• The ability to build trusting and collaborative working relationships and gain consensus among stakeholders with diverse perspectives.
• Experience applying information security, data governance, records, or responsible AI policies to application services.
• Ability to identify and proactively respond to issues to resolve challenges, and support effective decision-making.
  Commitment to innovation, operational excellence, and customer-focused service delivery.