University of Michigan

Chief Applications Officer (CAO)

University of Michigan$160K — $200K *
Healthcare
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Healthcare Administration, or related field.
  • 15+ years of progressive IT leadership experience, with at least 10 years leading large-scale application organizations.
  • Experience managing complex enterprise application portfolios.
  • Deep understanding of clinical systems, ERP, revenue cycle, and enterprise platforms.
  • Proven ability to operate in large, matrixed, federated environments.

Responsibilities

  • Define and execute a unified enterprise application and platform strategy.
  • Manage applications and platforms as an integrated portfolio of products and capabilities.
  • Lead the strategy, delivery, and optimization of systems supporting patient care.
  • Oversee executive leadership for enterprise systems supporting financial and operational performance.
  • Ensure seamless integration across clinical, business, and enterprise platforms.
  • Lead modernization of application environments and enable emerging digital capabilities.
  • Build and lead high-performing teams across application development, optimization, and management.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive training and career development opportunities.
  • Generous retirement savings plans.
  • Ample paid time off.
  • Wealth of family care support.
Full Job Description
Job Summary

Michigan Medicine is seeking a Chief Applications Officer (CAO) to provide executive leadership for the strategy, delivery, lifecycle management, and performance of enterprise applications and platforms supporting clinical care, business operations, and shared enterprise capabilities.

Reporting to the Chief Digital & Information Officer (CDIO), the CAO is accountable for a comprehensive, integrated application portfolio that enables safe, high-quality patient care, operational excellence, financial performance, and a seamless digital experience across Michigan Medicine.

The CAO serves as the enterprise owner of application and platform capabilities, ensuring they are user-centered, interoperable, reliable, and aligned to strategic priorities. This role partners closely with the leaders of infrastructure and technology platforms, data and analytics, portfolio governance and delivery excellence, and academic research.

Organizational Scope (Authoritative Scope Definition)

The CAO provides end-to-end leadership across three core domains:

1. Clinical Applications
  • Inpatient, emergency, and critical care systems
  • Ambulatory and specialty care applications
  • Perioperative and procedural systems
  • Ancillary domains (lab, imaging, pharmacy, cardiology, etc.)
  • Post-acute and continuing care systems
  • Digital care delivery (virtual care, remote monitoring, hospital-at-home)

2. Business Applications
  • Revenue Cycle and Patient Financial Services
  • Patient Access, scheduling, registration, and contact center platforms
  • Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): finance, HR, supply chain
  • CRM, patient engagement, and consumer experience platforms
  • Corporate/shared services systems (legal, compliance, facilities, etc.)


3. Enterprise Platforms
  • Enterprise workflow and automation platforms (e.g., ServiceNow, low-code/no-code)
  • Integration and interoperability platforms (API management, middleware)
  • Digital front door platforms (patient portals, mobile apps, omnichannel experience)
  • Identity, access, and experience orchestration platforms (in partnership with Security and CX)
  • Enterprise productivity and collaboration platforms

These platforms serve as shared, cross-cutting application capabilities that enable consistency, speed, and scalability across all domains.

Responsibilities*

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Application & Platform Strategy

  • Define and execute a unified enterprise application and platform strategy aligned to Michigan Medicine's clinical, operational, and financial priorities.
  • Manage applications and platforms as an integrated portfolio of products and capabilities.
  • Partner with enterprise delivery leader to align with enterprise portfolio governance, prioritization, and investment planning.
  • Establish and enforce application lifecycle management, including modernization, rationalization, and technical debt reduction.


Clinical Applications Leadership

  • Lead the strategy, delivery, and optimization of systems that support the full continuum of patient care.
  • Ensure applications:
    • Enable safe, high-quality, efficient care delivery
    • Reduce clinician burden and cognitive load
    • Improve workflow integration and usability
  • Partner closely with:
    • Chief Health Information Officer and clinical informatics leaders
    • Customer Experience (adoption, support, training)


Business Applications Leadership

  • Provide executive oversight for enterprise systems supporting financial and operational performance.
  • Ensure business applications:
    • Enable revenue integrity, access, and operational efficiency
    • Provide accurate, integrated, and actionable information
    • Scale effectively across the enterprise
  • Drive modernization across ERP, CRM, and revenue cycle platforms to enable automation and end-to-end process integration.


Enterprise Platforms Leadership

  • Lead strategy and governance for shared enterprise application platforms that enable:
    • Workflow orchestration and automation
    • Digital experience and engagement
    • Integration across systems and domains
  • Establish platforms as reusable enterprise capabilities, reducing duplication and accelerating delivery.
  • Partner with:
    • Technology leaders for underlying infrastructure, hosting, and platform engineering.
    • Chief Data & AI Officer for data integration and analytics enablement.
    • Enterprise Delivery for platform prioritzation and scaled adoption.

Integration, Interoperability & Ecosystem Enablement

  • Ensure seamless integration across:
    • Clinical, business, and enterprise platforms
    • External systems, partners, and regulatory interfaces
  • Advance API-first, modular, and interoperable design principles.
  • Enable a cohesive digital ecosystem supporting patients, clinicians, researchers, and staff.


Delivery, Operations & Service Alignment

  • Partner with the Enterprise Delivery leader to:
    • Ensure disciplined, scalable execution across application initiatives
    • Align to enterprise Agile, Lean, and governance practices
  • Partner with Customer Experience to:
    • Ensure high-quality support, training, and service delivery
    • Drive adoption, usability, and satisfaction
  • Ensure application services meet availability, reliability, and performance expectations, aligned to patient-care criticality.


Modernization, Innovation & Digital Enablement

  • Lead modernization of application environments, including:
    • Cloud-enabled applications
    • Platform consolidation and standardization
    • Digital front door and omnichannel capabilities
  • Enable emerging digital capabilities such as:
    • Intelligent workflows embedded in applications
    • Consumer-grade digital experiences
    • Integrated care and operational journeys


Financial, Vendor & Workforce Leadership

  • Oversee application portfolio investment strategy, budgeting, and cost transparency.
  • Lead relationships with major vendors (EHR, ERP, CRM, platform providers).
  • Build and lead high-performing teams across:
    • Application development and engineering
    • Configuration and optimization
    • Product and platform management


Required Qualifications*
  • Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Healthcare Administration, or related field.
  • 15+ years of progressive IT leadership experience, including:
    • 10+ years leading large-scale application organizations
  • Demonstrated experience managing complex enterprise application portfolios.
  • Deep understanding of clinical systems, ERP, revenue cycle, and enterprise platforms.
  • Proven ability to operate in large, matrixed, federated environments.

Desired Qualifications*
  • Master's degree (MBA, MHA, MS, or similar).
  • Experience leading enterprise EHR environments (e.g., Epic).
  • Experience with enterprise platforms (ServiceNow, CRM, digital front door, integration platforms).
  • Experience in academic medical centers or large health systems.

Modes of Work

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes .

Additional Information

Benefits Information

We offer a benefits package that includes comprehensive training and career development opportunities, generous retirement savings plans, ample paid time off, and a wealth of family care support: https://careers.umich.edu/benefits/

Job Detail

Job Opening ID

282176

Working Title

Chief Applications Officer (CAO)

Job Title

Chief Appl Officer Healthcare

Work Location

Michigan Medicine - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI

Modes of Work

Hybrid

Full/Part Time

Full-Time

Regular/Temporary

Regular

FLSA Status

Exempt

Organizational Group

Exec Vp Med Affairs

Department

MM HITS OCIO Administration

Posting Begin/End Date

8/24/2026 - 8/31/2026

Career Interest

Information Technology

About University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan system. The University of Michigan was founded in 1817 in Detroit, as the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania, 20 years before the territory became a state. The school moved to Ann Arbor in 1837 onto 40 acres (16 ha) of what is now known as Central Campus. Since its establishment in Ann Arbor, the university campus has expanded to include more than 584 major buildings with a combined area of more than 34 million gross square feet (781 acres or 3.16 km²), and has two satellite campuses located in Flint and Dearborn. The University of Michigan is a founding member of the Association of American Universities.
Learn more about University of Michigan
Size
50,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1817

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