Platform Manager

This position is eligible for teleworking, which is currently one day per week. New hires are eligible to apply 30 days after their effective date of hire.

Opening:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is North America's largest transportation network, serving a population of 15.3 million people across a 5,000-square-mile travel area surrounding New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut. The MTA network comprises the nation’s largest bus fleet and more subway and commuter rail cars than all other U.S. transit systems combined. MTA strives to provide a safe and reliable commute, excellent customer service, and rewarding opportunities.

About Us:

The MTA transportation network has very large systems and infrastructure for financial, business, automated train, transportation, power, and physical security. The MTA IT Department is centrally responsible for providing a full range of Information and Operational Technology services to the MTA agencies and administrative units through its operating and support units. Services are provided on a 7/24/365 basis in support of the MTA organization and its ridership.

MTA IT's Product Development group is empowered, multi-functional teams focused on the end-to-end management of development products from strategy to delivery. Using innovative processes and tools, the teams are responsible for developing and maintaining highly effective, secure, and innovative transportation, operational, and back-end information systems to support MTA goals and priorities.

Job Summary:

The Platform Technology Manager will be responsible for overseeing a team of platform engineers, technicians, and administrators and driving the development and evolution of the organization's platform infrastructure, automation tools, storage, and deployment pipelines. You will play a critical role in shaping the technical infrastructure of our organization. Working collaboratively with technology teams, this role will help to drive operations and automation, accelerate product delivery, and ensure consistent and stable services.

Various Products, including, but not limited to:

• Corp Finance/ Capital Planning & Budget
• Legal, Risk & Safety
• Enterprise Asset Management
• Workforce Products (Payroll, Pension, Timekeeping, Recruitment)
• Employee Experience
• Platforms/Back-End Operations/DBA
• Bus & Paratransit
• Scheduling Crew Pick
• Transportation Intelligent Systems, Train Control
• B&T Products
• Customer Experience
• Revenue Fare Collections

Critical Skills: 

• Hands-on Peoplesoft Administration and IT Architecture expereince
• Experience leading large ERP systems
• Knowledge of Oracle Database and Peopletools 

Responsibilities:

• Oversees rigorous quality assurance processes to deliver reliability, performance, and safety objectives.
• Oversees staff workload and quality of work, addressing performance issues when needed.
• May contribute to or influence the strategic direction of one or more disciplines within IT.
• Assist with the implementation of the strategy
• Translates policy into operational plans.
• Results may impact the metrics of a functional area within IT and are visible to a variety of internal stakeholders and senior management.
• Leads a workforce focused on a discipline within IT.
• Directs one or more professional individual contributors.
• Role encompasses complex subject matter requiring extensive knowledge in a single discipline and broad knowledge in related disciplines or domains.
• Manages day-to-day operations and motivates team(s) to achieve results; may be responsible for a budget.
• Work is often focused on the delivery of monthly or quarterly results, and outputs are subject to periodic review against targets.
• Motivates personnel to create a professional environment that respects individual differences and enables all employees to develop into their full potential, disciplining when necessary.
• Supervises a professional team of IT staff in the selection, adoption, development, and support of one or more product lines through all stages of the product lifecycle, from ideation, definition, prototyping, design, validation & testing, launch, run stage, and eventual product retirement.
• In collaboration with IT and business leaders, creates, delivers, and manages product and organizational roadmaps to maintain alignment with defined digital agendas and service expectations.
• Monitors and manages team activities and deliverables for adherence to relevant enterprise and departmental resource, technology, and operational governance/approval processes, and departmentally spanning technology architectures, models, methods, and tools.
• Leads the team in its development and management of system support processes and service levels to ensure the sustainability, viability, and quality of delivered products within agreed service targets.
• Develops and maintains product lifecycles from inception/innovation through design, build, and ultimately the ongoing run stage before an eventual product retirement.
• Manages cross-functional teams assigned to design, build, and maintain one or more product lines and/or platforms.
• Analyzes and monitors the effectiveness and efficiency of product(s) and develops, proposes, and implements improvement strategies.
• Establishes assurance processes throughout the team that are reliable and satisfy the organization’s stated quality and safety objectives within organizational risk tolerance. Proposes risk mitigation strategies.
• Continually manages team priorities and resource demand/supply; recommends timelines and resources needed to achieve goals and objectives.
• Continually manages team priorities and resource demand/supply; recommends timelines and resources needed to achieve goals and objectives.
• Attracts and develops a high-performing and diverse workforce, empowering all staff to elevate their technical and leadership competencies, level of responsibility, and performance.
• Maintain an engaged workforce and foster a positive culture throughout organizational change.
• Continuously develops and maintains personal knowledge of relevant industry models, methods, and tools, emerging technologies, and high-impact regulatory changes.
• Provides expert-level guidance and training to the IT community and mentors less experienced staff to foster talent development.
• Performs other duties as assigned
• Complies with all policies and standards
• May be required to work hours outside regular work hours, as applicable
• Observes the work performed by contractors, as applicable
• Reviews invoices and approves them if the work meets contractual standards, as applicable
• Addresses performance issues with the contractor when possible, as applicable
• Escalates issues to other parties when needed, as applicable

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Arts/Sciences (BA/BS)
• Minimum 5 years 5 years of relevant technology experience and leadership ability. A combination of education and experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Must possess an expert/highly proficient in deep understanding of technology. Expert/Highly Proficient ability to develop and implement enterprise product solutions. Ability to prioritize, handle multitasking, and work in an agile environment. Ability to quickly learn and understand new technologies
• Expert/Highly Proficient proven ability to manage projects and initiatives. Expert/Highly Proficient ability to fit in with the constantly shifting needs and demands of the business Departments
• Proficiency in at least one software engineering methodology, including but not limited to: Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, DevOps, Extreme Programming (XP), Kanban, Lean, Rapid Application Development (RAD)
• Familiarity with the following vendor-specific platforms: Job Specific (e.g., Azure, Windows Server platforms, RESTful APIs, Linux, PeopleSoft, ServiceNow, Google Cloud, Red Hat OpenShift, and Anypoint Platform)
• Programming experience with the following language(s): Job Specific (e.g Ruby, Python, Java, Kotlin, Bash, C++, COBOL, Puppet, Perl, PHP, etc.)

Preferred Qualifications:

• At least one platform engineering industry certification preferred. Possible certifications include: Certified Scrum Developer (CSD), Certified Scrum Master (CSM), AWS Certified Solutions Architect, RedHat Certified Engineer, Kubernetes Certified, Azure Devops Solutions Certifications, Ar, Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Oracle Products Certifications including OCI Platform Certificates,, Certified Software Test Lead (CSTL), Certified Automation Professional (CAP),, AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional Certificate, Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), Docker Certified Associate (DCA), Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert Upon Hire 

Behavioral Skills:

• Must possess active listening, attention to detail, customer service, prioritization, and problem-solving skills. Ability to work independently and strategically.
• Demonstrated expertise in identifying and analyzing risks and developing effective mitigation strategies. Strong technical knowledge and diverse skillset to understand various technologies, systems, and potential risks.
• Excellent critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. Strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with both technical and non-technical peers.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and prioritize tasks based on urgency and impact. Extensive hands-on experience with related tools.
• Solid working knowledge of IT domains. Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines individually and collaboratively. Think logically, assess problems, and be results-oriented.
• Ability to identify complex business and technology risks and associated vulnerabilities. Prioritize multiple tasks and switch between tasks quickly. Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, to interact with team members, customers, management, and support personnel (technical and non-technical).
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees at all levels within the organization and with both internal and external customers.

Competencies:

Other Information:

Pursuant to the New York State Public Officers Law & the MTA Code of Ethics, all employees who hold a policymaking position must file an Annual Statement of Financial Disclosure (FDS) with the NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (the “Commission”).

Equal Employment Opportunity:

MTA and its subsidiary and affiliated agencies are Equal Opportunity Employers, including with respect to veteran status and individuals with disabilities.

The MTA encourages qualified applicants from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and abilities, including military service members, to apply.