VP, Application Development Manager

About Our Company

Aflac Global Investments located in downtown financial district located at 100 Wall Street, corner of Water Street and is the organization who’s responsible for the overall investment activities of Aflac, Inc. With approximately 150 employees in US (New York) and Japan (Tokyo); Aflac’s Global Investments organization seeks to maximize risk-adjusted returns subject to our liability profile and capital requirements and generates in excess of $3.0 billion a year in net investment income.  Aflac Global Investments is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aflac, Inc.

Job Summary

Within Aflac’s Global Investments (GI), the VP, Application Development Manager is part of the GI Information Technology (IT) department and is responsible for leading and delivering on robust IT solutions to the investments team.  The position will work across GI key stakeholders throughout U.S. and Japan, along with Columbus, GA (Corporate), and various business partners (internal and external), in support of the various technology platforms and systems used throughout the organization. 

Reports to Director, Head of GI Information Technology

Primary Support All GI (investments and investments business platform support) – U.S. and Japan and other key stakeholders in support of GI (internal and external)

Secondary Support All non GI business partners

Principal Duties & Responsibilities:

The candidate will play a key role within the GI IT department in managing infrastructure and systems that are used enterprise wide in support of the investments team. This role will lead a development team to deliver robust cloud based IT solutions with a focus on front-office investment professionals, in support of the overall GI IT support model, as well as third party infrastructure service providers. IT solutions include the development of a data lake and data warehouse using Snowflake to store market data, investments data, accounting data and externally managed data.  The data is served up to data consumers through a meta-data framework via API, Qlik and an in-house developed data extraction tool.  The candidate will focus on IT systems to manage private debt and private equity assets.  In addition, the candidate will work directly with investment leads (traders, portfolio managers, credit research, risk and compliance) on systems integration, data feed automations and reporting.  Aflac Global Investments use Aladdin for trading and compliance.

Global Investment platforms are used 24x7, includes oversight of global coverage and monitoring for Level-1 support and maintenance to ensure accuracy and operational effectiveness; specifically in the U.S. and Japan.

• Manage IT support model with a primary focus on front office investments professionals to develop and deliver a robust cloud based IT solutions to the front-office.
• Maintain operational workflows for release and change management to ensure all investments systems and their technical interfaces are maintained for operational effectiveness and accuracy.
• Collaborate with management to initiate and suggest improvements related to production support; including systems, process workflow, interface between systems, and reporting.
• Proficiently manage cloud architecture and data warehouse design in support of the overall investments platform.
• Develop and document operational workflows for GI IT investment systems and other support productivity tools; system flow, data flow, and process flow diagrams.
• Product owner for productivity tools, but not limited to, JIRA and QTEST.
• Manage relationship and SLAs with infrastructure support teams as well as vendors that manage systems and databases for GI.
• Manage employees and contractors in support of front office systems – short and long term initiatives and ensure operational efficiency as well as maintain within budget allowances assigned by manager and finance.
• Planning of application/infrastructure releases and configuration changes; first meet UAT robust KOPs, notifications to all relevant individuals; while eliminating any potential downstream impacts or outages.
• Hands on software development specifically focus on investments/asset manager or financial firms.

Asset Management Knowledge: As part of a full service IT support model, the individual must have a working understanding of the following asset classes and any unique characteristics of each; along with understanding trade system workflow to ensure all front office individuals and their respective portfolio management functions from (life cycle of a trade) are monitored and operating with a high degree of efficiency, error free, and with minimal down time.  Understanding of investment accounting a plus

• Fixed Income and Equity Trading            (intermediate to advanced)
• Derivatives Trading                                  (intermediate)
• Private Debt / Private Equity                    (beginner to immediate – welcomed plus)
• Private Securitized Assets                        (beginner to immediate – welcomed plus)
• Loans (MML’s, Bank Loans)                   (beginner – welcomed plus)

Education/Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in information systems, computer science, business, accounting, mathematics, engineering, or similar is required.  Masters/ MBA a plus

Job Knowledge & Skills

Technical Skills:

• Minimum of 15 years of experience working in asset management/finance firm, specifically within IT field; insurance asset management experience a welcomed plus.
• Minimum of 5 years managing staff and contractors in front office investment support.
• Working knowledge of front to back business requirements, process flows and reporting needs.
• Proficient in Python, AWS infrastructure, AWD Lambda, S3, Fargate, Snowflake, SQL and Stored Procedures, & Java Scripts
• Working knowledge of portfolio dashboard applications – current QlikView/QlikSense is in use – welcomed plus for direct working knowledge.
• Proficient in technical / business documentation such as System Flow, Data Flow, and Process Flow diagrams.
• Experience in coordination with Audit and/or Compliance teams and preparation of documentation.
• Experience in formulating Release and Change management disciplines.
• Experience with job scheduling systems and manage large batch streams.
• Self-motivated; able to work on a team or individually with minimal supervision.
• Working knowledge within an insurance company, working knowledge of investment management lifecycle.

Non - Technical Skills:

• Demonstrated people/leadership skills to oversee operational functions within IT, ability to identify business operational needs and requirements and work on multiple projects with different deadlines independently. 
• Develops clear goals and execution plans that are consistent with business objectives, business analysis to support goals
• A self-starter with a passion for problem-solving, willing to work in a collaborative and fast-paced environment, comfortable working in a fluid setting with multiple time sensitive priorities, able to identify priorities and appropriately manage time and resources.
• Ability to facilitate compromise between conflicting requirements or points of view; demonstrated problem solving skills
• Demonstrated ability to successfully deliver on projects, including ability to proactively work on solutions with minimal supervision
• Strong client facing, interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal) skills.  
• Highly organized with superior attention to detail with an ability to analyze large amount of data and extract meaningful information and identify findings in a succinct format.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, ability to present and articulate issues clearly and succinctly to internal and external stakeholders, ability to interface with all levels of business
• A team player with a strong work ethic
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment, individuals, and departments

Schedule: This is a hybrid role and requires a minimum of 3 days in the office each week at our NYC location

The current salary range for this job is $ 143,000 - $255,000

This compensation range is specific to the job level and takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to: education, experience, licensure, certifications, geographic location, and internal equity. The range has been created in good faith based on information known to Aflac at the time of the posting.  Compensation decisions are dependent on the circumstances of each case. This salary range does not include any potential incentive pay or benefits, however, such information will be provided separately when appropriate.  In addition to the base salary, we offer an array of benefits to meet your needs including medical, dental, vision coverage, prescription drug coverage, health care flexible spending, dependent care flexible spending, Aflac supplemental policies, 401(k) plans, and generous paid time off. You’ll also be granted time off for designated paid holidays and other leaves of absence, if eligible, when needed to support your physical, financial, and emotional well-being. Aflac complies with all applicable leave laws, including, but not limited to sick, adoption and parental leave, in all states and localities.

We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with a criminal history, in a manner consistent with the requirements of all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the New York City Fair Chance Act. Applicants with criminal histories are encouraged to apply.