Application Development Lead, #W5003

5107419

Richmond, Virginia, United States

Department of Social Services

Information Technology

Full-Time (Salaried)

Closing at: Jul 11 2026 - 23:55 EDT

Department of Social Services

Title: Application Development Lead, #W5003

State Role Title: Info Technology Specialist III

Hiring Range: $132,000 - $139,000 per year (salary commensurate with experience)

Pay Band: 6

Agency: Department of Social Services

Location: DSS HOME OFFICE

Agency Website: https://www.dss.virginia.gov/

Recruitment Type: Agency Employee Only - A

Job Duties

At the Virginia Department of Social Services, we put people at the center of everything we do. We believe that every Virginian can live a life of dignity and that all voices, ideas and experiences contribute greatly to our pursuit of excellence. Inspired by continuous improvement, we commit ourselves to listening, learning and cultivating environments of trust, respect and positive engagement. Together, we are mission-driven, eager to achieve, and passionate about bringing the best of who we are to those we serve.

We design and deliver high-quality human services that help Virginians achieve safety, independence and overall well-being. We are a $2 billion agency – one of the largest in the Commonwealth of Virginia – partnering with 120 local departments of social services and 31 community action agencies, along with faith-based and non-profit organizations, to promote the well-being of children, adults, and families statewide. We proudly serve alongside 1,650 (state) and 12,200 (local) human services professionals throughout the Social Services System, who ensure that thousands of Virginia’s most vulnerable citizens have easy access to the services and benefits available to them.

Application Development Lead develops and maintains the ITS application development catalogue offerings such as: MS Power Apps, JAVA, and ORACLE solutions requiring advanced analysis, research and design. Work on small to large complex projects that require advanced skill in multiple technical environments to produce integrated solutions to resolve highly complex technical and business issues to serve a diverse audience with varied proficiencies. The lead position provides technical guidance to Application Developers.

The Application Development Lead supports analysis and development of application design, performance monitoring, systems analysis, and quality assurance and integration methodologies. The Developer designs, writes, tests, debugs, troubleshoots, and leverages division approved open source/new/COTS/reused source code across the enterprise and guides other developers in these functions.

Application Development Lead plays a lead role in project management with analysis and research on technical efforts requiring development resources; communicating problems & project risks; designs technical requirements for the project managers/teams; guides and directs work on multiple projects and ensures proper usage as part of the design efforts in building a system to be put into production.

Application Development Lead works closely with Enterprise Architecture and Infrastructure & Operations teams and guides other developers to ensure the solutions developed conform to the prescribed architecture; follows VDSS approved standards and processes; ensures solutions are complaint with all security protocols and guidelines; and seeks/obtains input from Enterprise Architecture on items that are architecturally significant and thereby affect development design/approach/solution.

The Application Development Lead prepares system documents and constructs code to deliver quality, cost effective and timely deliverables according to the department’s lifecycle development approach. This includes, but not limited to:

Clarifying requests for solutions, enhancements or system changes.

Performing estimate analysis on requests, tickets or proposals.

Analyzing user requirements, documents and requests to develop effective automated solutions.

Maintaining production code, programs and supporting test plans.

The Application Development Lead will provide direct support to ITS and other developers.

Minimum Qualifications

Experience working extensively in all phases of a project development life cycle from Requirements analysis, Design, Implementation, Testing, Documentation, Standard reviews and Maintenance support.

Experience leading teams in an agile or similar development environment.

Experience developing through all phases of Project Life Cycle: Analysis, Design, Build, Testing, and Deployment using Iterative, AGILE and waterfall models of project development.

Experience with RDBMS, SQL, Java Script, jQuery, Ajax, and/or XML / XSLT, JavaScript, HTML and CSS, JSON.

Experience using defect tracking and source code utilities, such as: GIT CI/CD, JIRA and/or Rational software or equivalent toolset.

Experience in Object Oriented Analysis and Design, UML

Experience in the design and development of SOA for publishing as well as consuming web services, development of Workflows for exposing Web services using SOAP and Restful.

Experience working on relational databases (Oracle, MS SQL Server)

Experience on Eclipse-Based IDE’s including Rational Application Developer, Visual Studio, VS Code or equivalent

Experience with Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), Active Directory or similar directory services.

Experience in using SQL Developer and working with SQL IDEs

KSA’s and/or Competencies required to successfully perform the work:

Ability to lead others by providing technical guidance and establishing priorities.

Ability to perform advanced application design with a high degree of independence

Ability to perform dynamic integration of emerging technology and re-integrate into existing applications

Ability to develop domain and data models and prototypes for application design

Ability to validate relational database design schemas and models

Ability to determine maintenance requirements for an application

Skilled in the interpretation of application program specifications and requirements analysis documents

Ability to incorporate security requirement into an application

Ability to create and test prototypes as part of the development process

Ability to test and validate applications by developing unit test scripts to interpret test results, make recommendations and support user acceptance testing

Ability to implement, support and maintain applications by developing a release and training plan

Ability to transition and application to a new system, infrastructure or cloud solution

Ability to evaluate, implement and document application enhancements

Ability to provided production support to ITS application solutions

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

A thorough understanding of the SDLC development lifecycle including post-production implementation tasks/deliverables.

Additional Considerations

Knowledge of Enterprise Service Bus or iPaaS (Integration Platform-as-a-Service) such as: Mulesoft or IBM IB (integration bus)

Knowledge of Rules Engine such as IBM ODM (Operational Decision Manager) or Corticon BRMS (Business Rules Management Engine

Hands on work experience in various platform technologies such as Apex, JAVA, .net code development

Experience in systems multi-tiered platforms such as MS PowerApps, Salesforce and/or PEGA

Experience in documenting the design and construction of system using UML diagrams and other artifacts

Experience in presenting artifacts to the enterprise or senior management

Experience in production support of systems, including analyzing and correcting trouble reports, managing production support processes.

Special Instructions

You will be provided a confirmation of receipt when your application and/or résumé is submitted successfully. Please refer to “Your Application” in your account to check the status of your application for this position.

Selected candidate(s) must successfully pass a fingerprint-based criminal history background check. A record of criminal history does not automatically bar an applicant from consideration. Employment verification will be conducted to include current/previous supervisory employment reference checks.

VDSS will record information from each new employee’s Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) into the Federal E-Verify system to confirm identity and work authorization.

To be considered for this position, you must submit a Commonwealth of Virginia application or resume through the on-line “Virginia Jobs” (PageUp) employment site no later than 11:55 p.m. on the closing date listed. Each application is reviewed for documentation that shows the applicant meets the minimum and additional considerations as stated in the job announcement. The decision to interview an applicant is based on the information provided. Multiple positions may be filled from this recruitment within 90 days of the closing date.

In addition to a rewarding work experience, VDSS offers excellent health and life insurance benefits, pre-tax spending accounts, state funded Short and Long Term Disability, paid holidays, vacation, tuition assistance, free wellness programs, and a state retirement plan with options for tax-deferred retirement savings including employer matching – Employee Benefits.

VDSS does not provide sponsorship.

This position may be eligible for telework opportunities; availability, hours, and duration will be in accordance with the Commonwealth’s Teleworking policy.

VDSS is an official certified state agency that values the service and experience of our Veterans. As such, Veterans are encouraged to apply and receive preference in the hiring process. AmeriCorps, Peace Corps and other national service alumni also are encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodations are available to applicants, if requested, during the application and/or interview process.

If you have been affected by Policy 1.30 Layoff as a state employee and possess a valid Interagency Placement Screening Form (Yellow Form) or a Preferential Hiring Card (Blue Card), you must submit this document through the “Virginia Jobs” (PageUp) employment site when you apply.

Contact Information

Name: VDSS – Division of Human Resources

Phone: dssrecruitment@dss.virginia.gov

Email: dssrecruitment@dss.virginia.gov

In support of the Commonwealth’s commitment to inclusion, we are encouraging individuals with disabilities to apply through the Commonwealth Alternative Hiring Process. To be considered for this opportunity, applicants will need to provide their AHP Letter (formerly COD) provided by the Department for Aging & Rehabilitative Services (DARS), or the Department for the Blind & Vision Impaired (DBVI). Service-Connected Veterans are encouraged to answer Veteran status questions and submit their disability documentation, if applicable, to DARS/DBVI to get their AHP Letter. Requesting an AHP Letter can be found at AHP Letter or by calling DARS at 800-552-5019.

Note: Applicants who received a Certificate of Disability from DARS or DBVI dated between April 1, 2022- February 29, 2024, can still use that COD as applicable documentation for the Alternative Hiring Process.