Director, Application Support

Overview

The Director of Application Support provides strategic, operational, and administrative leadership for the health system's portfolio of clinical, business, imaging, and enterprise applications. This position is responsible for ensuring that technology solutions effectively support organizational goals, patient care, operational efficiency, regulatory requirements, and workforce productivity.

The Director serves as a key business relationship manager between Information Services and operational leaders throughout the organization. Working closely with clinical, revenue cycle, financial, and operational stakeholders, the Director develops application strategies, assists with prioritizing investments, oversees implementations and optimizations, and ensures the reliable delivery of application services.

The Director is accountable for application lifecycle management, application governance, service delivery performance, vendor management, portfolio planning, resource management, budgeting, and continuous process improvement. The role collaborates closely with physician leadership, nursing leadership, operational executives, and IS teams including cybersecurity, infrastructure, EHR, biomedical, medical informatics, and project management to advance organizational strategic initiatives and digital transformation efforts.

The Director promotes a culture of customer service, accountability, innovation, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.

Working Conditions

· Primarily office and healthcare environments.

· Occasional travel between organizational locations required.

· Availability during non-business hours for critical system events, implementations, and organizational emergencies.

· Hybrid remote work considered.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

· Develop and execute application strategies that align with organizational goals, clinical priorities, and business objectives.

· Partner with operational and clinical leaders to identify opportunities for workflow optimization, automation, standardization, and innovation.

· Active in application governance processes, including intake, prioritization, and oversight of requests and initiatives.

· Contribute to organizational strategic planning, digital transformation initiatives, and technology roadmaps.

· Evaluate emerging technologies, artificial intelligence solutions, and digital health opportunities that improve patient care and operational performance.

Application Portfolio Management

· Provide leadership for enterprise, clinical, imaging, and business applications across the health system.

· Ensure application reliability, availability, performance, and supportability.

· Establish application lifecycle management practices including implementation, optimization, upgrade planning, retirement, and replacement.

· Oversee optimization efforts to maximize organizational value and user satisfaction.

· Ensure appropriate application documentation, configuration management, and change control processes.

Operational Excellence

· Direct daily application support operations and service management activities.

· Direct and manage help desk and customer support for the IS Division.

· Direct and manage the web development team and intranet/internet needs for the organization.

· Assists in development and monitoring of key performance indicators such as service levels, system availability, and customer satisfaction metrics.

· Lead issue escalation processes and ensure timely resolution of critical application incidents.

· Establish and maintain operational standards, policies, procedures, and best practices.

· Promote adoption of ITIL-based service management principles.

· Review and advise operational leaders on contracts for IS software or services to ensure consistency with IS requirements.

Leadership and Staff Development

· Provide leadership, mentoring, coaching, and professional development opportunities for assigned staff.

· Establish clear performance expectations and accountability measures.

· Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, customer service, and continuous improvement.

· Support workforce engagement and succession planning initiatives.

· Advise on and request appropriate staffing structures and workforce planning to meet organizational needs.

Financial and Vendor Management

· Develop and manage departmental operating and capital budgets.

· Monitor resource utilization, productivity, and financial performance.

· Participate in vendor selection, contract negotiations, renewals, and performance management activities.

· Develop business cases and cost-benefit analyses for application-related investments in conjunction with operational departments.

· Identify opportunities to maximize return on technology investments.

· Collaborate with Materials Management Procurement on vendor negotiations.

Compliance, Security, and Risk Management

· Ensure applications comply with applicable healthcare regulations, accreditation requirements, privacy standards, and organizational policies.

· Collaborate with information security, privacy, compliance, and risk management teams to mitigate technology risks.

· Support cybersecurity initiatives including vulnerability remediation, access management, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning.

· Ensure application controls support regulatory and audit requirements.

· Execute identity and access verification for system access through the help desk team.

Project and Change Leadership

· Sponsor and oversee application implementations, upgrades, and optimization initiatives.

· Collaborate with the CIO on project governance, stakeholder engagement, communication, and change management.

· Collaborate with project management resources to ensure successful delivery of strategic initiatives.

· Monitor project outcomes and achievement of expected organizational benefits.

Qualifications

Education

· Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Health Informatics, Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, or related field required.

· Master's degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, Health Informatics, Information Systems, or related discipline preferred.

Experience

· Minimum seven years of progressively responsible experience in information technology, health informatics, digital health, or a related field, including at least three years of formal leadership responsibility for a complex applications, informatics, service delivery, project delivery, or healthcare technology function.

· Experience with clinical systems, imaging systems, revenue cycle technologies, ERP systems, or other major healthcare application platforms preferred.

· Experience leading large-scale implementations, optimizations, and transformation initiatives preferred.

· Experience with budgeting, vendor management, and contract negotiations preferred.

Certifications

Relevant certification such as ITIL, PMP, CPHIMS, Lean Six Sigma, or an applicable enterprise-platform certification is preferred. Equivalent demonstrated experience will be considered.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

· Strong healthcare operational knowledge across clinical, financial, and administrative domains.

· Understanding of healthcare interoperability standards, including HL7, FHIR, APIs, and integration technologies.

· Knowledge of healthcare regulatory requirements, including HIPAA, CMS, DNV/Joint Commission, and other applicable standards.

· Strong business relationship management skills.

· Strategic planning and organizational leadership capabilities.

· Financial management and budgeting expertise.

· Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.

· Strong negotiation and vendor management abilities.

· Experience leading organizational change and digital transformation initiatives.

· Ability to effectively influence executive, physician, clinical, and operational stakeholders.