Position summary

At Cretex, manufacturing excellence is at the core of what we do. We are seeking an IT Applications Manager to drive strategy, delivery, and ongoing support of business applications across the organization. This role partners with business leaders and IT to optimize application performance, drive system improvements, ensure reliable business operations, and lead a team (and/or vendors) delivering application services. The IT Applications Manager is accountable for application lifecycle management, cross-functional project execution, and aligning application capabilities with business priorities.

Responsibilities

Essential Job Functions

Application Strategy & Ownership

• Implement and govern a formal business requirements gathering process, utilizing a mandatory intake workflow to ensure all business requests are clearly defined, documented, vetted, and approved prior to build-execution.
• Partner with Business SMEs to translate operational challenges into documented requirements and determine the most effective solution type, whether a form or report, an interface, configuration, customization enhancement, etc.
• Standardize documentation requirements by mandating formal functional and technical specifications for all system enhancement customizations, ensuring the approved changes are integrated into ongoing validation packages.
• Review validation requirements for all Epicor changes to ensure regression testing needs for the annual Kinetic upgrade cycle are clearly documented and understood.
• Define and assign testing ownership during the requirement phase to ensure every system change includes a clear path to validation and successful user acceptance.

Program Delivery & Leadership

• Drive standardized Epicor user support and best practices across business units and locations.
• Monitor application implementations, enhancements, support, upgrades, integrations, and process automation initiatives.
• Monitor project scope, resource requirement assignments, timelines, budgets, risk, and stakeholder communications.
• Ensure effective change management, training, and user adoption for application releases.

Operations Support

• Ensure stable, secure, and performant application operations; oversee incident, problem, and change management.
• Establish support intake prioritization process, KPIs, and monitoring to measure adherence performance and support responsiveness.
• Coordinate with Infrastructure/Security/Validation teams to ensure availability, backup/recovery, and compliance.

Documentation

• Create comprehensive documentation processes, including business requirements, functional design specifications, technical design specifications, and test protocols.
• Ensure training, process adoption, and adherence maintaining accurate records of system design changes.

People & Vendor Management

• Lead, coach, and develop application analysts and/or developers.
• Manage external partners, consultants, and software vendors; assist with contracts and renewals.
• Build an effective support model and drive continuous improvement.

Governance, Security, and Compliance

• Ensure applications comply with IT policies, security standards, data privacy requirements, and regulatory obligations.
• Maintain documentation, application architecture standards, and audit readiness.
• Participate in cybersecurity and business continuity planning as it relates to applications.

License Management

• Review and recommend application licensing and renewals.
• Identify opportunities to reduce redundancy, optimize licensing, and improve ROI.
• Evaluate new tools and lead selection processes (RFP/RFQ), including business cases.

Organizational

• Champions our organizational values of integrity, respect, and commitment to excellence
• Support and comply with the company Quality System, ISO, and medical device requirements
• Read, understand, and follow work instructions and standard work
• Partner with other business segments: sales/marketing, customer service, engineering, quality, and finance
• Understand customer needs and the core business markets we serve
• Ensure business systems are implemented, maintained, and functioning accurately
• Participate in required company meetings
• Maintain an organized work area (5S)
• Participate in the Operational Excellence Program
• Complete all other work duties as assigned
• Ability to work in a manufacturing environment

Qualifications

Minimum Requirements, Education & Experience (incl. KSA’s and certifications)

• Bachelor’s degree in information systems, Computer Science, Business, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 8+ years of progressive IT experience with significant focus on enterprise/business applications.
• 3+ years in a leadership role managing teams, vendors, or major application programs.
• Experience leading application implementations and upgrades, including integrations and data migration.
• Strong understanding of IT service management practices (incident/change/problem) and SDLC.
• Strategic planning and roadmap development
• Stakeholder management and business partnership
• People leadership, coaching, development, and performance management
• Vendor management and contract negotiation
• Project/program management, prioritization, and delivery execution
• Strong communication, problem-solving, and decision-making
• Process improvement and change management mindset
• Microsoft Office proficiency (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher)
• Clear and effective verbal and written communication skills
• Attention to detail
• Organizational skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced team environment
• Ability to prioritize and multitask

Desirable Criteria & Qualifications

• Experience with Epicor and/or HubSpot platforms.
• Familiarity with cloud/SaaS administration, identity/access management concepts, and security controls.
• Project management certifications and/or ITIL certification.
• Experience in regulated industries.
• Exposure to data/analytics platforms and reporting governance.
• Certificates
• Continuing Education; including participation in local chapters, associations, and/or organizations

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