Director of Information Technology

Southampton Financials’ Mission: Bring Clarity to Insurance

Southampton Financial is a value-added strategic investor in the Canadian property and casualty distribution space. We are the majority equity owner of Alteri Insurance and have acquired Onlia Insurance and aha insurance in recent months. Our goal is to build the insurance brokerage of the future by combining leading-edge technology with high-quality brokers catering to the overall insurance needs of Canadians by providing them with customized solutions to suit their individual needs.

At Southampton Group of Companies, we're not just merging companies; we're fusing expertise, innovation, and a relentless commitment to excellence. Our purpose is clear: to disrupt the insurance landscape in Canada. As we assemble a team of industry heavyweights, our goal is to make this vision a reality. In our collaborative, fast-paced, and agile environment, we strongly believe in empowering every member of our team to take ownership of their role. Together, we're dedicated to building a best-in-class experience for our customers.

Reporting to the President of Southampton Financial, the IT Development & Operations Director will lead and manage the IT department, responsible for Development, Operations, Security, and Compliance of the entire IT platform for a growing omni-channel insurance brokerage company. The main objective is to create and execute an IT roadmap of projects to achieve the company’s business plan (application and domain integration after multiple acquisitions and creating a future-proof technology stack for further profitable growth). This role involves building out more mature IT function and team for both the development and Operations support areas of the IT department, as well as managing the ecosystem of vendors and partners that are part of the digital platform.

The IT Development & Operations Director requires experience in developing (including solutioning) and building out application platforms (preferably in the insurance industry) with a good understanding of the AWS stack. You should know how to build cross-platform web applications and be familiar with security guidelines and frameworks for the web.

Key Accountabilities:

KA1 People Leader: Lead a multidisciplinary team of Business Analysts, Development, Quality Assurance, Data Engineers, and the IT Operations Manager. Assess the skill sets and performance of the team reporting into the position and upgrade and supplement the team where necessary so as to continuously align the effectiveness of technology organization with the vision of the business. Create a positive work environment through communication to maximize the productivity of the department

KA2 Target Architecture: Maintain, develop, and ensure compliance of the IT and Data architecture in line with integration plans and company strategy. Ensure effective, secure, and available system architecture and consistent data storage and maintenance. Collaborate with other department leads on initiatives that support organizational needs

KA3 Development & Code Quality: Lead and manage developers, BA, and QA teams. Support them in integrating and building out the capabilities of the company’s omni-channel brokerage platform and infrastructure. Develop a strategy to meet the company’s goals and improve delivery quality. Assure the quality of the codebase, monitor it constantly, ensure the right third-party frameworks/solutions are used, and improve/refactor the codebase to optimally meet the business objectives.

KA4 Release Management & QA: Plan the release of deliverables and oversee the release life cycle. Oversee the team establishing and enforcing quality standards for system functionality. Build and release new features on the platform and work with the development team to deliver new features as the company expands its product and delivery capabilities.

KA5 Data Management and Analytics capabilities: Align on data structure and storage framework(s) needed to manage the business and insurance portfolios. Ensure the buildout of the data warehousing, data management, and mining capabilities of the organization.

KA6 Vendor management: Manage contacts and contracts with IT delivery partners. Ensure vendor delivery aligns with needs and contracts. Anticipate potential changes and maintain good relationships with partners.

KA7 Governance: Create and maintain a structure for IT governance, security, and control frameworks for the group of companies. Continuously assesses the internal controls within the technology environment by being a relentless proponent for innovation, best practices, sound design, strong development methodologies, and efficient project/team structure. Implement innovative and cost-effective solutions to protect and maintain the company's IT assets for mission critical areas such as cyber security, operations, maintenance, records management, risk management and compliance.

Qualifications and Competencies:

• Proven experience in IT with at least a bachelor’s degree, preferably with a specialization in IT.
• At least 5 years’ experience in a comparable role.
• In-depth knowledge and experience of (AWS-based) IT-architecture solutions, including integration, security, and performance aspects.
• Knowledge of and experience with insurance platforms such as Guidewire, Duck Creek, and Applied Systems.
• Experience with the following Technology Stack: Angular, React, Vue, Java, Sitecore, SQL, Postgres, MongoDB, Salesforce, Mulesoft, Azure Data Warehouse, AWS EC2 and Lambda
• Ability to translate business requirements into IT solutions that fit the target architecture and infrastructure setup.
• Provide leadership, direction, and definition for the development and analytics teams and the IT Operations Manager, including planning, scheduling, test coordination, and implementation.
• Manage risks and resolve issues affecting release scope, schedule, and quality.
• Work with QA, Development, DevOps, and Product teams to ensure development projects adhere to release processes and change procedure guidelines.
• Design, establish, and maintain a departmental structure to accomplish organizational goals and objectives effectively and efficiently.
• Collaborate with decision-makers in other departments to identify, recommend, develop, implement, and support cost-effective technology solutions for all aspects of the organization.
• Hands-on approach.
• Ability to work independently and collaborate with various roles and disciplines within the organization.

WORKING AT SOUTHAMPTON FINANCIAL

Our mission is to cultivate a workforce that is diverse and inclusive, with an unwavering commitment to creating an open, equitable, and respectful workplace for all. We are deeply dedicated to fostering an environment where every individual is genuinely respected, included, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives and talents.

We encourage submissions from candidates who represent the various dimensions of diversity. We are committed to providing barrier-free and accessible employment practices.

Southampton Financial is an equal-opportunity employer and provides accommodations upon request to ensure all candidates feel comfortable and supported throughout the selection process.