Director of Public Health Applications

Join the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and be part of a team committed to creating a positive impact in the lives of fellow Texans. At HHSC, your contributions matter, and we support you at each stage of your life and work journey. Our comprehensive benefits package includes 100% paid employee health insurance for full-time eligible employees, a defined benefit pension plan, generous time off benefits, numerous opportunities for career advancement and more. Explore more details on the Benefits of Working at HHS webpage.

Functional Title: Director of Public Health Applications 
Job Title: Director IV 
Agency: Health & Human Services Comm 
Department: Public Hlth Services Appl-427 
Posting Number: 8412 
Closing Date: 11/19/2025 
Posting Audience: Internal and External 
Occupational Category: Computer and Mathematical 
Salary Group: TEXAS-B-29 
Salary Range: $8,488.33 - $12,000.00 
Pay Frequency: Monthly
Shift: Day 
Additional Shift: Days (First) 
Telework:  
Travel: Up to 100% 
Regular/Temporary: Regular 
Full Time/Part Time: Full time 
FLSA Exempt/Non-Exempt: Exempt 
Facility Location:  
Job Location City: AUSTIN 
Job Location Address: 701 W 51ST ST 
Other Locations:  
MOS Codes: 8003,8040,8041,8042,10C0,111X,112X,113X,114X,20C0,30C0,40C0,611X,612X,621X,631X,641X,648X,90G0,91C0 
91W0,97,SEI15 
 
 

Brief Job Description:

The Information Technology (IT) Director of Public Health Applications leads the design, development, implementation, maintenance and support of software applications that enable critical business functions for DSHS, and reports to the Deputy CIO in HHS Information Technology division. This position is responsible for overseeing software development teams, ensuring application stability, managing system enhancements, and aligning technology solutions with organizational goals.

This position leads the IT organization supporting more than 60 programs at the Department of State Health Services (DSHS), including Vital Statistics, Infectious Disease Surveillance & Outbreak Response, Office of Border Affairs, and the Texas Center for Infectious Disease (TCID). The scope of this position includes the full range of software development lifecycle activities, project management and execution, contract management, and budget management. The team that reports to this position is comprised of about 150 staff and contractors supporting around 60 applications. This position performs management activities including providing direction and guidance to the Public Health Applications team members (including Director level positions), establishing priorities, and driving the execution of strategic and tactical roadmaps established by IT and program leadership. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker, experienced leader, and hands-on technologist. The successful candidate should be able to work with minimal supervision. This position has significant opportunity for initiative and independent judgment. This position plans, assigns, and supervises the work of others.

Essential Job Functions (EJFs):

EJF 1: (25%) Oversees the full software development lifecycle (SDLC), including planning, development, deployment, continuous improvements, ensuring applications are reliable, secure, and perform optimally; establishes processes for regular application updates, patches, and enhancements;  manages technical debt and ensures system health through proactive monitoring and upgrades; ensures systems are designed for scalability, security, maintainability and performance; leverages modern technologies and architectures (e.g., cloud,, APIs, microservices, Robotic Processes, AI technology and tools) to modernize legacy systems; provides oversight and guidance to team members to ensure successful project delivery (on time and within budget) ensuring adherence to Texas Project Delivery Framework and the Texas Procurement and Contracting Standards governed by the Texas Government Code; drives adoption of best practices in code quality, security, testing and deployment; monitors industry trends and brings innovation to application strategies; Drives improvements in the Agile software development lifecycle used by the Public Health Applications team; defines and executes the application development strategy in alignment with business goals; partners with executive stakeholders to understand and prioritize business needs.

EJF 2: (25%)  Leads the support and maintenance of critical agency software applications; ensures timely responses are provided to incidents, issues and user requests; implements processes for triaging, escalating, and resolving application issues; encourages collaboration between support teams and business units to ensure high user satisfaction; plans, creates, implements, and monitors IT operational policies, procedures and guidelines to ensure consistency and compliance with agency standards, security protocols, audit requirements, and legislative mandates; ensures adherence to compliance frameworks; fosters a culture of continuous improvement in development and support processes; establishes service level agreements for key systems and services provided by the Public Health Applications team; defines and implements key performance indicators (KPI's) to measure the effectiveness of team processes, systems, and service levels; defines and drives application availability improvement action plans, partnering with other teams and/or organizations including but not limited to the HHSC audit team, Department of Information Resources (DIR) and vendors. Goal is a year over year improvement in critical application availability and reduction in the number of incidents. Works closely with business customers and counterparts in IT to define strategic roadmaps to more efficiently manage application infrastructure currency and reduce the effort and cost required to support applications.

EJF 3: (20%) Oversees relevant IT contracts supporting application development or maintenance and ensures contract terms are met. Participates in vendor selection process as needed; implements best practices in software tool selection process and software procurement processes; drives corrective actions and continuous improvement with vendors with a goal of year over year improvement in vendor services, quality, and/or cost.

EJF 4: (20%) Leads, mentors, and grows cross-functional teams of developers, architects, and analysts. Plans, directs, and oversees the daily tasks and activities of staff. Ensures staff have defined training and development plans. Communicates job requirements and manages employee performance. Develops a high-performance workforce that can accurately and efficiently arrive at root causes and permanent corrective actions where required.

EJF 5: (10%) Reviews department budget and contracts to identify and drive opportunities for cost avoidance and/or savings.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

• Advanced knowledge of modern software development frameworks and languages.
• Knowledge of advanced datacenter technologies, cloud infrastructure, platforms, deployment models, and application development methodologies.
• Knowledge of modernized software development tools and best-in-class Agile and Lean SDLC methods, principles and practices.
• Knowledge of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) principles and practices, distributed user interface environments, multiple Relational Data Base Management Systems, monitoring and performance management utilities; network and security protocols with related communication and security components; contemporary Web technologies, email clients, and a variety of other supported applications.
• Knowledge of government sector processes and practices is preferred.
• Knowledge of software quality assurance and automated testing strategies, tools, technologies, processes and methods.
• Knowledge of incident management, release management and monitoring tools.
• Knowledge of managing or overseeing large-scale contracts with resource and technology suppliers.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills
• Ability to organize, direct and manage large, complex technology software development environments, multiple concurrent projects, multiple large groups of diverse and highly skilled technical professionals.
• Strong leadership and team management abilities.
• Ability to establish goals and objectives in support of agency and statewide strategic plans, and to monitor and measure progress against, and deliver to defined objectives.
• Ability to identify and analyze very technical complex problems/issues, evaluate alternatives, develop effective solutions and oversee planning and implementation.
• Ability to communicate clearly, both orally and in writing, with technical and business staff, contractors, suppliers, executive management, auditors and the State Legislature, easily adapting to the needs of each individual audience. 

Registrations, Licensure Requirements or Certifications:

PMP, ITIL, AWS/Azure or similar certifications are preferred but are not needed.

Initial Screening Criteria:

Graduation from college or university with major coursework in computer science, Information systems, Business Administration or a related field is generally preferred. Experience and education may be substituted for one another on a year for year basis. 

10+ years of progressive experience in application or software development life cycle is required.

5+ years in a leadership or senior management role is preferred. Strong background in application maintenance, production support, and service-level management and experience in developing product roadmaps and technology roadmaps is preferred.

Additional Information:

Any employment offer is contingent upon available budgeted funds. The offered salary will be determined in accordance with budgetary limits and the requirements of HHSC Human Resources Manual.

• Selected candidates must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.

• This is a hybrid position that requires the candidate to work from the Austin office at least three days a week with an expectation to attend any executive meetings in person if they fall on the other days. The candidate should be willing to work from the Austin office up to 5 days a week, as required.

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Active Duty, Military, Reservists, Guardsmen, and Veterans:

Military occupation(s) that relate to the initial selection criteria and registration or licensure requirements for this position may include, but not limited to those listed in this posting. All active-duty military, reservists, guardsmen, and veterans are encouraged to apply if qualified to fill this position. For more information please see the Texas State Auditor’s Job Descriptions, Military Crosswalk and Military Crosswalk Guide at Texas State Auditor's Office - Job Descriptions.

ADA Accommodations:

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), HHSC and DSHS agencies will provide reasonable accommodation during the hiring and selection process for qualified individuals with a disability. If you need assistance completing the on-line application, contact the HHS Employee Service Center at 1-888-894-4747. If you are contacted for an interview and need accommodation to participate in the interview process, please notify the person scheduling the interview.

Pre-Employment Checks and Work Eligibility:

Depending on the program area and position requirements, applicants selected for hire may be required to pass background and other due diligence checks.

HHSC uses E-Verify. You must bring your I-9 documentation with you on your first day of work. Download the I-9 Form

Telework Disclaimer:

This position may be eligible for telework.  Please note, all HHS positions are subject to state and agency telework policies in addition to the discretion of the direct supervisor and business needs.