Director, Business Applications & Integration

Organization Overview

At the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), we champion effective financial education. We are the independent, centralizing voice providing leadership, research, and collaboration to advance financial well-being. We do this by mobilizing and inspiring educators, researchers, and advocates nationwide to maximize the impact of financial education. We work hard to remove barriers, amplify outcomes, and elevate effective models through leadership, research, and collaboration. We believe this is important because everyone deserves the opportunity to live their best financial life and that equitable and effective financial education makes it easier for everyone to navigate the financial system, creating a more just society.

Position Summary

The Director, Business Applications & Integration leads and executes the phased modernization, integration, and optimization of the organization’s core business systems over a multi-year roadmap aligned with strategic priorities and organizational capacity.

As a nationally recognized organization operating with a focused team, we maintain a sophisticated business application environment while valuing agility and cross-functional collaboration. This role serves as the organization’s senior technical lead for business applications and integrations.

The Director designs, builds, configures, and integrates core business platforms in-house, ensuring systems are scalable, secure, well-governed, and aligned with operational needs. This is a highly technical individual contributor role combining application architecture ownership with hands-on system build and integration responsibilities. The Director strengthens internal systems’ capability, supports responsible adoption of emerging technologies, and reduces long-term reliance on external consultants while maintaining operational stability.

The Director partners closely with the Senior Manager of Technology to ensure alignment between business applications and infrastructure, identity, and security standards.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below represent the knowledge, skill, or ability required.

• Lead and execute the phased modernization and integration of core business applications over a multi-year roadmap
• Design, configure, and optimize business platforms to support operational effectiveness and long-term scalability
• Design and personally implement integrations across systems using APIs, automation tools, middleware, and structured data synchronization methods
• Build and refine organization-wide content and collaboration environments, including information architecture, metadata frameworks, permission structures, and document lifecycle governance
• Design and implement secure digital platforms that support public engagement and internal operations, ensuring accessibility, performance, and integration with internal systems
• Lead hands-on system implementations, including configuration, customization, data migration, testing, and deployment
• Design and implement system-based KPI capture and reporting pipelines that reduce manual data entry and improve internal business intelligence capabilities
• Develop and maintain cross-system data models, integration documentation, and governance standards to ensure long-term sustainability
• Evaluate, integrate, or rationalize third-party systems and data sources to improve cohesion and reduce fragmentation
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex system-level issues, including integration failures, workflow breakdowns, and data inconsistencies
• Translate technical architecture decisions, system trade-offs, and integration impacts into clear recommendations and practical guidance for executive leadership and non-technical stakeholders
• Collaborate with the Senior Manager of Technology and external service providers to ensure application-layer changes align with infrastructure, identity, and security requirements
• Lead technical aspects of system transitions to ensure stable and effective rollouts
• Build strong cross-functional relationships to ensure systems are understood, adopted, and aligned with business needs
• Evaluate emerging artificial intelligence tools and platform capabilities to determine appropriate application within the organization’s business systems environment
• Develop and manage a practical AI adoption framework, including build-versus-buy analysis, vendor assessment, data readiness evaluation, and integration considerations
• Experience consolidating and integrating third-party data sources into reporting environments using data visualization best practices

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in information systems, computer science, business technology, or related field; equivalent experience considered
• Minimum 7–8 years of progressive experience in business application architecture, systems integration, or digital platform implementation
• Demonstrated experience personally building and maintaining integrations between enterprise SaaS platforms
• Experience designing and implementing organization-wide content or document management environments, including information architecture and governance frameworks
• Hands-on experience working with APIs, automation tools, data migration processes, and integration platforms
• Experience designing reporting or business intelligence pipelines that reduce manual processes and improve data reliability
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft ecosystem tools, including Dynamics CRM, Business Central, Power BI, and SharePoint environments
• Experience working within organizations that utilize Managed Service Providers for infrastructure and security operations
• Strong analytical, systems-thinking, and technical problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated experience building internal technical capability and reducing reliance on external consultants
• Experience evaluating AI-enabled enterprise tools, automation platforms, or intelligent workflow solutions within data-sensitive environments

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working within a nonprofit or mid-sized organization
• Experience leading business system modernization initiatives over multi-year roadmaps
• Experience consolidating and integrating third-party data sources into reporting environments
• Experience with digital analytics and web performance measurement tools

Physical/Mental Demands of the Job

Work hours are generally 8:30 AM -5:00 PM Monday – Friday – up to 50% remote work is offered under normal circumstances. Employees work directly with their supervisor and HR to determine the best work schedule, providing sufficient overlap with other NEFE employees.

At NEFE we focus on possibilities not limitations. To do your job effectively, you need the ability to communicate with people; move about a workspace; utilize a computer, job-related software and a telephone. We will attempt to make reasonable accommodations to support the fulfillment of the physical and mental requirements of this position.

Travel Required

Regular travel is not anticipated for this position

Compensation/Benefits

The base salary for this position is $105,600–$117,500. In accordance with Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act and NEFE’s internal compensation structure, this hiring range is fixed and non‑negotiable. Final salary offers will be made within the posted range based on relevant experience.

NEFE provides a comprehensive benefits package, including vacation, sick leave, holidays, six weeks of paid parental leave, and health, dental, vision, and life/AD&D/disability insurance. Additional benefits include an EcoPass, paid parking in Downtown Denver, professional development opportunities, tuition reimbursement, an employee assistance program, a 403(b) employer match, and contributions to a defined benefit plan.

Application Instructions

Please submit your resume to be considered. Please also discuss your interest in the organization, appropriate skills, and background in a cover letter—no phone calls. Applications will be accepted until Thursday, March 19 at 5:00pm MDT.

Not sure you meet 100% of our qualifications? We understand that some candidates who could excel in this role may not have all the qualifications precisely listed above. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. We are dedicated to considering a broad array of candidates, including those with diverse work experience and backgrounds.

NEFE is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the United States. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.