Manager Application Development, Policy Administration

Manager Application Development, Policy Administration

Des Moines, Iowa, United States

At American Equity we offer leading annuity products that help empower our clients to fulfill their needs and wants in retirement. Our success comes from hiring high-energy individuals who embody the beliefs that drive our unique culture. We currently fund over half a million retirements nationwide, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, for over thirty years with satellite offices in Charlotte, NC and New York, NY.

General Purpose Of The Job:

The Manager, Application Development – Policy Administration is responsible for leading the delivery, stability, and evolution of a mission-critical COBOL-based policy administration platform that supports core business operations. This role provides people leadership to a team of application developers, ensures reliable and secure application performance, and partners closely with business and technology stakeholders to deliver high-quality solutions in a regulated insurance environment.

The position is accountable for production stability, regulatory compliance, delivery outcomes, and the ongoing modernization of the platform while maintaining business continuity.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities:

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of COBOL application developers, fostering a culture of accountability, quality, and continuous improvement
• Oversee the design, development, testing, and deployment of enhancements to the policy administration platform and related systems
• Own production support for the platform, including incident management, root cause analysis, and preventive remediation
• Ensure application stability, availability, performance, and security in alignment with business and regulatory requirements
• Collaborate with business partners to translate functional, regulatory, and operational requirements into technical solutions
• Manage project timelines, scope, risks, dependencies, and delivery commitments
• Guide enhancement of delivery, defect remediation, and technical debt reduction
• Enforce coding standards, documentation practices, change control, and version management
• Partner with architecture and enterprise technology teams on modernization, integration, and platform evolution initiatives
• Ensure compliance with internal controls, audit requirements, and regulatory standards
• Manage external vendors and consultants
• Track, analyze, and report on delivery and operational metrics such as throughput, quality, defects, and production incidents
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

Direct Reports: Approximately six (6) to ten (10) Application Developers, including a mix of employees and consultants. Supervisory responsibilities include performance management, career development, hiring and onboarding, workforce planning, and succession planning.

Education And/Or Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Six (6) or more years of progressively responsible technology experience, including demonstrated technical or people leadership
• Experience supporting and enhancing mission‑critical, legacy application platforms
• Experience modernizing policy administration or core systems while maintaining business continuity
• Experience in insurance, financial services, or other regulated environments preferred

Certificates, Licenses, Professional Designations:

None required for this position.

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities:

Leadership & Execution:

• Proven ability to build, mentor, and lead high‑performing technical teams
• Strong execution and delivery management capabilities in complex environments
• Effective risk assessment, escalation judgment, and decision‑making skills
• Experience with a hybrid staffing model of employees, offshore and onshore staff

Technical & Delivery:

• Solid understanding of the software development lifecycle, QA practices, and release management
• Ability to architect solutions on a multi-tenant platform
• Knowledge of COBOL application development in an enterprise environment
• Working knowledge of modern delivery practices (Agile, hybrid, or regulated SDLC models)

Business & Communication:

• Ability to operate effectively in fast‑paced, regulated environments
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to executive and non‑technical audiences
• Strong organizational, planning, and prioritization skills
• Experience with implementation of Annuity products

Technical Skills:

• COBOL
• .NET (working knowledge)
• SQL