Lead Technical Designer, Information Technology

University of Ottawa

$104K — $129K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • University degree in Computer Science, IT, or related field, or equivalent experience
  • 10+ years experience in a complex IT environment
  • 5+ years in application development and implementation
  • Strong PHP backend development experience
  • Solid experience with React and modern UI architectures
  • Expertise in designing REST APIs and microservices
  • Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing
  • Familiarity with AI technologies and their integration into PHP applications
  • Bilingual in French and English.

Responsibilities

  • Direct the development team on application design and mission-critical systems
  • Design and develop application solutions and enhancements
  • Collaborate with IT Manager to plan and assign tasks to technical resources
  • Conduct in-depth reviews of functional options before customization
  • Analyze complex business requirements and validate proposed solutions
  • Ensure adherence to development standards and design frameworks
  • Document best practices for development activities

Benefits

  • Hybrid working model
  • Professional development opportunities
  • Access to advanced technology tools
  • Collaborative work environment
  • Comprehensive health benefits
  • Supportive workplace culture
  • Opportunities for advancements and leadership roles.
Full Job Description
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Posting Reason:
Replacement of a temporary position

Job Type:
Employee

Anticipated Duration in Months (for contracts and temporary assignments):
12

Job Family:
Application Development

# of Open Positions:
1

Faculty/Service - Department:
Application Development, Information Technology

Campus:
Main Campus

Union Affiliation:
UOITP

Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD):
2026/08/27

Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD):
2026/09/07

Hours per week:
35

Salary Grade:
UOITP Grade 12

Salary Range:
$104,333.00 - $129,723.00

Position Purpose
Reporting to the Senior Manager, Information Technology, the incumbent designs and implements solutions to support the University's business objectives. Is involved in all phases of systems analysis, the planning of system development and the technical design University wide. The systems impacted include large-scale mission critical systems. Provides leadership and guidelines in the implementation of application solutions, ensuring the use of best practices and adhering to the architectural roadmap. Works with IT managers and Application Managers to plan, estimate, prioritize and assign work to technical resources. Supports and maintains operational applications and works on the design, testing and improvement of the applications that support various endeavours. Works with minimum supervision and acts as a specialist with a deep knowledge of complex technologies to enable and support critical University-wide systems and the supporting technologies.

In this role, your responsibilities will include:
  • Planning, Design and Deployment: Directs the development team with respect to application design guidance based on a thorough understanding of the appropriate mission-critical systems and their underlying technology.
  • Designs and develops solutions and production enhancements using the appropriate tools and technology.
  • Team Lead: Works with the IT Manager to plan, estimate, prioritize and assign work to technical resources. Provides advice to staff regarding system development methods, design alternatives and technical options.
  • Support and Consulting: Works closely with the Tech team to perform an in depth review of suitable options and of the existence of delivered functionality before customizing. Provides supporting documentation to request and justify any customization.
  • Development Life Cycle: Analyzes complex business requirements, assist in fit/gap analysis, evaluates system impacts, architecture design and validate proposed solutions and write supporting technical design document, work on implementation, QA testing and migration as appropriate.
  • Methods, tools, techniques and standards: Ensures development standards and design frameworks are adhered to by the development team.
  • Leads the efforts to document best practices for development activities related to a particular system.


What you will bring:
  • A University degree in Computer Science or Information Technology or a related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
  • Minimum 10 years of experience in a complex and diverse IT environment.
  • Minimum 5 years of experience in application development and implementation.
  • Strong hands-on experience with PHP for backend development and enterprise applications.
  • Solid experience with modern front-end technologies, including React, and UI architectures.
  • Proven expertise in designing and developing REST APIs and system integrations using PHP, with experience in service-oriented and microservices architectures.
  • Experience providing technical leadership and architectural guidance across PHP, frontend, and integration technologies.
  • Experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines.
  • Strong understanding of automated testing, code quality gates, versioning strategies, secure coding practices, and deployment automation.
  • Experience using AI technologies (LLMs, chatbots, agentic AI, copilots) to enhance applications, automate workflows, and improve developer productivity.
  • Familiarity with integrating AI services and APIs into PHP-based applications is considered a strong asset.
  • In-depth analytical skills for complex problem solving - identification, diagnosis, resolution.
  • Proven experience leading development teams or technical projects.
  • Ability to design end-to-end business system solutions in a complex application and technology environment.
  • Excellent communication skills and ability to translate technical concepts for diverse audiences.
  • Ability to keep abreast of new/emerging technologies.
  • Bilingualism - French and English (written and spoken).


#LI-Hybrid #LI-DP1

Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa:

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

#LI-Hybrid #LI-DP1

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