Lead Application Support Engineer

Lead Application Support Engineer

Join our team and be part of something truly transformational! Under the name of CareGard Warranty Services, Automotive Financial Group (AFG) was founded in 1994. Within the past 30 years, AFG has become a leader in vehicle service contracts and protection products. Through partnerships with car dealerships, finance companies, and automotive manufacturers (OEM), CareGard has redefined the standards of service in the automotive industry. Driven by a profound mission to enhance the automotive landscape, CareGard has tirelessly worked towards nurturing talent and fostering a culture rooted in values of trust and reliability. Today, it stands as a titan among extended warranty providers, celebrated for its exceptional Google ratings and unwavering commitment to excellence. Excellence is in our DNA. At CareGard, we are always looking for the best talent on the planet. Our people have an ownership mentality in everything we do. We exude initiative, accountability, and an unyielding pursuit of excellence. Our culture is built on integrity, innovation, and passion. Together, these values create an atmosphere that allows us to surpass customer expectations and cultivate deep-seated relationships built on trust. As we chart our course through new and existing growth opportunities, we invite those who dare to dream, who are dedicated to becoming the finest versions of themselves, and who approach challenges with a visionary problem-solving mindset to grow with us.

Summary: The Lead Application Support Engineer role is responsible for leading a team that administers applications critical for the operations of the business and resolving technical support tickets related to these systems. This role works closely with engineering and operations to troubleshoot problems, identify requirements, apply systems changes, report updates, and support users via user interface changes or changes applied via SQL or other simple scripts and support users by managing complex system configurations, conducting deep technical research, and applying software engineering skillsets via SQL, Python, or other scripts to resolve advanced issues.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the Application Support discipline at AFG
• Report to executives the health of the team operations
• Establish, manage, report, and meet SLA's
• Respond to and resolve application support tickets in a timely manner that meets our internal SLA goals
• Perform complex system configuration management and software modifications following strict change management procedures.
• Modify, build, and execute simple scripts (Python/SQL) to investigate and resolve data-related issues or meet configuration needs
• Conduct deep technical research and root-cause analysis on system behavior using software engineering skillsets before escalating to core dev teams
• Escalate complex issues to engineering
• Maintain accurate records of issues, resolutions, and changes via our ticketing system
• Support system stability by following established processes and controls
• Develop and maintain deep functional knowledge of the applications used in business operations to effectively support end users
• Document and improve processes
• Perform quality assurance validations
• Join an on-call rotation

Location: This is an onsite role in Grapevine, Texas. Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor work visas.

Skills & Qualifications:

• Experience in a technical application support, production support, or similar operational role
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills across application and data issues
• Working knowledge of SQL for querying and updating data
• Familiarity with change management, environment configurations, and deployment controls within a technical software department.
• Ability to follow documented procedures while exercising sound judgment when troubleshooting
• Strong written communication skills for documenting issues, resolutions, and escalations
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple support requests while meeting SLA expectations
• Comfort working cross-functionally with engineering and operations
• Detail-oriented with a focus on system stability and accuracy
• Ability to learn and support multiple applications used in daily business operations