Manager, Application Management

Who We Are

Authentic is a unified platform that integrates M&A, brand strategy, creativity and digital innovation to unlock the power of its global Lifestyle and Entertainment portfolio. As the world’s largest sports and entertainment licensing company, Authentic connects strong brands with best-in-class partners to optimize long-term value in the marketplace. Its brands generate more than $32 billion in global annual retail sales and have an expansive retail footprint in more than 150 countries, including 13,000-plus freestanding stores and shop-in-shops and 400,000 points of sale. Authentic transforms brands by delivering powerful storytelling, compelling content, innovative business models and immersive experiences. It creates original marketing strategies to drive the success of its brands across all consumer touchpoints, platforms and emerging media

Why Authentic

You’ll be able to access the resources and scale, while leveraging innovative technology and nimble environment. What we’re saying is, this isn’t your average day job. If you’re hungry to drive ideas into action and own your career, let’s chat. Our team is rapidly innovating to evolve and define the future of our brands. With the help of some of the brightest minds in retail, marketing, licensing, legal and more, we are building the intersection of digital and experiential marketing to help achieve that mission. We reimagine, evolve and transform brands! At Authentic, we foster an inclusive workplace where diversity of thought and expertise drive competitive advantage. Our global teams are built by go-getters who contribute unique perspectives and push the boundaries of creativity and innovation. Headquartered in New York City, Authentic has offices in major metropolitan cities including Los Angeles and Miami, as well as Toronto, Mexico City, London, and Shanghai.

What You’ll Do

The Manager, Application Management will assist in the evolution and management of the enterprise service offerings within the IT Business Systems group, with a particular focus on supporting the Finance department. Reporting to the Director, Business Systems, the Manager will be responsible for defining and managing vendor and application management processes for new business applications, as well as enhancing existing processes for current business applications.

This individual will be part of a team that bridges the gap between Finance, other business teams, vendors, technology partners, and internal IT teams to operate and maintain key technology platforms. The successful candidate must be willing to work across business units, possess a strong understanding of enterprise IT service delivery models, and have expert knowledge of SDLC methodologies.

Core competencies include strategic roadmap definition and execution, release management, vendor management, learning agility, expectation and relationship management, problem-solving, and strong analytical and communication skills.

What you’ll be working on

Application Management

Create, champion and implement vision for formal application management processes including identifying, developing and managing policies, procedures, templates and other documentation

Become subject matter expert and create supporting documentation toolkit(s) for application/ system(s) (i.e., logical and technical landscape architecture documentation, integration documentation (APIs, ETLs, SFTPs, flat files))

Implement and maintain documentation for system-specific user role matrices in terms of CRUD (create, read, update, and delete), segregation of duties (SOD) documentation, as well as document integration/interface and data dictionaries

Business Expectation Management

Partner with business stakeholders to define scope and priorities for application and/or system initiatives (new projects and ongoing maintenance), and ensure understanding of key business objectives to support analysis and solution definition

Serve as a key liaison between business stakeholders and users, technology teams and vendor(s)

Participate in value stream discussions to identify the current state processes; and elicit, identify and document potential opportunities for improvements

Manage application development projects and initiatives in a program management capacity, partnering with business teams and the vendor(s)

Manage and partner with business teams and vendors to plan, test, and release upgrades and initiatives such as maintenance releases, major releases, API integrations, SSO integrations, etc.

Plan, facilitate, and manage end user training with business stakeholders for new releases and upgrades where applicable, leveraging vendors and internal business partners where possible

Vendor Management

Act as point of contact for all production issues or requests, working with business stakeholders to identify priority, and with vendors to triage, analyze and solution

Manage to the contractual obligations with vendors, including SLAs, licenses, upgrades, maintenance, defects, and enhancements; may require review and management of Statements of Work (SOW) for new enhancements with vendors

Manage contractual production defect remediation SLAs with vendor solution providers by collecting and managing data metrics, communicating defaults, and ensuring credits are provided, where applicable

Manage internal and external teams to ensure successful delivery of key application initiatives, upgrades and integrations

Release and Compliance Management

Oversee all release management tasks, including working with vendor and business users to plan, test and deploy all application releases, while driving, managing, and implementing essential SDLC methods using test environments, generating test data libraries, managing non-production defect remediation, defining and managing User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and ensuring completion of all SOX and/or internal audit required documentation

Maintain audit documentation and comply with all internal and external audit requirements for user access and change management

Foster collaboration among cross-functional partners to keep them informed of related projects and other cross-functional development requests

Ensure that business decisions and processes made are in compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley

Must Haves:

BS degree in computer science or equivalent experience

Minimum 8 years of demonstrated experience and proficiency in application management, vendor management, and release management

Minimum 5 years of demonstrated experience in customer technical support, with a focus on SaaS solutions at a enterprise level

Experience installing and leading the adoption of best practice processes, methods, and technologies

Distinctive people skills with a proven track record of influencing, driving change, and stakeholder management, with a bias for excellent customer service

Experience managing solutions such as ERP, CPM, NetSuite, and EPM

Superior problem-solving skills, in both ambiguous and tactical situations, and a bias for action

Strong organization skills with ability to organize others around you

Demonstrated flexibility and ability to perform in a dynamic environment, and comfort working in ambiguity

Outstanding written and oral communication skills and expert meeting planning and facilitation skills

Ability to provide on-call support, as needed (i.e., critical production incident, planned production release) which could be during non-standard business hours such as weekend, evening, or support of global users (i.e., UK)

Primary Salary Location:

$120,000 - $140,000

Authentic is an equal-opportunity employer and we value and embrace the diversity and inclusion of all Team Members. We do not discriminate on the basis of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, national origin, disability, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or other legally protected status.

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