PLADS Application Developer (SmartCOMM)

Salary Range: $100,000 - $130,000

Job Posting End Date: August 15, 2025

We’ve Got You Under Our Wing

We are the duck. We develop and empower our people, cultivate relationships, give back to our community, and celebrate every success along the way. We do it all…The Aflac Way.

Aflac, a Fortune 500 company, is an industry leader in voluntary insurance products that pay cash directly to policyholders and one of America's best-known brands. Aflac has been recognized as Fortune’s 50 Best Workplaces for Diversity and as one of World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere.com.

Our business is about being there for people in need. So, ask yourself, are you the duck? If so, there’s a home, and a flourishing career for you at Aflac.

Work Designation. Depending on your location within the continental US, this role may be hybrid or remote.

• If you live within 50 miles of the Aflac offices located in Columbus, GA or Columbia, SC, this role will be hybrid. This means you will be expected to work in the office for at least 60% of the work week. You will work from your home (within the continental US) for the remaining portion of the work week. Details of this schedule will be discussed with your leadership. 
• If you live more than 50 miles from the Aflac offices located in Columbus, GA or Columbia, SC, this role will be remote. This means you will be expected to work from your home, within the continental US. If the role is remote, there may be occasions that you are requested to come to the office based on business need. Any requests to come to the office would be communicated with you in advance.

What does it take to be successful at Aflac?

• Acting with Integrity
• Communicating Effectively
• Pursuing Self-Development
• Serving Customers
• Supporting Change
• Supporting Organizational Goals
• Working with Diverse Populations

What does it take to be successful in this role?

• Sound knowledge about SmartCOMM Modules - Data Modeler, Advanced Template Designer and Web Editor

• Strong knowledge in generating Interactive communications (Draft Editor, Data Capture)

• Good knowledge of Thunderhead/Smart Communication API's

• Should be well versed with preparation of the XML data schema and their mappting to business data objects

• Requirements Definition Development and developing business templates sa per business requirements

• Consolidating form templates, recognizing common graphical elements, information blocks, layouts, variable data requirements, funcational similarity and multilingual

• Strong understanding of SmartCOMM/Thunderhead concepts & developmentSound knowledge of SmartCOMM (Thunderhead) Suites of Products - Advanced Template Designer (Business Content Studio and Admin), Data Modeller (Business Object Studio)

• Technical Use Case Preparation

• Technical Requirements Definition

• Flowchart Preparation

• Data Entity-Relationship (ER) Diagramming

• SDLC

• Microsoft Office

• Visio

• Technical Writing

• Technical Communication

• Presentation Skills

Education & Experience Required

• Bachelor's Degree Computer Science, Business Administration or a related field.
• Four or more years of related work experience and knowledge of organizational systems and capabilities, business operations and requirements, business modeling concepts, software development methodologies and lifecycle, developing technical requirements using analysis techniques, etc
• Ability to apply statistical and other research methods into systems issues as required; review complex data and derive summary conclusions
• Ability to apply statistical and other research methods into systems issues as required; review complex data and derive summary conclusions

Or an equivalent combination of education and experience

Principal Duties & Responsibilities

• Serves primarily as a senior-level project team member working on complex SmartCOMM projects.

• Serves as a liaison between business partners and IT to provide technical solutions to meet user needs and maintain established business relationships.

• Leads and or assists with project deliverables such as project initiation requests, business and technical requirements, use cases, interface specifications, business architecture models, cost/benefit analysis, risk and issue logs, test plans, training plans and elevation / validation plans.

• Communicates and presents complex technical concepts simply and effectively to nontechnical team members.

• Assesses long term needs, performs gap analysis and makes future state recommendations.

• Participates in identifying opportunities that impact business strategy and system performance.

• Participates in JAD sessions with business partners to enable technical solutions that allow for process improvements.

• Conducts systems analysis with a focus on business and technical process models and use cases.

• Mentors and develops junior team members into resources with higher skill sets.

• Collects research on the competition in terms of best practices, business processes, and procedures; pays particular attention to market strategies and product development; makes recommendations for buy vs. build decisions.

• Provides testing support and analysis for defect resolution.

• Performs other related duties as required.

Total Rewards

The salary range for this job is $100,000 - $130,000. This range is specific to the job and salary offers consider a wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions, including, but not limited to: education, experience, licensure, certifications, geographic location, and peer compensation. The range has been created in good faith based on information known to Aflac at the time of the posting.

At Aflac, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for the role to allow for future and continued salary growth, and 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, and vision coverage, prescription drug coverage, health care flexible spending, dependent care flexible spending, Aflac supplemental policies (Accident, Cancer, Critical Illness and Hospital Indemnity offered at no costs to employee), 401(k) plans, annual bonuses, and an opportunity to purchase company stock.  On an annual basis, you’ll also be offered 11 paid holidays, up to 20 days PTO to be used for any reason, and, if eligible, state-mandated sick leave (Washington employees accrue 1-hour sick leave for every 40 hours worked) 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 and safe leave, and adoption and parental leave, in all states and localities.