Manager - Technology Development, Gas Work Management Applications

NOTE:  This is a hybrid role requiring 3 days in office to one of our offices in:  Allentown, PA or Louisville, KY    #LI-Hybrid    #INDPPL

Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company, part of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies, are regulated utilities that serve more than 1.3 million customers and have consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. LG&E serves 334,000 natural gas and 433,000 electric customers in Louisville and 16 surrounding counties. KU serves 569,000 customers in 77 Kentucky counties and five counties in Virginia. LG&E and KU are major employers and active supporters of the communities they serve. They empower employees, community members and initiatives across their service territory through volunteerism and investments in organizations that support education, sustainability and wellbeing.

PPL is seeking a seasoned Manager- Tech Development, Gas Applications to lead the technology portfolio that supports gas work management, field execution, work management, mobility, safety, inspection, compliance, and related operational capabilities. 

The ideal candidate brings a strong foundation in software engineering and application development together with proven people leadership in complex, operationally intensive environments. This leader will oversee internal teams, contractors, strategic partners, and offshore development resources while working closely with gas business leaders, the Field Enterprise Architect, and enterprise technology functions to deliver stable operations, improve service quality, reduce technical debt, and advance the application roadmap.

This role also carries accountability for helping to streamline the application portfolio, drive technology simplification, reduce manual work across the business, and deliver annual O&M savings across supported business lines through technology-enabled efficiency, improved process quality, and greater operational accuracy. This is a hands-on leadership role requiring technical credibility, sound judgment, disciplined execution, and the ability to lead through both direct authority and cross-functional influence.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the Gas Work Management Applications portfolio, including strategy, delivery, support, modernization, lifecycle planning, and day-to-day operational health.
• Oversee the design, development, enhancement, integration, testing, deployment, and support of business-critical gas work management applications across legacy and modern platforms.
• Establish and drive application roadmaps that improve reliability, maintainability, scalability, supportability, and business alignment.
• Ensure production stability and operational resilience through strong run/support practices, incident management discipline, root cause analysis, and problem resolution.
• Partner with business leaders to translate operational priorities, regulatory requirements, and field needs into actionable technology plans and delivery outcomes.
• Lead modernization efforts, including technical debt reduction, platform rationalization, interface improvement, and adoption of sound engineering practices.
• Partner closely with the Field Enterprise Architect to evaluate the Gas Work Management Applications landscape, identify consolidation and rationalization opportunities, and drive a more simplified, supportable, and scalable technology portfolio.
• Identify and lead opportunities to simplify technology, reduce duplicative capabilities, retire or rationalize legacy solutions where appropriate, and improve alignment to enterprise standards.
• Drive the use of technology to reduce manual work across business processes, improve workflow efficiency, and increase the quality, consistency, and accuracy of operational outcomes.
• Be accountable for identifying, shaping, and delivering annual O&M savings opportunities & AI across supported business lines through automation, simplification, process improvement, and better use of application capabilities.
• Build business cases and roadmap recommendations that connect application modernization and portfolio decisions to measurable outcomes such as productivity, service quality, control improvement, and cost efficiency.
• Manage internal team members, contractors, strategic partners, and offshore developers to ensure high-quality execution, productivity, accountability, and knowledge continuity.
• Drive delivery governance, release planning, prioritization, and dependency management across multiple applications and stakeholder groups.
• Ensure application solutions align with enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, infrastructure, data, integration, and compliance requirements.
• Oversee vendor and partner performance, including scope management, service quality, issue escalation, contractual accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Manage resource planning, capacity planning, budget inputs, and demand balancing across project, enhancement, and support work.
• Promote disciplined software lifecycle management, including requirements clarity, quality assurance, change management, documentation, and support readiness.
• Build strong operating rhythms for portfolio reviews, risk management, stakeholder communication, and executive reporting.
• Support a culture of safety, operational rigor, continuous improvement, and customer-focused delivery within the technology organization.

Stakeholder Management:

This role requires strong partnership across both business and technology functions. The leader will serve as a primary technology partner to gas operations stakeholders and must be effective in aligning priorities, resolving issues, and translating business needs into executable technology plans. This role also requires close collaboration with architecture leadership to ensure portfolio decisions support standardization, simplification, automation, and cost-effective operations across the gas business landscape.

Key stakeholder expectations include:

• Partner closely with Gas Operations, Field Operations, Work Management, Safety, and other operational leaders to understand business priorities, operational risks, service pain points, and regulatory requirements.
• Work across Enterprise Architecture, Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Data and Analytics, and Integration teams to ensure solutions are secure, supportable, and aligned with enterprise standards.
• Partner with the Field Enterprise Architect to align portfolio decisions with target-state architecture, simplify the application environment, reduce fragmentation, and ensure modernization choices improve long-term supportability, efficiency, and business value.
• Coordinate with the PMO, delivery leaders, and adjacent application teams to manage dependencies, release timing, issue resolution, and roadmap sequencing.
• Collaborate with Finance, Procurement, and vendor management partners on budget planning, contract oversight, sourcing decisions, and third-party performance.
• Provide clear communication to senior leaders on delivery status, risks, support health, resource constraints, decision points, and value realization.
• Lead prioritization and escalation management across competing demands while maintaining credibility with both operational and technology stakeholders.
• Influence decisions through strong business acumen, technical judgment, and structured communication rather than relying solely on positional authority.
• Build trusted relationships with strategic vendors and partners to improve delivery quality, responsiveness, and long-term value.

Team Leadership:

This role is expected to build and lead a high-performing application engineering organization supporting critical gas business capabilities. The successful candidate will combine technical leadership with strong people leadership and team-building capability.

Key team leadership expectations include:

• Build, lead, and develop a team of employees, contractors, and offshore developers supporting the Gas Work Management Applications portfolio.
• Set clear expectations for performance, accountability, engineering quality, support responsiveness, and collaboration.
• Coach and develop talent across technical, delivery, and leadership dimensions, including succession planning for critical roles.
• Foster an engaged, resilient, and execution-oriented team culture grounded in trust, ownership, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Lead managers or senior individual contributors where appropriate, providing direction while empowering sound decision-making.
• Strengthen team capability in modern engineering practices, application support disciplines, release management, and cross-functional delivery.
• Ensure appropriate operating model design across onshore and offshore teams, including role clarity, handoffs, coverage, productivity, and knowledge transfer.
• Address performance issues directly and constructively while recognizing strong execution and leadership behaviors.
• Create an environment where teams can balance operational support demands with roadmap delivery and modernization priorities.
• Promote collaboration across application, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data, and business teams to improve overall outcomes.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree
• 10+ years of related work experience including 3 years of leadership experience.
• Proven experience leading the delivery, enhancement, integration, and support of complex enterprise applications.
• Strong technical foundation in software engineering, application architecture, systems integration, and production support.
• Experience leading teams across a blended operating model that includes employees, contractors, vendors, and offshore development resources.
• Demonstrated success managing delivery in complex, regulated, operationally critical environments.
• Experience establishing roadmaps, prioritization models, governance disciplines, and execution cadences for an application portfolio.
• Strong vendor and partner management experience, including service accountability, performance management, and escalation handling.
• Experience balancing project delivery, application support, modernization, portfolio simplification, and technical debt reduction.
• Experience identifying technology-enabled process improvements, automation opportunities, and cost optimization initiatives.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to engage senior business and technology leaders.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through ambiguity, manage competing priorities, and make sound decisions in high-accountability environments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Typically 8–12+ years of progressive experience in application development, software engineering, enterprise application leadership, or a related technology domain.
• 3–5+ years of people leadership experience managing engineering, application development, or application support teams.
• Experience supporting utility, industrial, field operations, work management, or safety-related application environments.
• Experience in regulated industries with strong operational, compliance, and reliability requirements.
• Familiarity with application portfolios that support field execution, asset-intensive operations, inspections, work planning, mobility, or operational reporting.
• Experience leading modernization or rationalization initiatives across legacy and contemporary technology platforms.
• Experience working in close partnership with enterprise architecture and business stakeholders to simplify application portfolios and improve operational outcomes.

Skills and Competencies:

• Application development and software engineering leadership
• Enterprise application lifecycle management
• Production support and operational stability management
• Portfolio planning and roadmap development
• Technical debt reduction and modernization planning
• Application portfolio rationalization and technology simplification
• Process automation and manual work reduction
• Business case development and value realization
• Cost optimization and O&M savings delivery
• Vendor, partner, and offshore delivery management
• Cross-functional stakeholder engagement and influence
• Partnership with enterprise architecture and target-state alignment
• Delivery governance and execution discipline
• Risk identification, mitigation, and escalation management
• Strong problem-solving and structured decision-making
• Team building, coaching, and performance leadership
• Communication and executive presence
• Financial, capacity, and resource planning
• Ability to operate effectively under pressure in business-critical environments.

Success Metrics:

Within the first 12–18 months, success in this role should be demonstrated through measurable progress in the following areas:

• Improved application stability across the Gas Work Management Applications portfolio, including reduction in priority incidents and repeat production issues.
• Improved delivery predictability, including better adherence to committed timelines, release quality, and stakeholder expectations.
• Clear, approved application roadmap for the portfolio, including modernization priorities, lifecycle risks, technical debt reduction plans, and portfolio simplification opportunities.
• Measurable reduction in backlog aging, unresolved defects, or high-risk technical debt in priority systems.
• Improved business stakeholder satisfaction with technology responsiveness, partnership quality, and delivery outcomes.
• Stronger vendor and offshore team performance, including service quality, throughput, accountability, and issue resolution.
• Improved support model effectiveness, including faster incident triage, better root cause resolution, and better transition from project to run support.
• Strengthened team engagement, retention, capability development, and leadership bench within the application organization.
• Demonstrable progress in partnership with the Field Enterprise Architect to streamline the application portfolio, reduce unnecessary complexity, and improve long-term supportability and maintainability.
• Measurable reduction in manual work across key business processes through better use of technology, automation, workflow improvement, and process simplification.
• Delivery of annual O&M savings across supported business lines through technology-enabled efficiency gains, simplification, rationalization, and operational improvement.
• Improved operational quality and accuracy, including reduced rework, better process consistency, stronger data quality, and more reliable execution of business-critical activities.
• Better risk visibility and management across the portfolio, including clearer escalation paths, dependency management, and compliance alignment