Director, IT Engineering

Colonial Group; Lenexa (KS); On-site; USD 200,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Colonial Group in Lenexa, KS seeks a Director, IT Engineering to lead enterprise software, data, integrations, and Dynamics 365 initiatives, building scalable, secure solutions and disciplined engineering practices.

You will own roadmaps, manage teams, partners, and vendors, and deliver measurable business outcomes through secure delivery and lifecycle management.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of senior technology leadership in complex, distributed environments.
• Proven ability to lead software, data, and enterprise application delivery.
• Strong experience governing Dynamics 365 solutions, including security, data, and integrations.

Responsibilities

• Lead enterprise engineering for software, data, integration, and Dynamics 365 capabilities.
• Publish and maintain 18–24 month roadmaps; manage priorities, capacity and risks.
• Ensure ownership, architecture, security, release management, and lifecycle ownership.
• Oversee data quality, security, and data governance; drive remediation plans.
• Oversee API inventory, integration health, and retirement of redundant interfaces.
• Drive engineering quality metrics and production readiness before release.
• Develop leadership bench and succession plans.

Skills

Executive leadership

Software engineering leadership

Data engineering

API & integration engineering

Microsoft Dynamics 365

Power Platform

Cloud & hybrid architectures

Security & governance

Executive communication

Mentoring / talent development

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in CS/SE/IS

Tools

Microsoft Dynamics 365

Power Platform

Azure / cloud platforms

Job description

The Director, IT Engineering provides enterprise leadership for the software, data, integration, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 capabilities that enable PCG’s business operations. The role is accountable for designing, building, integrating, modernizing, and sustaining secure, scalable, and reliable solutions. This leader establishes disciplined engineering practices, clear ownership, and outcome-based roadmaps that accelerate business value while improving quality, maintainability and cost effectiveness.

Leadership Mandate

Build an integrated enterprise engineering capability with persistent ownership of custom software, business applications, enterprise data pipelines and products, APIs and integrations, and the Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform. Set direction, establish operating expectations, and ensure internal teams and partners are accountable for measurable business outcomes, technical quality, secure delivery, operational readiness, and sustainable lifecycle management.

Strategic Outcomes

• Faster delivery of business capabilities through modern software engineering, reusable components, automation, and clear alignment to enterprise priorities.
• Clear ownership and outcome-based roadmaps for custom software, Microsoft Dynamics 365, enterprise data products, APIs, and integrations.
• Reliable, secure, and maintainable applications supported by consistent architecture, development, testing, release, monitoring, and support practices.
• Trusted, governed, and reusable enterprise data that enables reporting, analytics, automation, AI, and better operational decisions.
• A simplified integration environment that reduces point-to-point interfaces, improves data flow, and connects Dynamics 365 with core enterprise and field systems.
• A high-performing engineering organization with strong technical leadership, talent development, financial discipline, and accountability for business outcomes.

Key Accountabilities

• Engineering Strategy & Operating Model: Publish and maintain a rolling 18–24-month roadmap for software, data, integration, and Dynamics 365 capabilities; review priorities, capacity, dependencies, risks, and expected business outcomes with technology and business leaders at least quarterly.
• Software Engineering: Ensure 100% of actively developed applications have an accountable owner, documented architecture, product backlog, support model, security classification, lifecycle status, and measurable service objectives. Establish automated build, test, security, and deployment controls for all material production releases.
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Engineering: Own the platform roadmap, solution architecture, configuration, extensions, Power Platform components, security roles, integrations, data, release calendar, and partner delivery. Review customizations quarterly and require documented business justification, ownership, testing, and lifecycle plans for all approved extensions.
• Data Engineering: Assign accountable owners and service measures to all critical data products and pipelines. Monitor data quality, freshness, availability, lineage, security, and failed processing daily; maintain remediation plans for measures below target.
• Integration & API Engineering: Maintain a current inventory of production APIs, interfaces, events, owners, dependencies, service levels, and lifecycle status. Review integration health monthly and deliver an annual plan to retire redundant or unsupported point-to-point interfaces.
• Engineering Quality & Operations: Set and report monthly measures for delivery lead time, deployment frequency, failed changes, production defects, availability, incident recovery, automated test coverage, vulnerabilities, and recurring incidents. Require documented production-readiness approval before release.
• Architecture, Security & Governance Partnership: Ensure 100% of material solutions complete required architecture, security, data governance, resiliency, and operational reviews before production approval; track exceptions to an accountable owner and target resolution date.
• Talent & Culture: Maintain workforce and succession plans for critical roles, complete quarterly talent reviews, establish annual development objectives for all team members, and reduce single-person dependencies through documented cross-training and coverage plans.

Leadership Expectations

• Translate business priorities and operational needs into clear software, Dynamics 365, data, and integration strategies, roadmaps, investment decisions, and executable plans.
• Create clarity around solution ownership, engineering decision rights, service boundaries, data stewardship, integration responsibilities, technical standards, escalation paths, and definitions of done.
• Balance delivery speed with security, reliability, maintainability, user experience, cost, and long-term enterprise architecture.
• Engage business stakeholders early, frame operational problems before selecting solutions, and favor standard Dynamics 365 capabilities where they meet business needs before introducing customization.
• Communicate complex engineering topics in plain business language and provide transparent visibility into delivery, capacity, risk, quality, cost, technical debt, and realized value.
• Develop a leadership bench and career pathways that strengthen critical software, data, integration, and Dynamics 365 capabilities and reduce key-person dependency.

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of senior technology leadership experience, including a proven track record of building and leading multidisciplinary engineering organizations within complex, distributed enterprise environments.
• Demonstrated success leading software engineering, data engineering, integration and API engineering, and enterprise business application delivery.
• Significant experience governing and delivering Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions, including configuration, extensions, Power Platform, security, data, integrations, release management, and implementation partners.
• Experience establishing durable solution ownership, outcome-based roadmaps, engineering standards, governance, budgets, capacity models, and measurable performance outcomes.
• Strong knowledge of modern software delivery, cloud and hybrid architectures, automated testing and deployment, APIs, event-driven integration, data platforms, observability, secure development, and automation.
• Experience modernizing legacy applications, data pipelines, and integrations while managing technical debt and minimizing business disruption.
• Strong executive communication and business partnership skills, including the ability to translate technical choices, risk, capacity, cost, and debt into business impact and investment decisions.
• Experience leading internal teams, contractors, managed services, and strategic vendors while developing leaders and technical talent.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in computer science, software engineering, information systems, data engineering, business, or a related field. Relevant Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform, cloud, data, integration, or leadership certifications are preferred.