Director, Systems Development (SRPS DIRECTOR, SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT I)

Introduction

The Maryland State Retirement Agency administers the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (“System”), a defined‑benefit retirement system covering governmental employees within the State of Maryland. The System is composed of twelve (12) separate retirement and pension systems with over 50 different rule sets and serves over 397,000 participants, including 192,000 actively employed members, 165,000 payees, and 40,000 vested members. The Agency is seeking to recruit a Director, Systems Development.

Grade

STD 0024

Location

120 East Baltimore Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Main Purpose of Job

The Director directs and manages the Systems Development unit, including Software Engineering and Development Operations (DevOps). The role requires regular interaction and collaboration with Business Operations Office executives, Information Systems executives, Project Management, Technical Infrastructure, IS Security, Production Operations, Internal Audit, Investments, and other business units to ensure the application platform is sustainably modern, effective, and secure. Continuous planning and evaluation of application creation and delivery options, as well as team and talent structure, support the Agency’s mission.

Critical Responsibilities

• Develop an intelligent enterprise application architecture and platform that supports the Agency’s mission.
• Maintain team readiness—staffed, knowledgeable, and skilled—for new development, maintenance, and operations.
• Oversee multiple Agile development teams, ensuring delivery of quality, efficient, secure, standards‑compliant, sustainable, and well‑documented work products.
• Keep solutions current with platform and tool versions to enhance security and manage technical debt.
• Manage data persistence with efficient, sustainable strategies to ensure availability, security, capacity, and recoverability.

Position Duties

• Direct the activities of the Systems Development Unit.
• Receive, review, evaluate, and determine feasibility of information‑system requests and opportunities.
• Lead or collaborate in the design, development, testing, implementation, and ongoing support of computer information systems.
• Develop, adapt, implement, and manage new and revised policies, procedures, standards, and conventions.
• Recruit, train, and develop staff; acquire supplemental vendor staff to augment agency activities.
• Meet with upper‑level management, vendors, clients, and other state staff to define and resolve information‑system challenges.
• Create technical solution documents for agency applications.
• Work closely with senior executives to determine staffing requirements, develop work plans and targets, monitor progress, approve deliverables, and assure technical standards and policy compliance.
• Conduct Information Systems and Business Systems Planning Processes.
• Develop annual plans coordinated with the Agency Business Plan, contribute to the IT Master Plan, and incorporate state goals and plans.
• Prepare status reports and communicate progress to senior executives.
• Prepare requisitions and RFPs for software, services, and products; manage procurement in accordance with state policies.
• Document and communicate the Enterprise Information Systems Architecture, and implement standards, procedures, and training for consistent application development.
• Maintain personal business and technology skills and attend seminars, training classes, or events to enhance expertise.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in IT/IS/Computer Science or a related field (transcript required).
• At least five (5) years of experience in systems development.

Desired or Preferred Qualifications

• Two or more years of experience supervising and managing application and database developers.
• At least one year of experience in DevOps and related source‑control and automated deployment tools, preferably on a Microsoft platform.
• At least one year of experience in Project Management.
• Knowledge of Security Architecture, including cloud‑native security, DevSecOps, and multi‑cloud environments.
• Hands‑on experience with modern AI coding tools and large language models (e.g., GitHub Copilot) to automate SDLC phases.
• Ability to implement AI coding tools to increase engineering productivity and code quality.
• Experience creating policies and operating procedures that enable efficient, quality, secure, and defect‑free software and solutions.

Special Requirements

Due to the confidential nature of the work, selected candidates must undergo and pass a background and credit check.

Benefits

• Health insurance, dental, and vision plans offered at a low cost.
• Personal Leave: six (6) personnel days annually (prorated based on start date).
• Annual Leave: ten (10) days of accumulated annual leave per year.
• Sick Leave: fifteen (15) days of accumulated sick leave per year.
• Parental Leave: up to sixty (60) days of paid parental leave upon birth or adoption.
• Holidays: at least thirteen (13) state holidays per year.
• Pension: state employees earn credit toward a retirement pension.

Equal Opportunity Statement

As an equal‑opportunity employer, Maryland is committed to recruiting, retaining, and promoting employees who reflect the state's diversity. People with disabilities and bilingual candidates are encouraged to apply. We thank our veterans for their service to our country. TTY users may contact Maryland Relay for assistance.

#J-18808-Ljbffr