Senior Leader, Information Systems

Senior Leader, Information Systems

Location: Birmingham, Alabama

VIVA HEALTH, part of the renowned University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Health System, is a health maintenance organization providing quality, accessible health care. Our employees are a part of the communities they serve and proudly partner with members on their healthcare journeys.

VIVA HEALTH has been recognized by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a high-performing health plan, earning a rating of 4 stars or higher for 10 years in a row.  VIVA HEALTH has been repeatedly ranked as one of the nation's Best Places to Work by Modern Healthcare.

Job Summary

The Senior Leader, Information Systems provides strategic leadership, governance, and operational oversight for all information systems and information technology functions across the organization. This role partners closely with leadership to ensure technology, data, artificial intelligence, and security initiatives directly enable organizational growth, operational excellence, innovation, and trust.

This role is accountable for enterprise systems, infrastructure, AS400 operations, software development leadership, ETL/EDI pipelines, project execution, vendor partnerships, data security, privacy oversight, and business continuity within a complex, mission-critical environment. The Senior Leader, Information Systems serves as the primary organizational authority for safe, secure, and responsible use of technology and AI, bridging executive vision and operational execution.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Strategic Leadership and Technology Vision

• Partner with leadership to define and execute the enterprise information systems, data, security, and AI strategy aligned with short- and long-term organizational objectives.
• Own and maintain the enterprise technology roadmap, ensuring clear prioritization, sequencing, and value realization.
• Establish strategic direction for technology modernization, scalability, automation, AI adoption, and cybersecurity maturity.
• Identify opportunities where technology and AI can improve efficiency, quality, decision-making, customer experience, and competitive advantage.

AI Strategy, Governance, and Enablement

• Serve as the senior organizational leader for artificial intelligence adoption, governance, and responsible use.
• Define and lead the enterprise AI framework, including use-case identification, data readiness, model lifecycle oversight, risk management, and compliance.
• Partner with leaders to translate operational challenges into AI-enabled solutions such as automation, predictive analytics, decision support, and intelligent applications.
• Establish policies and governance for responsible AI use, including data privacy, transparency, security controls, model validation, and bias mitigation.
• Ensure AI initiatives deliver measurable business outcomes, operational efficiency, and value.

Information Security and Data Protection Leadership

• Own and oversee enterprise data security, information security, and privacy programs in alignment with organizational risk tolerance and regulatory requirements.
• Establish and maintain security governance, policies, standards, and controls across infrastructure, applications, data platforms, and AI systems.
• Partner with compliance, legal, and executive leadership to ensure adherence to data protection, privacy, and cybersecurity obligations.
• Lead security risk assessments, remediation planning, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensure security is embedded throughout system design, software development, AI deployment, and operational processes.
• Oversee security incident response coordination, post-incident reviews, and prevention strategies.
• Ensure business continuity and disaster recovery plans fully incorporate data security, system resilience, and cyber risk scenarios.

Software Development and AI-Driven Innovation

• Manage and strategically direct software development.
• Oversee the development of innovative, secure, and scalable applications, including AI-enabled solutions that support future business needs.
• Promote modern development practices including DevOps, secure development lifecycle practices, and continuous improvement.
• Balance innovation with operational stability, security, and governance.

Enterprise Systems and Application Oversight

• Provide leadership for all enterprise systems, platforms, and applications.
• Oversee AS400 operations, core enterprise systems, data platforms, integrations, and supporting infrastructure.
• Ensure system reliability, security, scalability, and performance through governance, standards, and best practices.
• Maintain working knowledge of production environments, dependencies, and operational requirements.

Infrastructure, Data, and Platform Strategy

• Lead infrastructure and platform strategy to support enterprise applications, analytics, AI workloads, and security requirements.
• Ensure appropriate compute, storage, network, identity, and access management capabilities across on-premise and cloud environments.
• Direct capacity planning to support growth, resilience, and data-driven operations.

Project, Portfolio, and Workflow Optimization

• Govern the IT, IS, data, security, and AI project portfolio across the organization.
• Oversee ETL/EDI initiatives, intelligent workflow redesigns, system integrations, and operational improvements.
• Approve business requirements prior to technical or AI solution design and implementation.
• Ensure initiatives deliver within scope, timeline, and budget with measurable business value.

Vendor, Stakeholder, and External Collaboration

• Lead strategic vendor relationships, including technology, security, and AI providers.
• Oversee vendor risk management related to data protection, system security, and compliance.
• Coordinate initiatives with vendors, UAB Hospital, and internal leadership.
• Represent information systems leadership in customer, partner, and stakeholder engagements as appropriate.

Financial Stewardship and Value Management

• Support budgeting, cost management, and investment prioritization for information systems, security, data, and AI initiatives.
• Provide ROI, cost-benefit, and risk-value analysis for technology and security investments.
• Ensure responsible stewardship of resources while advancing organizational capabilities.

People Leadership and Capability Development

• Provide senior leadership to IT, IS, and information security teams.
• Develop organizational technology, security, and AI literacy through training, coaching, and leadership engagement.
• Recruit, mentor, and retain high-performing technical, security, and leadership talent.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, collaboration, and responsible experimentation.

Communication and Change Leadership

• Act as a senior liaison between business units, technology teams, security functions, and leadership.
• Lead change management efforts related to technology modernization, security enhancements, and AI adoption.
• Facilitate cross-functional alignment and executive decision-making.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field
• 10 years’ experience in information technology
• 8 years’ experience in a supervisory/management role
• 8 years’ experience architecting and managing scalable, highly available enterprise application infrastructure
• Self-motivated, organized and detail oriented
• Analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to prioritize and execute tasks
• Skilled in the most current technologies and products used in the industry
• Hands on familiarity with DevOps or similar development and infrastructure management process
• Technical knowledge of networks, communications, and operating systems
• Knowledge of current standards, procedures, and protocols
• Ability to present ideas and solutions in a user-friendly language
• Available to work outside regular hours in emergency situations or as needed

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master’s degree in computer science or related field
• 10 years’ experience in a supervisory or management role
• Knowledge of the following technologies, systems, and applications but not limited to: MS SQL Server, MySQL, SAN, Mongo DB, Windows, Active Directory, VMWare, Tivoli, Linux/Unix, VPN, and LAN/WAN 
• Working knowledge of SQL