Vice President of Software Engineering

Vice President of Software Engineering

Type: Full Time Direct Hire Location: Pittsburgh, PA (may consider remote) Salary: Open; Dependent On Experience Scope and Impact The VP of Software Engineering is accountable for the output, health, and growth of the software engineering function, and for ensuring engineering is a force multiplier—not simply an execution function. This includes establishing a clear organizational structure with well-defined ownership and strong engineering leadership; leveling up the team through coaching and leadership development; ensuring scalable development processes, norms, and expectations; and investing in the tools, standards, and practices required to deliver reliable, secure, compliant software. In parallel, the VP stays close enough to the work to shape technical direction, remove friction, and actively engage in cross-cutting, platform-level initiatives and new product efforts that expand the company into new stakeholder groups (e.g., Pharma and Medical). Success in this role depends on quickly becoming a technical subject-matter expert on the company's platform—from core services and APIs to data pipelines, scalability patterns, and operational workflows—and using that depth to assess tradeoffs, guide investment, and partner credibly across Product, Technology Services, and Operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Leads the software engineering organization, including engineering leaders and senior individual contributors, setting clear expectations for performance, delivery, quality, and professional growth.
• Builds and develops a durable engineering leadership bench through coaching, feedback, succession planning, and leadership development; identifies capability gaps and fills them through hiring, development, and organizational design.
• Establishes a clear organizational structure with well-defined ownership across teams and systems; ensures the operating model scales as the company and platform grow.
• Defines and evolves engineering standards, tools, and practices (architecture, coding standards, testing strategy, CI/CD, observability, incident response) to deliver enterprise-grade, well-tested solutions with quality as a core priority.
• Owns engineering delivery outcomes and predictability: planning, prioritization, dependency management, risk mitigation, and transparent communication of status, tradeoffs, and investment needs to executive leadership.
• Partners deeply with Product leadership to drive shared ownership of outcomes, align roadmap and sequencing, and ensure the organization is building the right things with strong collaboration and trust.
• Stays actively engaged in key engineering initiatives with the highest leverage, including cross-cutting efforts that span teams and products, platform-level work that strengthens the foundation, and new products that expand the company new stakeholder groups (e.g., Pharma and Medical).
• Shapes technical direction and architecture at the appropriate level—setting guardrails, reviewing critical designs, and ensuring teams can move faster and safer without creating undue centralization.
• Applies AI pragmatically to power systems, improve the value delivery stream, and introduce meaningful automation that helps the company scale efficiently; sets responsible expectations for evaluation, quality, and operationalization.
• Ensures the engineering organization adheres to secure development practices and compliance standards (HIPAA, HITRUST, SOC2) appropriate to company's healthcare data environment, partnering with Security and Compliance as needed.
• Develops strong cross-functional partnerships with Technology Services and Operations to ensure end-to-end system reliability, scalable operational workflows, and effective incident and change management.
• Owns or contributes to budget, headcount planning, vendor relationships, and tooling investments; represents engineering's capabilities, constraints, and strategy in company-level planning and strategic discussions.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Minimum 10+ years of software engineering experience with a demonstrated track record of progressive leadership, including 5+ years leading managers and/or multiple teams
• Proven ability to build, develop, and retain high-performing engineering organizations, including leadership development, performance management, and intentional organizational design
• Strong technical foundation with the ability to engage credibly in architectural discussions, assess technical tradeoffs, and guide strategy across services, APIs, data pipelines, scalability patterns, and operational workflows
• Experience establishing and scaling engineering processes, delivery practices, and quality standards across multiple teams to support predictable delivery and high reliability
• Demonstrated ability to build strong partnerships with Product and cross-functional leaders, driving shared ownership of outcomes and healthy, high-trust collaboration
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate between technical and business contexts and communicate effectively at executive level
• Experience operating in a regulated environment with an understanding of compliance requirements (HIPAA, HITRUST, SOC2) as they apply to software development
• Strong operational instincts with a disciplined approach to delivery planning, risk management, and resource allocation
• Proficiency with company's technology stack: Python, React, SQL, and Azure or AWS cloud services
• Healthcare technology experience, particularly in specialty pharmacy, benefits management, or payer/provider integration
• Experience managing engineering organizations through significant growth, platform modernization, or architectural transformation
• Experience with modern engineering measurement practices (flow metrics, DORA metrics, probabilistic forecasting)
• Experience applying AI/ML in production systems (or enabling AI-assisted workflows) in a pragmatic, quality-focused way, including evaluation and operational considerations
• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field