Application Manager

Role Overview

We are seeking an Application Manager for Avanade’s Application Practice to connect business development, consulting delivery and engineering capability. This is a client-facing practice management role—not primarily an internal application-owner position. The manager leads software teams delivering application consulting, custom development and modernization engagements, while supporting presales, go-to-market (GTM) activities and application managed services.

The successful candidate will translate client needs into credible solutions and proposals, mobilize delivery teams, govern execution and develop engineering talent. Working with practice leadership, sales, account teams, architects and delivery managers, the role balances client outcomes, technical quality, commercial commitments, team capacity and capability growth across the application lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

1. Presales and Solution Development

• Partner with sales and account teams to qualify application consulting, development, modernization and managed-services opportunities and understand client business outcomes.

• Lead discovery workshops, application assessments and solution shaping; define scope, delivery approach, architecture options, assumptions, dependencies and risks with solution architects.

• Coordinate estimates, staffing models, delivery schedules, cost inputs and statements of work; support proposal preparation, RFP responses, demonstrations and client presentations.

• Validate solution feasibility and delivery commitments through appropriate reviews, and ensure a clear handover from presales to delivery.

2. Consulting Delivery and Engagement Management

• Lead or oversee application consulting and software delivery engagements from discovery and mobilization through build, testing, release, acceptance and transition.
• Work with delivery managers and client stakeholders to govern scope, milestones, budgets, dependencies, risks, change requests and contractual commitments.
• Coordinate business analysts, architects, software engineers, quality engineers, DevOps specialists and distributed delivery teams with clear ownership and escalation paths.
• Maintain delivery reporting, quality gates and client communications; resolve blockers and support project recovery while protecting agreed business outcomes.

3. Application Development and Modernization

• Guide teams delivering custom applications, digital products, APIs and integrations, using Microsoft Azure and appropriate engineering technologies for the client solution.
• Lead application assessments and modernization roadmaps covering rationalization, cloud migration, replatforming, refactoring, replacement and retirement.
• Ensure engineering practices include secure design, code review, automated testing, CI/CD, observability, accessibility and non-functional requirements.
• overn architecture decisions, technical debt, release readiness, rollback plans and reusable delivery assets with architecture, security and operations stakeholders.

4. Application Managed Services, Security and Operational Readiness

• Shape application managed-services scope, support models, service levels and transition plans during solutioning and delivery, with the relevant service teams.
• Ensure implementation-to-operations handover includes documentation, monitoring, runbooks, knowledge transfer, support ownership and recovery requirements.
• Oversee service reviews and incident, problem, change and release governance for engagements within the role’s remit; prioritize automation and continual improvement.
• Embed security, privacy, compliance and resilience requirements in client solutions; coordinate risk reviews, audit evidence and remediation with accountable stakeholders.

5. Go-to-Market and Practice Commercial Management

• Contribute to Application Practice GTM plans, offerings and value propositions for consulting, application development, modernization and managed services.
• Work with sales, account teams, marketing and relevant alliance teams to develop campaigns, client workshops, demonstrations and opportunity follow-up.
• Create reusable proposal content, reference architectures, accelerators and approved case studies; share delivery insights to strengthen market positioning.
• Support pipeline reviews, demand forecasting, utilization and engagement financial tracking; flag delivery capacity, cost and commercial risks to practice leadership.

6. People and Software-Team Management

• Manage assigned engineers and software teams, including regular one-to-ones, career development, coaching and coordination of the established people-management processes.

• Plan staffing, skills coverage, allocation, onboarding and succession with practice and delivery leaders; match team capabilities to engagement needs.

• Provide clear delivery responsibilities and technical leadership through engineering leads; foster collaboration across local, offshore and partner teams.

• Support recruitment and technical interviews, sustainable workloads, inclusive teamwork and early resolution of delivery impediments.

7. Internal Engineer Training and Practice Enablement

• Maintain an engineer capability-development plan aligned to application consulting, development, modernization and managed-services demand.
• Organize internal training, hands-on labs, mentoring, certifications and knowledge-sharing sessions covering Azure application development, architecture, secure engineering, DevOps and modernization.
• Build communities of practice and reusable learning assets; capture lessons from engagements and embed them in delivery standards and onboarding.
• Track training participation, certification progress and practical application of learning; coordinate protected learning time with delivery commitments.

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Key Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum 7 years of experience in application consulting, software engineering, application development or modernization, including leadership of delivery teams or client engagements.
• Demonstrated delivery of client-facing application projects in a consulting or technology-services environment, with responsibility for scope, quality, risks and stakeholder relationships.
• Strong understanding of application architecture, software development lifecycle, APIs, databases, integrations, cloud-native patterns and non-functional requirements.
• Experience in presales or solution shaping, including discovery, estimation, proposals, delivery planning and transition from sales to execution.
• Experience managing software teams and developing engineers through coaching, mentoring, structured learning and career-development conversations.
• Practical knowledge of Microsoft Azure and modern application engineering, including CI/CD, automated testing, secure development and hybrid integration.
• Understanding of application managed services, operational readiness, IT service management and security, risk and compliance obligations.
• Strong client communication, consulting, prioritization, resource planning and engagement commercial-management skills; ability to contribute to GTM and practice growth.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.

Preferred Technical Knowledge

• Application consulting, discovery, solution estimation and agile delivery governance
• Microsoft Azure application services and cloud-native or hybrid architectures
• Azure DevOps, GitHub and equivalent source-control, CI/CD and delivery-management tooling
• Observability using Azure Monitor, Application Insights or equivalent platforms
• Secure software engineering, identity, access, secrets management and vulnerability remediation
• Application modernization assessment, migration patterns, resilience and performance engineering
• Custom application development, APIs, integration platforms, databases and containers
• Application managed services, FinOps, reusable accelerators and engineer enablement

Preferred Certifications

• Relevant Microsoft Azure developer or solution architect certifications
• Relevant DevOps, software engineering or application security certifications

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