Head of Application and Shared Service Support

Overview:

CRC Group is a leading wholesale Insurance Broker of specialty insurance products, serving a broad range of clients across the United States. As a key member of CRC Group, the Head of Apps and Shared Services Support plays a vital role in maintaining the integrity and efficiency of technological operations, which are essential for supporting the company's dynamic business needs. This role is essential for maintaining consistent service and helping CRC Group meet client needs and uphold its strong reputation.

Location (Hybrid):
Charlotte, NC / Dallas, TX, / Richmond, VA

Key Responsibilities:

• Application Support (L2):
  Oversee and maintain the smooth functioning of essential business applications by proactively addressing technical issues and minimizing downtime. Collaborate closely with stakeholders to ensure high availability and reliability, supporting end users with timely resolutions to application-related incidents.
• Middleware & Web Support:
  Oversee the integration and stability of web platforms to ensure seamless connectivity and performance. Address issues swiftly to maintain reliable business operations.
• Batch & Managed File Transfer (MFT):
  Manage and monitor all file transfer activities, guaranteeing secure and timely data exchanges between systems. Troubleshoot and resolve any transfer-related incidents.
• Service Delivery:
  Lead efforts to provide consistently high-quality IT services to stakeholders. Regularly review processes to identify improvement opportunities and maintain service excellence.
• Asset & Configuration Management:
  Responsible for overseeing the end-to-end lifecycle of IT assets and maintaining accurate configuration data to support operational efficiency and compliance. Develop and enforce governance frameworks, ensuring alignment between asset inventories and configuration management databases (CMDBs).
• Incident, Problem, and Change Management:
  Direct the resolution of IT incidents and problems while implementing continuous improvement initiatives. Oversee change management to minimize disruption and enhance stability.
• Release Management:
  Ensure that deployments are controlled, efficient, and coordinated across environments. Maintain precise configuration records to support effective release cycles.
• Certificate & Domain Management:
  Maintain secure and compliant digital certificates and domains, renewing assets as required. Monitor for potential vulnerabilities and ensure regulatory compliance.
• Patch Management Testing:
  Oversee regular testing and deployment of system patches to address security risks and enhance performance. Verify patch effectiveness before full rollout.
• Monitoring Tools Oversight:
  Manage and optimize IT monitoring platforms for early detection of potential issues. Use insights gained to proactively address problems and improve system reliability.

Qualifications & Experience:

Bringing over 15 years of expertise in IT operations and application support, including 10 years in leadership, with advanced degrees and a strong history of managing enterprise-level support functions. Extensive experience collaborating with offshore vendors and product vendors to drive operational efficiency, ensure seamless service delivery, and support the integration of third-party solutions.

Technologies & Tools:

ITSM & Monitoring:
ServiceNow, Dynatrace SaaS, PagerDuty

Cloud & Infrastructure:
Azure Cloud, Azure VMs, Azure Virtual Desktop

Security & Management:
Venafi, certificate and domain management

Productivity & SaaS:
M365, various SaaS vendor products

Automation & Testing:
PagerDuty Runbook,WorkSoft

Frameworks:
SDLC,ITIL V4

Performance Metrics & Goals:

Ensure consistent application and service availability while meeting SLAs and KPIs, and provide the Senior Leadership Team with monthly operational metrics.

Leadership & Collaboration

Effective leadership and collaboration are essential for driving operational success. Building strong partnerships across the Line of Business, Development Teams, Cloud Operations, Service Desk, M365 & Modern Workplace Teams, Architecture & Platform Teams, and End User Services promotes seamless communication and teamwork. These collaborative efforts help ensure consistent application and service availability, support the achievement of SLAs and KPIs, and enable the delivery of monthly operational metrics to senior leadership. Fostering these relationships creates a unified approach to problem-solving and innovation.