Senior Director, Technology Operations

Description

The Senior Director of Technology Operations is responsible for establishing and leading the operational practices, shared technology capabilities, and modernization initiatives supporting Tyler Technologies' State & Federal technology organization. This position oversees production reliability, incident and service management, engineering tools, quality assurance, AI enablement, and application modernization across a broad portfolio of government services.

Reporting to the Senior Vice President of State & Federal Technology, the Sr. Director will establish a consistent technology operating model that improves service quality, reduces technical debt, and accelerates Tyler's transition to modern, scalable cloud-based solutions. The role will lead the development and adoption of AI-enabled operational capabilities, including automated monitoring, incident triage, testing, and remediation workflows, with appropriate human oversight.

The Senior Director will also provide leadership for shared capabilities, including the Quality Assurance Center of Excellence, Forward Deployed Engineers, Engagement Builder, and CMS Center of Excellence. Working closely with Technology Delivery, Account Management, Client Experience, and Infrastructure & Hosting leadership, this position is accountable for operational reliability, modernization progress, and measurable improvements in efficiency, client satisfaction, and financial performance.

Responsibilities

Technology Operations Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and execute a comprehensive technology operations strategy aligned with State & Federal priorities, client commitments, and enterprise technology standards.
• Establish a consistent operating model across State Enterprise technology teams, including service management, incident response, monitoring, engineering tools, and operational governance.
• Lead Senior Directors, Directors, and managers responsible for technology operations and shared capabilities, establishing clear accountability and performance expectations.
• Promote consistent operating practices, continuous improvement, and technical workforce development across geographically distributed teams.
• Coordinate with Tyler's corporate organizations, Infrastructure & Hosting, and Security leadership to align operational standards, technology investments, and compliance requirements.

Operational Excellence & Service Reliability

• Oversee production monitoring, incident and problem management, and Tier 2/3 technical support for assigned applications and services.
• Establish consistent ITIL-based service management practices, engineering tools, operational standards, and escalation processes.
• Lead the development and adoption of AI-enabled operational capabilities for incident triage, observability, automated testing, and remediation recommendations.
• Establish measurable service performance indicators, including system availability, incident resolution, service-level attainment, and recurring operational issues.
• Partner with Client Experience, Account Management, and Technology Delivery to coordinate major incident response, client communication, and operational readiness for new or modified services.

Application Modernization & Cloud Transformation

• Lead the modernization strategy for State Enterprise applications and services, including legacy application retirement, platform adoption, and cloud migration.
• Establish a coordinated application portfolio roadmap that prioritizes modernization based on client value, technical risk, operational cost, and business objectives.
• Partner with Infrastructure & Hosting to execute application migrations from Tyler data centers to AWS in support of the division's 2029 cloud transition objectives.
• Coordinate with Technology Delivery to align modernization schedules, engineering capacity, and release activities with existing client commitments.
• Identify opportunities to consolidate duplicate services, reduce technical debt, and leverage reusable technology capabilities across State & Federal markets.

Shared Technology Capabilities & AI Enablement

• Provide leadership and strategic direction for the Quality Assurance Center of Excellence, Forward Deployed Engineers, Engagement Builder, and CMS Center of Excellence.
• Establish scalable shared services that improve quality, accelerate development, and support consistent delivery across State & Federal teams.
• Lead the adoption of AI-enabled tools and automation to improve operational efficiency, testing effectiveness, incident response, and technology resource utilization.
• Partner with Product, Sales, and Technology Delivery leadership to align shared capabilities with market needs, implementation requirements, and growth opportunities.
• Establish clear prioritization, resource allocation, and performance expectations for shared technology teams supporting multiple business units.

Business Planning & Financial Performance

• Develop and manage technology operations budgets, including shared tools, platforms, AI investments, and operational resources.
• Identify and implement opportunities to reduce the cost of operating legacy applications through automation, service consolidation, and modernization.
• Establish reporting and performance measures for service reliability, modernization progress, operational efficiency, and shared capability utilization.
• Partner with Finance and technology leadership to evaluate investment priorities, resource requirements, and measurable returns from operational improvements.
• Ensure operational practices and technology investments support long-term scalability, client retention, and improved profitability.

Leadership Expectations

The Sr. Director of Technology Operations is expected to:

• Foster a culture of reliability, accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
• Lead technology transformation while maintaining service stability and protecting client commitments.
• Promote responsible AI adoption and automation that deliver measurable improvements in quality and efficiency.
• Exercise sound judgment during critical incidents, balancing client impact, operational risk, and business priorities.
• Build effective partnerships across Technology Delivery, Account Management, Client Experience, and Infrastructure & Hosting.
• Communicate complex operational issues and strategic priorities clearly to executive leadership, government clients, and internal stakeholders.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in technology operations, software engineering, site reliability, or related disciplines.
• 7+ years of technology leadership experience, including managing leaders across multiple teams, locations, or business units.
• Demonstrated experience managing large portfolios of production applications, incident response, and service management operations.
• Strong understanding of ITIL-based practices, cloud technologies, application modernization, and enterprise security requirements.
• Experience implementing automation, AI-enabled operations, and standardized technology tools and practices.
• Proven financial management, strategic planning, executive communication, and organizational leadership capabilities.
• ITIL 4 Foundation certification, or ability to obtain within six months.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience operating mission-critical government technology services.
• Experience leading large-scale legacy modernization and cloud migration initiatives.
• Familiarity with AWS, ITSM and observability platforms, automated testing, and CI/CD practices.
• Experience managing shared technology capabilities, including QA, platform engineering, AI enablement, or Centers of Excellence.
• AWS certification

Supervisory Responsibility

• Provides leadership and oversight for Technology Operations and shared capability teams, including service operations, engineering enablement, application modernization, Quality Assurance, Forward Deployed Engineers, Engagement Builder, and the CMS Center of Excellence.
• Responsible for organizational performance, leadership development, resource allocation, workforce planning, and operational accountability across assigned functions.
• Specific reporting relationships and organizational scope will be established through the approved State & Federal Technology structure.

Measures of Success

• Operational Reliability: Improved system availability, incident response, service-level performance, and production stability.
• Modernization Progress: Achievement of application modernization, retirement, and cloud migration milestones.
• Operational Efficiency: Reduced cost of service operations through automation, standardization, and improved resource utilization.
• AI-Enabled Operations: Measurable improvements in incident resolution, testing efficiency, and operational productivity.
• Quality Assurance: Improved test automation, defect prevention, and release quality.
• Shared Capability Effectiveness: Increased adoption, utilization, and business value of shared technology services.
• Financial Performance: Reduced operating costs, disciplined investment management, and measurable returns from technology improvements.
• Specific annual targets will be established in coordination with the Senior Vice President of State & Federal Technology.

Other Requirements

• Ability to travel to Tyler offices and client locations as business needs require.
• Ability to lead geographically distributed teams and support critical operational incidents.
• Ability to maintain appropriate security and compliance standards for government technology environments.
• Commitment to Tyler Technologies' standards of professional conduct, integrity, security, and operational excellence.