Benefits:

NCSL offers a competitive benefits package for its employees including 35-hour work week; health, dental, vision insurance; life and long term disability insurance; retirement plan; cafeteria 125 plan; ECO pass; tuition reimbursement and continuing education classes; employee training program; employee assistance program; health advocates program; annual and sick leave; standard and optional holidays; corporate health club discount.

Description:

The Software Applications Director’s role is to manage development and operations of the organization’s system applications and keep them running smoothly.  This includes designing, building, and implementing new applications and Web pages and sites; integrating applications with back end systems; updating applications; and performing and supervising day-to-day development and administration of those systems.  Advanced knowledge and experience in .NET development language is required.  This position reports to the NCSL Director of Information Technology and Online Services.

Responsibilities:

Strategy & Planning

• Participate in development of long-term strategic plan for business applications and Web development to meet organizational objectives.
• Define site and system architectures, standards and guidelines for technical design, based on business goals and input from stakeholders.
• Identify, recommend, and prioritize new system and Web features in conjunction with business leaders and department managers.
• Establish policies and procedures for managing systems and applications (such as publishing Web pages) in conjunction with content creators.
• Perform cost-benefit analyses of proposed implementations, enhancements, and modifications.

Acquisition & Deployment

• Select and implement applicable hardware, software, platforms, publishing tools, and programming languages for the development of Web architecture.

Operational Management

• Supervise and guide application developers and administrators.
• Analyze business requirements and processes in conjunction with relevant stakeholders in development of software applications.
• Create and maintain consistent application architectures across the organization.
• Oversee Web development projects, including intranets and extranets.
• Communicate and co-ordinate architecture and strategy for web and business applications with content creators throughout the enterprise.
• Coordinate the work of programmers, graphical designers and content providers in the development and integration of graphical and multimedia components into system applications and Web applications.
• Work with database administrator to design, develop, and update relational databases as they pertain to Web and other applications.
• Set and enforce compatibility and interoperability standards that ensure site accessibility for all users.
• Track and evaluate new standards, technologies and trends in software architecture, development, design, and delivery.
• Develop, code, install, test, debug, and document Web and other applications using .Net and ASP.Net development toolsets.
• Ensure security of all system applications and related applications.

Position Requirements:

Formal Education & Certification

• Bachelor’s degree in the field of computer science with 5-8 years experience in software applications development and management; Bachelor’s degree in business or other relevant field and 8-10 years experience in software development and management.  Relevant experience may substitute for educational requirements.  Graduate degree may substitute for experience.

Knowledge & Experience

• Extensive experience in gathering and analyzing business requirements in order to meet strategic goals and development efforts.
• Excellent knowledge of Web platforms, technologies, protocols, and publishing tools including ASP.Net.  Experience with the DotNetNuke platform desired.
• Advanced understanding of .Net programming.
• Hands-on experience with Web-database integration and relational database platforms, including MSSQL.
• Working knowledge of Web servers and application servers, including IIS.
• Experience with customer relationship management systems and with business intelligence systems; knowledge of Business Objects systems desired.
• Strong understanding of communications, marketing, and customer service principles.
• Experience with e-commerce, intranet, and extranet development.
• Experience with computer graphic and multimedia design.
• Project management/project lifecycle/project methodology skills required.

Personal Attributes

• Excellent written and oral communication and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated project and staff management skills.
• Ability to conduct research into emerging Web technologies.
• Ability to present ideas effectively to non-technical staff and managers.
• Highly self motivated and directed.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Able to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment.
• Very strong customer service orientation.
• Experience working in a team-oriented, collaborative environment.

Closing Date:  May 16, 2008