AVP, Application Development

USAA

AVP, Application Development at USAA leading HRIS technology strategies and managing teams for application development. Responsible for ensuring the integrity and integration of HR technology frameworks in a collaborative environment.

Posted 6/27/2026full-timeSan Antonio • Arizona, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Texas • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $224,250 - $403,650 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

SDLC

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Plans short- and long-range HR tech roadmaps
Drives the evaluation, implementation, and integration of new technologies (including AI tools) to support the employee lifecycle
Manages and develops a team of HRIS analysts, developers, and system administrators
Owns the integration architecture between core HR systems and edge platforms (e.g., ATS, payroll, benefits, and learning management)
Ensures data integrity, system security, compliance (like SOX controls), and privacy standards
Leads relationships with third-party software vendors, handles contract renewals, and manages the HR tech budget
Establishes KPIs to monitor system performance, ticket resolution, and user adoption
Responsible for ensuring the assigned application group develops processes and tools that contribute to the company business objectives
Ensures that all application processes developed internally or by external service providers are conducted in line with corporate social responsibility, environmental and technical policies and applicable standards and legislation
Implements and manage application life cycle management status reporting, metrics and benchmarks
Provides executive thought leadership on developing and enhancing methodologies and practices for the application life cycle management in line with best practice and practical experience of continuous improvement
Collaborates with other leaders and/or stakeholders and develops an application development strategy that aligns with business strategy, adds value and is within budget constraints
Serves as financial steward for the organization and manages relationships with major vendors and service providers to ensure they cost-effectively meet the needs of the organization
Oversees the assessment of the technical and business fitness of the application portfolio and associated costs and risks
In partnership with CTO, Infrastructure and IT Security, ensures that the organization's applications are effectively secured and that risks are mitigated and comply with legal and corporate privacy and confidentiality rules
Designs a visionary road map for innovative solutions at Enterprise level and ensures integration with overall IT and enterprise strategic plans
Develops Annual Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) for department, used to measure team performance
Responsible for team's adherence to SDLC SDLC and applicable controls
Responsible for understanding the risk posture for the activities that are conducted on their team (development and maintenance of business applications)
Implements the department talent strategy (labor mix, location, team size, etc.)
Understands, owns and manages the Business and IT risk & controls requirements including adherence to and timely remediation of controls-related issues
Manages the sourcing and vendor strategy across your service line and aligns with wider USAA strategic technology providers
Partners with our CTO teams to help define enterprise architecture and standards
Partners with business stakeholders to understand their business objectives and develop a technology strategy to support those goals by translating customers' needs into USAA Technology services in the broader service architecture
Provides visibility and transparency into progress, risks and issues in regular stakeholder updates
Mentors junior staff members and provides a platform for continuous learning
Provides oversight to the engagement with the business DPO and ensures deliverables adhere to Agile practices/methodologies
Ensure risks associated with business activities are effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, or related field; OR 4 years of relevant education and/or experience
10 years of progressive related experience managing all phases of application development, managing major initiatives and delivering results within a complex matrix environment
6 years of people leadership experience in building, managing and/or developing high-performing teams
Demonstrated ability to communicate technical information to a non-technical audience
Experience collaborating with key resources and stakeholders, influencing decisions and managing work to achieve strategic goals
Executive-level business acumen in the areas of business operations, industry practices and emerging trends
Broad technical knowledge of web-based application architecture, system architecture, application integration and object-oriented languages
Extensive experience in all stages of the software development life cycle: requirements gathering, design, development, testing, and implementation
Demonstrated experience in vendor contract management and management of distributed development teams and resources
Demonstrated financial acumen involving budgets, forecasting, and executing on the budgets for applicable technology support function
Understanding of relevant industry frameworks, i.e.COBIT, ITIL, SAFe, etc.
Understanding of Legislative and Regulatory Compliance Requirements.
Experience overseeing the technology life cycle from requirements analysis, feasibility estimates, design, code, documentation, testing, implementation, and support.
Technical knowledge and understanding of technical domains that reside within Infrastructure Services, Security, Data or Application Development.
Experience conducting cost benefit analyses and leveraging results to drive technology support solutions.
Demonstrated thought leadership in embedding intuitive story telling of technology support functions including concise presentation of complex technical details.
Experience and ability to drive a culture of quality and personal accountability through technology support teams.

Benefits

Comp & perks

comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans
401(k)
pension
life insurance
parental benefits
adoption assistance
paid time off program with paid holidays plus 16 paid volunteer hours
various wellness programs
career path planning and continuing education

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

application developmentsoftware development life cycleweb-based application architectureapplication integrationobject-oriented programmingrequirements gatheringdesigntestingimplementationvendor contract management

Soft Skills

people leadershipcommunicationcollaborationinfluencing decisionsbusiness acumenfinancial acumenthought leadershipmentoringcontinuous learningquality accountability