Job Description

Regular/Temporary

Regular

Job Title

Principal Lead Enterprise Applications & Integration

Job ID

72949

Location

Central Campus

Open Date

11/17/2025

Job Type

Continuing

Close Date

11/30/2025

Employee Group

Unifor Unit 1, Staff

Favorite Job

Department

UTS Applications & Data System

Salary Grade/Band

Grade 12

Salary Range

$41.82 - $62.71 (hourly)

Hours per Week

35

Posting Details

Schedule

Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Education Level

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Business, or a related field of study.

Career Level

Requires 6 years of relevant experience, including one year of supervisory experience.

Location

Central Campus (BSB)

Anticipated Start Date

January 5, 2026

At McMaster University, we strive to attract, develop, and retain talented faculty and staff, and to foster inclusive excellence which values the strengths, perspectives, and contributions of each individual. McMaster is one of the Top 70 Universities in the World and is recognized as Canada's Most Research-Intensive University. McMaster continues to be recognized as one of the top employers in the Hamilton/Niagara region and one of Canada's Top Diversity employers.


Our University Technology Services team mission is to provide exceptional customer service and a high level of support to the McMaster community. Critical to the success of this role we stand by and value integrity, mutual respect, collaboration and cooperation in support of the University's IT Strategic Vision of a connected One IT community.

About the Position

Data Systems and Integration Services is a unit within the University Technology Services (UTS) department and plays a critical role in advancing the institution's digital transformation. Our mission is to deliver high-impact, reliable, and forward-looking enterprise integration and data architecture solutions that support academic, research, and administrative priorities.


As part of this mission, the unit provides architectural leadership and collaborates closely with functional and technical stakeholders to ensure enterprise-wide architectural consistency and innovation. We focus on building a modern integration and data platform ecosystems that enables secure, scalable, and agile information exchange across business systems. This includes supporting digital data workflows, data governance, business intelligence, and cloud-native infrastructure.


We are seeking a Principal Lead Enterprise Applications & Integration to join the team with the following key responsibilities:

Serve as the senior technical expert, taking full accountability for coding, testing, and deployment of mission-critical system solutions. Define, communicate, and enforce programming standards and secure coding best practices, performing critical code reviews to minimize technical debt. Translate architectural blueprints into detailed, project-specific technical designs and ensure all solutions are compliant with enterprise standards. Champion the effective use of CI/CD pipelines and version control workflows (e.g. Git/Azure DevOps) to streamlines and stabilize software delivery processes. Lead in-depth client interviews, conduct feasibility studies, and translate complex business process flows into formal functional specifications and clear technical requirements. Act as the technical coordinator, managing work assignments, scheduling, and monitoring progress to ensure projects are completed within specified timelines and methodologies. Serve as the primary technical and consulting resource and point of contact for departments. Actively ensure all solutions comply with institutional data governance, IT Security and privacy policies and guidelines, minimizing risk exposure throughout the development cycle.

Skills and Qualifications:

Expert proficiency in at least one enterprise programming language (e.g. Java, .NET, Python) and associated frameworks. Advanced knowledge of SQL and database design (relational and/or NoSQL) principles, along with experience developing and integrating via RESTful APIs and web services. Working experience with cloud services, preferably Azure, for deployment, infrastructure management, and integration services. Experience with code version control (Git), branching strategies, automated testing frameworks, and applying CI/CD and DevOps principles. Proven experience designing, developing, and deploying enterprise-level applications and integrations across the full software development lifecycle. Strong background in functional analysis, requirements elicitation, gap analysis, and the ability to translate complex business needs into clear technical specifications. Demonstrated ability to conduct code reviews, enforce coding standards, and manage technical debt effectively. Proven ability to interpret and apply high-level architectural standards and patterns in detailed, project-specific technical designs.

Job Summary

The Lead Business Systems acts as a primary technical and consulting resource to various University departments and units with respect to the planning, implementation, and maintenance of information technology systems. Supports the University's academic and administration departments by acting in a functional capacity in all phases of the Project Life Cycle for medium to large projects, including post-production support and ongoing maintenance. Continuously gains an understanding of the University's operations and processes and how systems are used in support of those operations. Provides supervision to a team of Business Systems Analysts.

Key Responsibilities

Manage work assignments of internal staff and schedule and monitor adherence to procedures, protocols, and standards. Act as an on-site project manager responsible for managing projects from inception to completion. Plan and establish project framework and identify project milestones to ensure the project is completed according to project specifications and within specified timelines. Design, develop, establish, and evaluate functional specifications for a variety of highly complex University application systems. Complete feasibility studies and cost benefit analyses and translate technical flow into business terms. Provide ongoing technical direction to Business Systems Analysts within the team and periodically to other technical staff assigned to relevant projects. Coach and mentor junior staff in order to ensure a highly motivated and technically competent team. Evaluate work product to ensure adherence to established functional and operational specifications. Conduct in-depth client interviews to determine business process flows and rules. Manage work assignments of internal staff and schedule and monitor adherence to procedures, protocols, and standards. Accountable for the clarification, rationalization and documentation of project requests. Approve production migrations according to project involvement. Develop and lead end user training. Partner with the technical team to maintain the information technology issues database, create new issues, and track the status of open issues. Participate in the development of capital project charters and cost justifications. Serve as the primary contact point with the user community. Responsible for integration and release management. Facilitate large group business development planning sessions. Ensure appropriate business participation in information technology projects. Utilize the appropriate control tools to coordinate projects according to Project Management Office methodologies. Develop success criteria and risk assessments for projects and changes. Develop, implement, and document best practices to align with departmental and University strategies and processes. Work independently with users to define concepts. Drive and challenge business units on their assumptions of how they will successfully execute their plans. Collaborate with developers and subject matter experts to establish the technical vision and analyze tradeoffs between usability and performance needs. Critically evaluate information gathered from multiple sources, reconcile conflicts, decompose high-level information into details, abstract up from low-level information to a general understanding, and distinguish user requests from the underlying true needs. Conduct gap analyses. Ensure that projects meet specified functionality requirements. Perform advanced levels of analysis, problem solving and research skills to formulate solutions to complex business needs. Perform the functional analysis for production support activities and advise business users in the analysis of less complex issues. Work with project stakeholders to understand project scope and create test documents. Manage all phases of testing including, but not limited to, system, integration, acceptance, regression, and performance. Document system functionality, particularly related to new enhancements. Develop and maintain information technology process flow, methodology, and control documentation. Assist with the development of project proposals and estimates. Elicit requirements using interviews, document analysis, requirement workshops, surveys, site visits, business process descriptions, use cases, scenarios, business analysis, and task and workflow analysis. Analyze information needs and functional requirements and deliver artifacts such as functional requirements, business process models, use cases, screen and interface designs, test plans and test cases. Take ownership of functional issues by identifying underlying problems, analyzing potential solutions and implementing system resolutions, including workarounds. Provide Level III post implementation support to users regarding functional issues. Work with the development team to determine technical approaches and technical risks for project testing. Develop requirement specifications according to standard templates, using natural language. Work closely with testing team members to ensure that requirements are testable. Prepare and assist other testers with the creation of test cases. Identify and manage defects identified during all phases of a project. Review test cases created by testing team members to ensure that the test cases adequately define the business processes. Resolve problems in the test, production implementation, and post-implementation phases in coordination with other technical and business groups. Develop simple queries using basic Business Intelligence tools. Review systems, processes, and information and provide recommendations to supervisor. Serve as the conduit between the Project Management Office and development teams through which requirements flow. Liaise between the technology and support teams. Communicate project, issue, and system status to others. Communicate testing results to other stakeholders. Facilitate effective dialog between technical staff. Interact with and exchange information with colleagues. Follow a test script and document defects. Prepare and review recommendations and other project initiation documents. Prepare and review end user and operations documentation, training materials, and timelines. Maintain information technology process flow, methodology, and control documentation. Work with others to prioritize and schedule issues resolution. Plan, schedule, and monitor own work within short time horizons. Organize individual time, work and resources to accomplish objectives in the most effective and efficient way. Understand and use appropriate methods, tools, and applications to complete work tasks. Demonstrate a rational and organized approach to work and identify development opportunities. Absorb technical information when it is presented systematically and apply it effectively. Use measurement methods to monitor progress toward goal attainment, tenaciously working to meet or exceed those goals, while deriving satisfaction from the process of goal achievement and continuous improvement. Ensure that the internal and external customer perspective is a driving force behind decisions and activities. Follow service practices that meet customers' and University needs. Interact with others in a way that gives them confidence in one's intentions and those of the University. Work collaboratively with others to achieve departmental and institutional goals. Actively participate as a member of a team to move the team toward the completion of goals. Perform a range of varied work activities in a variety of structured environments. Successfully engage in multiple initiatives simultaneously. Apply and enforce department change control policies and procedures. Acquire and maintain a basic understanding of Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing principles. Read and understand complex Business Process Diagrams and develop basic (Level II) models. Read and understand a complex project plan and develop simple project plans. Remain current with relevant development and project methodologies. Remain current with security policies and procedures and work with System Administrators to implement security changes. Remain current with the different levels of testing and develop simple use cases and test scripts.

Assets

Prior work in a university or public sector IT environment Familiarity with academic research computing, academic ERP systems, or and learning technologies Knowledge of data governance frameworks and privacy regulations Professional Certifications: PMP (Project Management Professional) or similar o ITIL certification o Azure Developer Associate, or similar security/developer certifications Proficiency in enterprise integration platforms and APIs Understanding of data governance and analytics platforms Working knowledge of Azure services for application deployment Experience with reporting tools (e.g. Power BI) Experience with PeopleSoft ERP system Experience with ITSM tools

Employment Equity Statement

McMaster University is located on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Mississauga Nations and within the lands protected by the "Dish With One Spoon" wampum agreement.


The diversity of our workforce is at the core of our innovation and creativity and strengthens our research and teaching excellence. In keeping with its Statement on Building an Inclusive Community with a Shared Purpose, McMaster University strives to embody the values of respect, collaboration and diversity, and has a strong commitment to employment equity.


The University seeks qualified candidates who share our commitment to equity and inclusion, who will contribute to the diversification of ideas and perspectives, and especially welcomes applications from indigenous (First Nations, Metis or Inuit) peoples, members of racialized communities, persons with disabilities, women, and persons who identify as 2SLGBTQ+.


As part of McMaster's commitment, all applicants are invited to complete a confidential Applicant Diversity Survey through the online application submission process. The Survey questionnaire requests voluntary self-identification in relation to equity-seeking groups that have historically faced and continue to face barriers in employment. Please refer to the Applicant Diversity Survey - Statement of Collection for additional information.


Job applicants requiring accommodation to participate in the hiring process should contact:

Human Resources Service Centre at 905-525-9140 ext. 222-HR (22247), or Faculty of Health Sciences HR Office at ext. 22207, or School of Graduate Studies at ext. 23679

to communicate accommodation needs.

Hybrid Work Language

To ensure an ongoing and vibrant University community that meets the needs of our students, staff and faculty and supports the University mission, ability to work on-site continues to be a requirement for most University positions. The University is supportive of exploring flexible work arrangements that effectively balance operational needs and employee interests.

Interview Experience

At McMaster University, we believe in a comprehensive and inclusive interview process. Our interview methods encompass a variety of approaches that allow our hiring teams to provide a flexible and accessible experience for engaging with our candidates. Throughout your recruitment process at McMaster, you may be requested to participate in a variety of formats, that may include in-person, virtual or recorded interviews. If you have any questions as you move through the hiring process, please reach out to talent@mcmaster.ca or the HR contact associated with your position of interest.