COTS Technical Lead / COTS Platform Lead role in Columbus, Ohio - HYBRID

Job Title: COTS Technical Lead / COTS Platform Lead

Location: Hybrid
Employment Type: Direct W-2 and C2C
Interview Process: In-Person

Role Overview

The Organization is seeking a highly experienced COTS Technical Lead / COTS Platform Lead to serve as the technical expert and operational lead for enterprise COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) applications. This role acts as a critical bridge between business operations and the Office of Information Technology (OIT), ensuring seamless performance of applications across on-premises and cloud environments.

The ideal candidate will own end-to-end product lifecycle management, lead cross-functional collaboration, drive security initiatives, and provide technical leadership for mission-critical systems.

Key Responsibilities

COTS Product Lifecycle Management

• Own full lifecycle of COTS products from evaluation to deployment and support
• Design and implement solutions across Windows Server, Active Directory, and Azure/AWS
• Configure and optimize Tomcat/IIS middleware environments
• Implement SAML-based authentication solutions
• Manage OPSWAT MetaDefender for threat prevention and data sanitization
• Develop automation scripts and standard deployment processes

Vendor Management & Collaboration

• Lead vendor relationships ensuring alignment with technical and business objectives
• Manage escalations, SLA compliance, and vendor deliverables
• Oversee vendor activities during implementations, upgrades, and incidents
• Ensure effective knowledge transfer to internal teams

Cross-Team Collaboration (OIT Liaison)

• Act as primary liaison between business units and OIT teams
• Coordinate with server, storage, networking, and security teams
• Define infrastructure, firewall, and WAF requirements
• Manage F5 load balancers and SSL/TLS certificate lifecycle
• Participate in architecture reviews and change advisory boards

Operational Excellence

• Provide Tier 3 production support and lead root cause analysis
• Monitor system performance, health, and capacity
• Support 24/7 on-call rotation and incident response
• Manage patching, upgrades, and system maintenance
• Develop runbooks and disaster recovery procedures

Security & Data Protection

• Configure and manage OPSWAT MetaDefender (multi-scanning & CDR)
• Implement file security, quarantine, and sanitization processes
• Monitor threats and coordinate incident response
• Ensure secure file transfers and compliance with security standards

Technical Leadership & Mentorship

• Serve as SME for enterprise COTS solutions
• Translate business needs into technical designs
• Design high-availability and disaster recovery architectures
• Mentor team members and lead knowledge-sharing initiatives
• Maintain technical documentation and standards

Core Skills & Competencies

Infrastructure & Platforms

• Windows Server and Active Directory expertise
• Tomcat and IIS administration
• Azure and AWS (including GovCloud)
• Virtualization and containerization

Networking & Security

• Firewall rules, ACLs, and network traffic analysis
• F5 load balancers and WAF
• TLS/SSL certificates and SAML authentication
• File security, CDR, and multi-AV scanning
• Security compliance and protocols

Operations & Collaboration

• ITIL processes and ServiceNow (or similar tools)
• Strong troubleshooting and RCA skills
• Vendor management and escalation handling
• Cross-team collaboration and stakeholder communication

Required Experience

• 9 years of relevant IT experience
• Experience supporting enterprise applications in production environments
• Background in government or regulated environments preferred
• Proven experience managing vendors and technical escalations
• Bachelor’s degree (4-year) or equivalent technical experience

Additional Notes

• Hybrid work schedule with on-call responsibilities
• Occasional after-hours support for maintenance and incidents
• Role involves high-impact systems supporting state commerce operations