Applications Manager - Software Development

Overview

Cleary Gottlieb is a pioneer in globalizing the legal profession. We have 14 offices in major financial centers around the world, but we operate as a single, integrated global partnership and not as a U.S. firm with a network of overseas locations. The firm employs approximately 1,200 lawyers from more than 50 countries.

Since 1946 our lawyers and staff have worked across practices, industries, jurisdictions, and continents to provide clients with simple, actionable approaches to their most complex legal and business challenges, whether domestic or international. We support every client relationship with intellectual agility, commercial acumen, and a human touch.

The Applications Manager – Software Development leads the firm's in-house enterprise software development team within Enterprise Applications. The role is responsible for the design, delivery, security, and ongoing support of custom applications across the web, SharePoint Online, and mobile technology stack, as well as the integration of those solutions with commercial platforms and third-party products.

This is a hands-on leadership position. The manager coaches and develops a team of developers, sets engineering standards and practices, and partners with business stakeholders, Project Management, Business Analysis, other IT teams, and vendors to deliver reliable, secure solutions. The manager is expected to bring a modern approach to software delivery, including GitHub-based source control and CI/CD pipelines, responsible use of AI-assisted coding tools, and a documented Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC).

Responsibilities

Team Leadership

• Provide guidance, coaching, and leadership to the software development team, including workload management, performance management, career development, and regular feedback.
• Set and manage team objectives and tasks, and provide frequent updates on the team, projects, and priorities to IT leadership and stakeholders.

Application Development & Delivery

• Lead the development and maintenance of custom applications across the technology stack, including web, SharePoint Online, and mobile.
• Direct the design and delivery of SharePoint Online solutions using the SharePoint Framework (SPFx), including web parts, extensions, and integrations with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Graph.
• Support and extend the firm's intranet and collaboration platforms, including solutions built on InfoDash where applicable.
• Architect applications for scale, complexity, security, and fault tolerance, and contribute actively to design and implementation.
• Provide level-three application support, troubleshooting and resolving issues in a timely, customer-focused manner.

Modern Engineering Practices

• Establish and evolve the firm's software development toolset, including GitHub repositories, branching and pull request workflows, and automated build, test, and deployment pipelines.
• Guide the responsible adoption of AI-assisted coding tools (for example, GitHub Copilot and Claude), including standards for code review, testing, intellectual property, and the protection of confidential firm and client information.
• Ensure the team writes clean, reusable, well-tested code that adheres to coding standards and best practices, and create new guidelines where needed.
• Apply Waterfall and Agile delivery approaches as appropriate to the project and stakeholders.

Security & Governance

• Ensure all custom-developed software follows the firm's documented and approved SSDLC, with security requirements built into specification and design rather than added later.
• Enforce source-control, change-management, peer-review, and release-approval controls, and maintain separation between development, test, UAT, and production environments.
• Integrate logging, monitoring, vulnerability detection, code scanning, and security testing into the development process, following industry practices such as OWASP.
• Ensure developers complete annual secure-coding training and follow secure coding guidelines for the languages in use.
• Follow and uphold the firm's policies on data governance, information security, and the end-to-end development lifecycle.

Project & Stakeholder Management

• Manage projects to completion, including project definition, scheduling, and coordination with Project Management, Business Analysis, and other departments.
• Work with business users to determine functional requirements, translate them into technical requirements, and manage stakeholder expectations in clear, non-technical terms.
• Anticipate, identify, and articulate problem areas, and work with others to formulate and implement solutions.
• Collaborate with third parties and vendors on technical solutions that support business processes, and with other IT teams on new systems, upgrades, and enhancements.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree and 10+ years of application development experience, including experience leading or mentoring developers.
• Strong, hands-on experience with SharePoint Online and the SharePoint Framework (SPFx), including TypeScript and modern JavaScript frameworks such as React.
• Expert-level .NET / C# development with deep knowledge of object-oriented design patterns and their effective application.
• Experience with Git and GitHub, including branching and merging strategies, pull requests, and CI/CD or DevOps pipelines (for example, GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps).
• Working knowledge of secure software development, including SSDLC practices, OWASP guidance, code scanning, and dependency management.
• Experience with AI-assisted coding tools and an understanding of how to use them safely and effectively within a controlled development process.
• Experience with software architecture and the relationship between client-side and server-side components, and with large-scale enterprise project implementations.
• Proficiency with Microsoft SQL Server and Transact-SQL.
• Experience integrating commercial software with custom solutions and other third-party products, including REST APIs.
• Experience with Waterfall and Agile methodologies and the ability to manage projects to completion.
• Practical experience providing level-three application support.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and leadership skills, with the ability to work independently and to communicate effectively with non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred

• Knowledge of InfoDash.
• Experience with the Intapp suite of tools (Open, Integration Builder, etc.).
• Experience with the iManage suite of tools (Work, SPM, etc.)
• Experience with Atlassian products such as Jira and Confluence.
• Experience with Microsoft 365 development, Power Platform, and Azure services.
• Experience managing a software development team in a law firm or other professional services environment.

The estimated base salary range for this position is $200,000 to $220,000 at the time of posting. The actual salary offered will depend on a variety of job-related factors, including skills, education, training, credentials, experience, scope and complexity of role responsibilities, geographic location, and performance. This role is exempt meaning it is not overtime pay eligible.

Cleary provides a comprehensive benefits package, including health care benefits. More information can be found here: Benefits

We are an equal opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination based on any category protected by law. Cleary provides reasonable accommodations to enable otherwise qualified employees to perform the essential functions of their position, provided the accommodation does not pose an undue hardship to the Firm.

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