Job Summary:

The VP of Application Platforms (Travel Insurance) has a track record of execution and delivery success and will assure that all technical delivery, operational, and business objectives are achieved. This individual reports to the Chief Information Officer and will lead the IT strategy for the Travel Insurance business for Europ Assistance North America (EANA) in alignment Europ Assistance Group (EAG) strategy.  Essential to this position is the ability to develop and maintain highly constructive relationships and effective communication with parent company senior leaders (EAG), fellow constituents, business partners, and our strategic partners to deliver high quality and consistent service and support.

The individual in this role will be the liaison between business leadership and IT and be accountable for the strategy, prioritization, delivery oversight, enhancement, maintenance, and support of the application platforms used to service the Travel Insurance line of business.  The successful candidate will be a team-oriented solution focused individual able to work with key stakeholders on solutions that will promote a healthy blend of innovation and operational enhancements designed to increase application platform market competitiveness while also enriching the existing capabilities to improve service quality.

As a member of the EANA IT senior leadership team, this role will also be responsible for contributing to the sound planning, effective scheduling/resourcing of projects, exercising financial controls, focusing on appropriate technological investments, continuing to improve support/service quality, and solidifying detailed measurements against which to evaluate the performance of all functions within their scope of responsibility.

Specific IT domains of responsibility this role will be accountable for include:

• Travel Platform Support
• Business Systems Analysis

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• Build authentic relationships with business stakeholders and champion the travel insurance technology needs within the IT organization.
• Be the foremost authority to IT on the travel insurance business processes.
• Provide program and project management sponsorship and be the delivery owner for all travel insurance application IT platform initiatives and/or programs ensuring efforts are in alignment with strategic goals and objectives of the company.
• Chair and contribute to the travel insurance application IT platform strategy and roadmaps.
• Collaborate with IT architecture and the travel insurance business to assess and recommend technologies that support their needs.
• Liaise with business leadership on the demand, prioritization, development, and implementation of travel insurance application IT platform enhancements needed to improve feature capabilities, resolve production defects, and maintain product currency.
• Monitor the travel insurance application IT platforms, and ensure they are in alignment with industry best practices ensuring operational excellence, security, compliance, reliability, scalability, performance, and cost optimization is maintained.
• Create, contribute, and maintain a balanced financial budget and forecasting model that accounts for and tracks all build and run related costs for your domain of responsibility.
• Provide 24/7/365 travel insurance application IT platform support.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of technology standards, industry trends, emerging technologies, and software/application development best practices.
• Foster a strong sense of teamwork between IT and other business leaders.
• Manage IT staffing, including recruitment, supervision, scheduling, development, evaluation, and disciplinary action.
• Develop, contribute, implement, and enforce appropriate IT policies and procedures necessary to alignment with departmental and company objectives.
• Establish and maintain regular written and in-person communications with the organization’s executives, department heads, and end users regarding pertinent IT activities.
• Performs other duties as assigned by leadership.

Required / Desired Knowledge, Experiences and Skills:

• Knowledge and skills
  • Exhibit high ethical leadership standards and creation of an environment of respect, consistent with the Company's values.
  • Strong Communication and Consensus-Oriented Decision-Making skill. Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to listen effectively and communicate in a proactive fashion.
  • Proven ability to manage via influence and drive directional decisions, change, and operational excellence.
  • Comfort level interacting, influencing, and lobbying at the C-Level.
  • Strength in managing stakeholder expectations and negotiating mutually effective outcomes
  • A strategic planner with a high level of sound technical skills, analytical ability, good judgment, and strong operational focus.
  • Ability to drive results, adapting tactics or breaking down barriers to achieve optimal, timely results.
  • Ability to effectively prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure rapidly changing environment
  • Sound financial and budget acumen capable of creating forecast models and proposals.
  • Excellent written and presentation ability.
  • Highly self-motivated, self-directed, and attentive to details.

• Technical Skills
  • Project and Program Management (Agile, Hybrid, and Waterfall delivery)
  • Jira and Confluence
  • Java, PHP, and SQL DB
  • API and Micros Services Frameworks
  • Working knowledge of applicable laws and regulations as they relate to IT including GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, and PCI DSS.

• Job experience
  • 10 years of relevant enterprise application development, application architecture, application management experience with increasing levels of responsibility.
  • 8 years of enterprise IT project experience taking initiatives from concept to successful delivery.
  • 6 years of travel insurance industry experience.
  • 5 years of senior IT leadership experience.
  • 3 years of international and multicultural business experience.

Education/Certifications:

• B.S. or B.A. in the field of Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Business, or equivalent in the combination of education and professional experience.

Physical Working Environment:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to stand; walk; sit for long periods of time; use of hands to grasp, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; finger dexterity; talk; hear. The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature of work being performed by people assigned to this classification.  They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of employees so classified.

Travel Requirements

• Travel up to 50%

Reporting and Control

This position reports directly to the EANA Chief Information Officer. This position leads and supports a technical team geographically dispersed across the North American legal entities: Customized Services Administrators (CSA), Inc., and Trip Mate, Inc.