Vail Resorts Careers

Description

Job Summary

The IT Director of Resort Application Development is responsible for leading and managing the IT Team responsible for our core, custom point of sale and ski resort management application that supports our 10 mountain resorts, RPOS (Resort Point of Sale).  The RPOS application includes functionality that supports our pass and lift ticket sales and fulfillment, lift access scanning, ski school, rentals, retail, customer data management, loyalty, web and mobile commerce, EpicMix and much more.  This position is responsible for all functional and technical design, development, quality assurance, integration, deployment, compliance, and operational support for the RPOS application ecosystem.  This role will be responsible for developing, socializing and leading a multi-year application modernization effort to ensure stability and scalability while adding incremental business value aligned with our business objectives.  Candidates must bring deep experience with custom software engineering and enterprise level production support and compliance. The ideal candidate will be a strong and influential leader who can not only lead a team of managers, project managers, business analysts, developers, and consultants, but one who can influence diverse stakeholders throughout the business and at the Executive Level.

Job Responsibilities

• Business Strategy, Innovation, Stakeholder Management
  • Develop an understanding of our business and collaborate closely with our various stakeholders to identify and influence opportunities to drive business value through technology innovation with a focus on the evolution and modernization of the RPOS Application Ecosystem
  • Bring new ideas, methods, and approaches to business partner ideation, business process re-imagination and technology innovation
  • Inspire trust and build strong relationships across locations, functions, business units, and levels across the enterprise

• Technology Strategy, Alignment, Governance
  • Drive the development of a multi-year functional and technical product roadmap for the modernization of the RPOS application
  • Ensure the product roadmap is aligned with our business objectives, stakeholder expectations, and the enterprise architecture across the rest of the application ecosystem
  • Facilitate prioritization and governance discussions in a dynamic and fluid business environment to ensure our resources are appropriately allocated to the top priorities of the company
• Financial Management
  • Develop, socialize, and execute a 5-year IT capital plan for RPOS maintenance, enhancements, and modernization with a focus on delivering business value with defined ROI’s with each capital investments
  • Collaborate with business partners on RPOS related Capital Projects to provide accurate Capital Assessments, Business Cases and ROI’s
  • Develop annual operating budgets and provide accurate monthly forecasting throughout the Fiscal Year
  • Effectively manage all Capital and Expense budgets and forecasts
• Operational Support and Maintenance
  • Oversee all aspects of RPOS operational support and maintenance
  • Develop, maintain and enforce all policies and procedures related to production impacting events
  • Ensure all RPOS releases are well communicated and managed in close coordination with all business stakeholders and business cycles
• Risk and Compliance
  • Work closely with our External Auditors, Internal Audit department, and IT Risk and Compliance team to proactively anticipate and address Business and IT risks and internal and external compliance requirements associated with the RPOS application
  • Ensure all SOX and PCI compliance responsibilities are met and verified through our annual audit processes
  • Provide support, analysis, and recommendations for any Internal Audits related to the RPOS Application
• Business Development
  • Work closely with our Strategic Development and IT M&A teams to continue to mature the IT acquisition and integration approach
  • Participate in planning and budgeting for potential resort acquisitions during Due Diligence as needed
  • Plan and execute the implementation of the RPOS application for new resort acquisitions
• Leadership, Employee Engagement
  • Demonstrate a passion for our culture, mission, values, vision, products and services.
  • Lead by example and inspire others to follow
  • Develop clear and measureable action plans and show continuous improvement in employee engagement as measured in our annual employee engagement surveys
• Performance Management, Employee Development, Process Improvement
  • Set clear business and performance goals and provide timely and relevant feedback for the team to drive a culture of personal development and team accountability for consistent, high quality results
  • Drive continuous improvement and capability maturity throughout the entire software development life cycle and the various team disciplines that include project management, business analysis, user interface design and development, application architecture, application design and development, integration, quality assurance, and solution delivery
  • Ensure all team members are supported in the creation and pursuit of Career Plans and Individual Development Plans
  • Cultivate talent and develop an environment that will attract and retain the best, and serve as a mentor to those in and outside of the RPOS Team
• External Networking, Vendor Management
  • Develop a strong external network of industry leaders, peers, consulting partners and third-party software and services providers
  • Identify, select, and manage consultants and staff augmentation partners leveraged to add required skills and capacity to support the RPOS Roadmap and Project Portfolio
  • Negotiate contracts, master services agreements, statements of work, licensing and support agreements and the procure-to-pay process for engagements with external vendors

Job Requirements

• 10+ years of progressive experience in  commercial and custom software application development and product management
• 5+ years of experience managing a complex portfolio of projects across a diverse set of stakeholders
• 3+ years of experience managing an application with SOX, PCI, and Information Protection responsibilities
• 3+ years of experience presenting and influencing strategic and tactical plans to Executive Level stakeholders in IT and in the Business
• Demonstrated ability to design, develop, and execute an enterprise level, multi-year modernization of a critical application
• 5+ years managing teams of project managers, business analysts and developers
• 5+ years managing enterprise level software development projects with vendor partners
• Well-versed in Software Development Life-Cycle methodologies
• Microsoft Application Development, Integration, and Reporting and Analytics Technology Stack
• Consistent track record of leadership and business innovation through technology solutions.
• Comfortable working across a large, matrixed organization and capable of driving technology alignment with a business strategy.
• Demonstrated leadership in building high-performing teams and leading change.
• Strong business and financial acumen, including direct Capital and Expense budget oversight
• Bachelors Degree in Technology or related field required

Preferred Skills

• Experience in application user interface design and user experience
• Experience designing and developing point of sale applications
• Experience in Travel, Hospitality and/or Resort industries