Technical Platform Owner, HR and ServiceNow Systems

WORK OPTION: Hybrid

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball.  Built around five professional sports leagues:  the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 214 countries and territories in 60 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2023-24 season featured a record 125 international players from 40 countries and territories.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass.  The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 2.3 billion likes and followers globally across all leagues, team and player platforms.  NBA Cares, the NBA’s global social responsibility platform, partners with renowned community-based organizations around the world to address important social issues in the areas of education, inclusion, youth and family development, and health and wellness. 

The NBA is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace.  To safeguard our employees and their families, our visitors, and the broader community from COVID-19, and in consideration of recommendations from health authorities and the NBA’s own advisors, any individual working onsite in our New York and New Jersey offices must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The NBA will discuss accommodations for individuals who cannot be vaccinated due to a medical reason or sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance.

Position Summary:

The Technical Platform Owner for HR and ServiceNow Systems will confidently define the strategic vision and create a prioritized roadmap for their assigned Enterprise Platform (HRIS and ServiceNow). The TPO will boldly and adeptly align system development with organizational goals, ensuring that the systems evolve seamlessly with the business. The TPO will also inspire departments across the League to leverage the system to achieve their goals and, in doing so, achieve scale, increase self-service capabilities, and deliver employee satisfaction.  

As the Technical Platform Owner, you will have the opportunity to provide strong technology leadership and deliver solutions to achieve broad automation and orchestration goals. This position plays a critical role in coaching pivotal stakeholders in the art of the possible, designing and delivering a core capability required to support key business processes with speed and scale, limiting manual intervention and improving accuracy. Success in this role requires cross-functional alignment, building a bold vision that energizes and excites department leaders across the League. You will start within IT and quickly leverage that success to champion and drive success across departments.

Major Responsibilities:

• Oversee, develop and implement strategic plans for the platform to meet the NBA’s objectives and goals.
• Gather operational successes from across industry – particularly other sports leagues’ implementations – review NBA progress in comparison and update strategic vision and action plan to achieve optimal success.
• Inspire cross-functional adoption of platform across League, driving vision of hub and spoke model to achieve operational efficiency. 
• Collaborate with other engineering teams and stakeholders to determine needs and requirements.
• Research and evaluate new infrastructure technologies and solutions to improve the platform's performance and functionality. Ensuring the platform is scalable, efficient, and secure by implementing best practices.
• Establish strategic KPIs for NBA IT department success, as well as cross-functional department success. 
• Monitor and analyze platform performance metrics and report on the platform's overall health to senior leadership.
• Oversee platform budget and align appropriately based on annual targets, ensuring alignment with company priorities and goals. 
• Develop and maintain relationships with vendors and service providers to ensure the platform's success. 
• Coordinate and lead testing efforts while contributing to the employee experience with end-user focus, collaboration, and transparency.

Required Education/Professional Experience:

• 8+ years of experience in the field or a related area.
• Master’s degree in computer science, math or engineering (or equivalent experience).
• Proven experience in cloud technologies and application architectures – including hands-on roles software design and development including Glide, scripting, business rules, client scripts, data imports, custom apps, and development methods

Required Skills/Knowledge Attributes:

• Skilled in business, technical management and people leadership – with a focus on developing, empowering and motivating technical staff. 
• Experience with Product Roadmap development and influencing key collaborators for consensus on business priorities. Ability to facilitate complex discussions.
• Demonstrated success in forging excellent relationships with key clients and stakeholders. 
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) with the proven ability to create business cases/ ROI statements that will gain support from business partners.
• Experience with Agile and Scrum methodologies and participating in the software development life cycle (SDLC)
• Experience creating quick proof-of-concepts for the customer
• Experience with ServiceNow ITSM, HCM or HR modules
• Flexible, able to adjust and change direction as the business-technology universe evolves and changes.
• Ability to work through conflict, gain trust and persuasively influence outcomes.
• ITIL v3 Foundations or ServiceNow Certification, including Certified Application Developer, Certified System Administrator, or ServiceNow Implementation Specialist Certification

Salary Range: $200,000 - $225,000 

The NBA does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms or any other third parties. Any unsolicited resume sent to the NBA will be considered NBA property, and the NBA will not pay a fee should it hire the subject of any unsolicited resume.

The NBA considers applicants for all positions on the basis of merit, qualifications, and business needs, and without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, alienage or citizenship status, ancestry, marital status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, veteran status, familial status, status as a victim of domestic violence, or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

About the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball.  Built around five professional sports leagues:  the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 215 countries and territories in more than 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2021-22 season featured a record 121 international players from 40 countries.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass.  The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with 2.1 billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms.  Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.