Senior Manager IT Engineering Applications - Java Full-Stack Development, Azure Cloud, Databricks

Job Summary:

This role will lead the engineering ownership of the NPS (National Pricing System) application, which is currently supported by vendor teams. A key focus will be to transition knowledge in-house, build a strong internal engineering team, and establish long-term sustainable capabilities within Kaiser Permanente. The individual will be responsible for balancing vendor oversight with internal capability development, while ensuring stable production operations and continuous delivery of enhancements. The Sr Manager will work closely with business stakeholders across Pricing and Underwriting to support ongoing delivery needs, prioritize enhancements, and maintain strong business alignment. This role requires a leader who is equally strong in people development, vendor management, technical depth, and delivery execution, rather than purely architecture or resource management.

• Lead and manage the engineering team supporting the NPS Pricing application
• Drive the strategy to build and retain in-house SME knowledge, reducing reliance on vendors over time
• Oversee vendor delivery, performance, and accountability, ensuring alignment with KP expectations
• Partner with business stakeholders to deliver enhancements, prioritize work, and improve system capabilities
• Ensure production stability, including incident management, support processes, and operational excellence
• Provide technical leadership across Java full-stack, microservices architecture, and modern data platforms(Databricks)
• Manage cross-team dependencies, technical risks, and delivery commitments

This role is part of the Pricing technology portfolio supporting the National Pricing System (NPS), a critical platform used for pricing, underwriting, and large group rate calculations across Kaiser Permanente.

The portfolio is undergoing significant modernization and transformation, with a focus on:

• Transitioning from vendor-led delivery to strong internal engineering ownership
• Building scalable, cloud-based and data-driven pricing capabilities
• Improving operational efficiency, system reliability, and business agility

The team operates in a highly collaborative environment, working closely with business, actuarial, and sales partners. This role will be critical in strengthening internal expertise, enabling faster delivery, and ensuring long-term platform sustainability.

This managing level employee is responsible for ensuring the alignment of diverse stakeholders, driving the software development lifecycle, overseeing all testing initiatives and overseeing the translation of business requirements and functional specifications into logical program designs and software. This position also leads a team of software developers.

Essential Responsibilities:

Manages designated units by translating business plans into tactical action items; communicating goals and objectives; ensuring all policies and procedures are followed; overseeing the completion of work assignments; assuming responsibility for decision making; aligning team efforts; building accountability for and measuring progress in achieving results; incorporating resources, costs, and forecasts into unit plans; removing obstacles that impact performance; guiding performance and developing contingency plans accordingly; partnering with key stakeholders and business leaders to ensure products and/or services meet requirements and expectations while aligning with departmental strategies; and influencing units to operate in alignment with business objectives.

Pursues professional growth and provides developmental opportunities for others by soliciting and acting on performance feedback; building collaborative, cross-functional relationships; hiring, training, and developing talent for growth opportunities; delegating tasks and decisions; fostering open dialogue amongst departments; strategically evaluating talent for succession planning; setting performance management guidelines and expectations across units; and working closely with employees to set goals and provide open feedback and coaching to drive performance improvement.

As part of the IT Engineering job family, this position is responsible for leveraging DEVOPS, and both Waterfall and Agile practices, to design, develop, and deliver resilient, secure, multi-channel, high-volume, high-transaction, on/off-premise, cloud-based solutions.

Fosters collaboration between team members, architects, and/or software consultants to ensure functional specifications are converted into flexible, scalable, and maintainable solution designs.

Manages technical team in the translation of business requirements and functional specifications into physical program designs, code modules, stable application systems, and software solutions by leveraging partnerships with Business Analysts and other team members to ensure business needs and functional specifications are understood.

Manages the review and implementation of recommendations for technical solutions that meet design and functional needs.

Ensures the provision of appropriate resources to address systems incident support and troubleshooting.

Provides insight into recommendations for technical solutions that meet design and functional needs.

Manages technical team throughout the release schedule of business and enterprise software solutions to ensure successful deployment.

Manages processes to ensure the proper documentation and review of technical specifications.

Manages technical teams in the identification of specific interfaces, methods, parameters, procedures, and functions to support technical solutions while incorporating architectural designs.

Manages team through all software development lifecycle phases by ensuring that teams understand and adhere to company methodology, policies, standards, and controls.

Manages application portfolio(s) and/or provides resources in support of those portfolio(s) by leveraging partnerships with IT teams (for example, Operations, Infrastructure, Architecture, Quality Assurance, Business Analysts), vendors, and business leaders to ensure adherence of written code to company standards.

Ensures appropriate technical management of vendors (e.g., offshore, application, service).

Manages efforts to ensure new and existing software solutions are developed with insight into industry best practices, strategies, and architectures.

Ensures appropriate guidance and mentoring is provided to other technical resources in the application development process.