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Director, IT Applications

Dessert Holdings is the leading premium dessert company in the world. We craft artisanal, scratch-made desserts at scale, combining culinary innovation with the finest real ingredients. With a rich heritage spanning seven distinctive brands, we bring unmatched expertise and tailored solutions to our Retail and Foodservice partners.

The Director, IT Applications will be based in St. Paul, MN and lead the strategy, delivery, and ongoing optimization of enterprise business applications that enable operational excellence and scalable growth across the organization. This role is responsible for overseeing the company’s core application platforms—including ERP, supply chain, manufacturing, finance, and integrated digital systems—ensuring they are reliable, secure, and aligned with business priorities.

Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, the IT Director will lead a team of application professionals and vendor partners responsible for enterprise platform delivery, system enhancements, and operational support. The role works closely with business leaders across Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Commercial functions to drive technology-enabled innovation, improve operational performance, and support the company’s continued growth.

This leader will also play a key role in advancing the organization’s digital capabilities through the thoughtful activation of AI, automation, and advanced analytics within the enterprise applications ecosystem.

We do not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters and are unable to provide employment authorization sponsorship for this position.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead enterprise application strategy and delivery, ensuring business systems effectively support finance, supply chain, manufacturing, and commercial operations across multiple locations.
• Provide platform leadership for enterprise applications, including ERP and integrated systems within the Microsoft technology ecosystem (Dynamics 365, Azure, Power Platform), ensuring reliability, scalability, and strong operational performance.
• Drive innovation and digital enablement, identifying opportunities to leverage AI, automation, and advanced analytics to improve operational efficiency, decision-making, forecasting, and productivity.
• Partner closely with business leaders to translate operational priorities into scalable technology solutions that deliver measurable business value and support the company’s long-term growth strategy.
• Lead and develop a high-performing applications team, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, continuous improvement, and strong service delivery.
• Establish strong governance for enterprise application delivery, including project prioritization, release management, change control, and lifecycle management.
• Manage strategic relationships with system integrators, managed service providers, and technology vendors, ensuring high-quality service delivery and strong operational governance.
• Ensure enterprise applications support regulatory and financial compliance, including Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and IT General Controls (ITGC), and lead successful alignment with internal and external audit requirements.
• Lead organizational adoption of digital capabilities, helping business teams successfully leverage enterprise platforms and modern technologies to improve operational performance.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in enterprise applications or ERP leadership roles.
• Experience supporting manufacturing, supply chain, or consumer products environments.
• Proven experience leading ERP implementations, upgrades, or enterprise system transformations. (Prior experience with Microsoft Dynamics D365 is a plus.)
• Strong leadership experience managing internal teams and external system integration partners.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with senior business leaders and translate business needs into scalable technology solutions.
• Experience managing enterprise applications in cloud-based environments.
• Preferred qualifications include certifications in Microsoft Azure, Project Management (PMP), ITIL Foundation or ITIL 4, and Agile or Scrum.
• This position will require the ability to travel to manufacturing locations in the U.S. and Canada based on current priorities and initiatives.

About Dessert Holdings

Dessert Holdings is a collection of premium dessert companies and brands: The Original Cakerie, Lawler’s Desserts, Atlanta Cheesecake Company, Steven Charles, Dianne’s Fine Desserts, Kenny’s Great Pies, and Willamette Valley Pie Company. Dessert Holdings is owned by Bain Capital, is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, employs more than 3,500 people across ten manufacturing facilities, and is continuing its journey of rapid growth.

EEO Statement

Dessert Holdings and its related entities provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or any other characteristics protected by law.

We do not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters and are unable to provide employment authorization sponsorship for this position.

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