Manager of Application Maintenance

job summary:
The Manager of the Application Maintenance team is a critical leadership role within Operations, reporting to the Director of IT Operations. This position is responsible for overseeing Level 2 and Level 3 (L2/L3) support and maintenance of enterprise applications, ensuring their stability, performance, and lifecycle management.

This role drives the development and execution of application maintenance strategies, including proactive maintenance, operational readiness, and the retirement of legacy systems. A significant portion of time is dedicated to cross-functional collaboration, partnering with application development, infrastructure, and business teams to support the successful deployment and transition of new applications into ongoing support.

The Manager leads a team of technical professionals, establishes standardized processes and runbooks, and ensures alignment with IT Operational goals and service delivery expectations.

location: Chicago, Illinois
job type: Contract
salary: $65 - 80 per hour
work hours: 8am to 5pm
education: Bachelors

responsibilities:

Key Responsibilities

- Lead and manage a team responsible for the maintenance, support, and performance of business-critical applications

- Develop, implement, and continuously improve application maintenance processes, including upgrades, patching, and defect resolution

- Plan and execute proactive maintenance activities, including corrective, preventive, adaptive, and perfective maintenance

- Oversee batch processing operations to ensure reliability and availability

- Manage application lifecycle activities, including retirement, consolidation, and rationalization of legacy systems

- Provide operational support and governance for middleware platforms and services

- Collaborate with project, engineering, and service teams to onboard new applications into maintenance support

- Develop and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs), runbooks, and alert-driven operational documentation

- Establish and track performance metrics, ensuring consistency, quality, and continuous improvement in application support

- Govern third-party managed service providers (MSPs) delivering application maintenance services

- Monitor and enforce service level agreements (SLAs), key performance indicators (KPIs), and contractual commitments

- Lead vendor service reviews, performance assessments, and improvement initiatives

- Manage transition activities for onboarding and offboarding applications with MSPs

- Ensure alignment between internal teams, external vendors, and service delivery models

qualifications:
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field

- 7+ years of experience in application support and maintenance, including at least 3 years in a leadership role

- Strong expertise in application lifecycle management (ALM) methodologies and tools

- Proven experience supporting complex, enterprise-scale application environments

- Experience with both custom-developed and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications

- Familiarity with Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid project delivery methodologies

- Working knowledge of technologies such as Java, .NET, SQL, Oracle, and related platforms

- Solid understanding of IT service management frameworks (e.g., ITIL)

- Demonstrated experience managing vendors and third-party service providers

Skills & Competencies

- Strong leadership, team development, and coaching capabilities

- Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills

- Analytical mindset with strong problem-solving abilities

- Ability to drive operational excellence and continuous process improvement

- Strong organizational and planning skills, with attention to detail

- Commitment to staying current with emerging technologies and industry best practices

Equal Opportunity Employer: Race, Color, Religion, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, National Origin, Age, Genetic Information, Disability, Protected Veteran Status, or any other legally protected group status.

At Randstad Digital, we welcome people of all abilities and want to ensure that our hiring and interview process meets the needs of all applicants. If you require a reasonable accommodation to make your application or interview experience a great one, please contact [email protected].


Pay offered to a successful candidate will be based on several factors including the candidate's education, work experience, work location, specific job duties, certifications, etc. In addition, Randstad Digital offers a comprehensive benefits package, including: medical, prescription, dental, vision, AD&D, and life insurance offerings, short-term disability, and a 401K plan (all benefits are based on eligibility).

This posting is open for thirty (30) days.