Head of Enterprise Applications

As the Head of Enterprise Applications at Lucid, your primary responsibility is to oversee the operations of Corporate Enterprise Applications department and to ensure it aligns with the business objectives of the organization. This individual’s principal goals are to develop and manage the corporate application portfolios for each department. 

The Head of Enterprise Applications will plan, coordinate, direct, and design all operational activities of the Corporate Enterprise Applications department, as well as provide direction and support for IT solutions that enhance mission-critical business operations across the Engineering, Digital, Design, Legal, HR, and Facilities business units. The role will work closely with decision makers in these departments to identify, recommend, develop, test, implement, and support cost-effective technology solutions for all aspects of the organization.  

In addition to technical expertise, the role requires strong interpersonal and communication skills to effectively engage with and influence Lucid Executives and leaders. The ideal candidate will possess the ability to articulate complex concepts in a clear, business-oriented manner, driving alignment and securing buy-in from diverse stakeholders (including the Executive team). A key aspect of the role is the ability to facilitate cross-functional collaboration between IT and business units, ensuring seamless integration of business requirements and IT capabilities. 

Key Responsibilities:  

• Manage Enterprise Applications department strategic planning and operations, including overseeing business requirement gathering, project planning, organizing and negotiating resource allocation, and risk and issue management. 

• Manage staffing, including recruitment, supervision, scheduling, development, evaluation, and disciplinary actions. 

• Develop, manage, and review budget for Enterprise Applications and ensure it complies with stated goals, guidelines, and objectives. 

• Manage the relationship between IT and designated business units to support the image of IT as a business enabler.  

• Own the strategic and operational IT applications that enable Engineering, Digital, Design, Legal, HR, Business Tools & Applications, and Facilities.  

• Partner closely with business unit leaders to define priorities, craft roadmaps, manage expectations, and ensure successful scope and delivery of projects. Formulate and deploy long-term strategic plans for acquiring and enabling efficient and cost-effective information processing and communication technologies. 

• Define and communicate project milestones, service level objectives, and resource allocation to executives, department leads, support staff, and end users. 

• Where necessary, re-engineer application support in collaboration with the Employee Experience team to ensure it aligns with business strategic vision and processes. 

• Oversee and approve the development, testing, deployment, monitoring, maintenance, and support of all corporate enterprise software based on business needs. 

• Review performance of existing corporate enterprise systems to reduce operating costs, increase productivity levels, and identify upgrade requirements. 

• Benchmark, analyze, report on, and make recommendations for the improvement of the corporate enterprise systems.  

• Develop point of views on IT technology, market trends, and determine their potential impact on the company’s corporate enterprise landscape. 

• Develop bid requirements for software upgrades, reviews submitted bids for compliance with stated requirements, and award corresponding contracts. 

• Develop business case justifications and cost/benefit analyses for spending and initiatives. 

• Support policies and procedures, including those for architecture, security, disaster recovery, standards, purchasing, and service provision. 

• Oversee negotiation and administration of vendors, outsourcers, consultant contracts and service agreements.  

Qualifications:  

• Prior experience working in the Automotive/Manufacturing industry is a plus. 

• Minimum of 7-10 years of experience in IT/IS with 2-5 years of demonstrated solid performance in an architect role working with cross-functional teams on enterprise-level or complex system implementations 

• Minimum of 7-10 years of experience in a Tier 1 HRIS environment, providing system vision and strategy within a complex, matrixed, and enterprise-sized business environment. 

• Extensive Product Management experience including leadership and knowledge in the areas of: Product Strategy, Product Development, Product Launch, Cross Functional Collaboration, a Customer-Centric Approach, and Data-driven Decision Making. 

• Ability to influence decision-makers at senior levels to transform, modernize, and streamline legacy business processes. 

• Experience integrating SaaS solutions and enterprise applications on premise and in the cloud. 

• Proven leadership skills for management and development of team members. 

• Strong in team management, coaching, and mentoring skills. 

• Knowledgeable in compliance and information security. 

• Current on business applications, trends in IT, and experience evaluating/implementing new innovative IT solutions. 

• Process-oriented individual with strong project management skills, able to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic organization. 

• Self-starter who maps own direction to succeed, able to resolve issues, mitigate roadblocks, and meet financial and management goals consistently and collaboratively. 

• Comfortable with ambiguity and fast change, adaptable and flexible. 

• Strong business/relevant industry acumen, able to quickly and thoroughly understand business priorities, operations, and IT enablement potential. 

• Experience with SuccessFactors, WorkForce Software, Atlassian Suite, Jama, and Dayforce is a plus. 

Education: 

• A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Accounting, Business, or other related fields is required. A Master’s degree in related area is strongly preferred.