Head of Applications Engineering, MEA

About the role

Cigna Healthcare is looking for a Head of Applications Engineering for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. The leader sets engineering excellence across the organization by maintaining the application portfolio, driving DevSecOps adoption, developing engineering talent and partnering with business owners, Agile product owners, architects, legal and compliance teams and Release Train Engineers. Working closely with the MEA CIO, business leaders, the MEA Head of Transformation and regional CIOs, the role drives technology evolution through Agile delivery, engineering leadership and reliable technology operations, and provides leadership of the application management lifecycle.

Key responsibilities

• Lead regional technology teams and influence global teams to drive delivery excellence, engineering discipline and operational effectiveness.
• Govern technology delivery, application support and operations so solutions are scalable, resilient and customer focused, and ensure compliance with cybersecurity, risk, regulatory and governance requirements.
• Drive adoption of Agile (SAFe), DevOps and modern engineering practices with Release Train Engineers, agile coaches and change managers, and remove delivery bottlenecks.
• Enable continuous integration and delivery, automated testing, embedded security and improved release automation.
• Support Product Owners and Product Managers in defining roadmaps and balancing strategic and tech debt investments, and manage budgets, resources and vendor investments.

Required profile

• 10+ years of technology leadership experience managing complex, multi-country technology landscapes with regional and global teams.
• Proven ability to execute regional technology strategies and roadmaps, and to influence C-level stakeholders in a matrix organization.
• Broad experience in technology strategy, architecture, engineering, delivery, support, operations, risk management and customer-facing applications.
• Background in health insurance, insurance or financial services.
• Strong understanding of technology economics and total cost of ownership.
• Experience building tech leadership and high-performance delivery organizations, with cultural awareness of Middle East and Africa markets.

Required skills

• Enterprise technology, modern engineering practices, data platforms, cybersecurity and emerging technologies such as AI.
• Agile operating models, DevOps and product-centric delivery.