Remote Sr. Software Engineering Manager/Coach

Speridian Technologies is recruiting for a Sr. Software Engineering Manager/Coach for our State of California Client, the Department of Healthcare Services, Behavioral Health. This person will be part of a long-term, fully budgeted, state-of-the-art, extremely vast technical modernization project working with a variety of cross-functional teams and stakeholders.

This is a remote role; however, there will be meetings in the Sacramento area several times a year. Candidates are expected to work business hours, Monday-Friday, Pacific Time Zone.

Join DHCS’s Behavioral Health Transformation: Where Purpose Meets Innovation
Location: Remote
Department: Department of Healthcare Services (DHCS), Behavioral Health Transformation (BHT)
Commitment: Full-Time Consultant (W2 employee of Speridian or 1099/IC for Speridian)

Why DHCS?
At DHCS we are leading a transformative journey in Behavioral Health, reshaping systems and services to ensure better outcomes for communities across California. Our Behavioral Health transformation initiative is more than a project—it’s a movement to make California a leader in accessible, high-quality health services. We’re setting the stage for a new era of government services built on agile methodologies, cutting-edge technology, continuous improvement, and a relentless commitment to serving the public good.
At DHCS, we’re looking for innovators who are passionate about purposeful work and excited by the opportunity to drive lasting change through innovative solutions.

Our core values are what make us successful and define the impact we have on the DHCS program and California’s citizens. Partnership: Respect Other, Practice Empathy, Earn Trust
Ownership: Take Accountability, Show Reliability, Act with Integrity
Grit: Bring Passion, Exhibit Perseverance, Demonstrate Resilience
Value: Drive Outcomes, Maximize Impact, Keep Improving
Are you ready to transform how government delivers technology to millions of Californians? Join the Department of Healthcare Services (DHCS) as a Senior Engineering Manager, where youll lead the charge in modernizing critical healthcare systems that directly impact the lives of our states most vulnerable populations.

As a Senior Engineering Manager, youll command a team of engineers building next-generation platforms that process billions in healthcare transactions and serve millions of residents daily. This isnt maintaining legacy systems – this is architecting the future of government technology with modern cloud-native solutions, microservices, and cutting-edge DevOps practices. Your technical decisions will directly influence healthcare outcomes for real people, making government work at the speed of Silicon Valley while maintaining the stability of mission-critical infrastructure. DHCS offers a unique opportunity to apply private-sector engineering excellence to public-sector impact at unprecedented scale. Youll have the autonomy to build your team, shape technical strategy, and drive measurable business outcomes with full P&L ownership. Our remote-first culture emphasizes results over process, and your leadership will be instrumental in setting new standards for what government technology can achieve.
Were seeking a technical leader who combines deep engineering expertise with business acumen – someone who can debate system architecture with principal engineers while articulating ROI to executives, and who believes that government technology should be as innovative and user-centric as the best consumer products.

Responsibilities & Outcomes
1. Technical Leadership & Architecture
Drive technical strategy and architecture decisions for teams domain
Conduct architecture reviews and ensure alignment with enterprise standards
Champion engineering best practices including code quality, testing, and documentation
Make critical technical trade-off decisions balancing delivery speed with technical sustainability
Outcome: Teams deliver technically sound solutions that scale and maintain long-term viability
2. Business Ownership & Financial Accountability Own business metrics and ROI for engineering investments within teams domain
Develop and track cost-benefit analyses for technical initiatives and architectural decisions
Manage team budget including contractor costs, tooling, and infrastructure spend
Translate engineering work into business value and financial impact for stakeholders
Drive efficiency improvements that reduce operational costs while maintaining quality
Outcome: Engineering decisions driven by business value with clear ROI and financial accountability
3. People Management & Development Manage, mentor, and develop a team of 10-20 software engineers
Conduct regular 1:1s focused on career development and performance
Execute performance management including promotions, improvement plans, and difficult conversations
Build diverse, inclusive teams through thoughtful hiring and team composition
Outcome: High-performing teams with strong retention, clear growth paths, and engaged engineers
4. Engineering Excellence & Quality Establish and maintain engineering standards for code quality, testing, and operations
Drive continuous improvement in development practices and tooling
Ensure appropriate technical debt management and remediation
Implement metrics and monitoring for system reliability and performance
Outcome: Consistent delivery of high-quality, reliable software with reduced production incidents
5. Cross-functional Partnership Partner with Delivery Manager on execution and timeline management
Collaborate with Product Management on technical feasibility and solution design
Work with other engineering teams on integration points and shared infrastructure
Communicate technical concepts and trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders
Outcome: Strong partnerships enabling smooth delivery and aligned technical decisions
6. Talent Strategy & Team Building Lead technical interviews and hiring decisions for engineering roles
Develop team skills through mentoring, training, and stretch assignments
Identify and cultivate future technical leaders
Build team culture emphasizing ownership, innovation, and continuous learning
Outcome: Strong talent pipeline with engineers growing into senior and leadership roles

Required Qualifications
Proven track record managing engineering teams of 20+ members
Experience owning P&L or budget responsibility for technical teams or products
Demonstrated ability to connect engineering work to business outcomes and ROI
Experience building and shipping production software systems at scale
Strong background in modern software development practices and cloud technologies
Demonstrated ability to make architectural decisions and technical trade-offs
Experience with full software development lifecycle from design through operations
Track record of developing engineers and building strong engineering cultures
Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience
Technical Languages & Frameworks: Proficiency in multiple programming languages and modern frameworks
Cloud & Infrastructure: Experience with AWS/Azure/GCP and infrastructure as code
Architecture: Microservices, APIs, distributed systems, and system design
DevOps: CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, observability, and automation
Data: Database design, data modeling, and performance optimization
Business & Financial Financial Management: Budget ownership, cost optimization, and ROI analysis
Business Metrics: Defining and tracking KPIs that connect to business outcomes
Value Communication: Articulating technical investments in business terms
Resource Planning: Capacity planning and resource allocation based on business priorities
Vendor Management: Evaluating and managing third-party tools and services
Leadership People Management: Performance management, career development, and difficult conversations
Team Building: Hiring, onboarding, and creating inclusive team environments
Communication: Technical and non-technical stakeholder management
Decision Making: Data-driven decisions balancing multiple constraints
Strategic Thinking: Aligning team efforts with organizational goals
Change Management: Leading teams through technical and organizational changes
General Problem-Solving: Complex technical and organizational challenge resolution
Collaboration: Working effectively with Product, Design, and other functions
Mentorship: Developing junior and senior engineers
Process Improvement: Identifying and implementing efficiency improvements
Business Acumen: Understanding business context and impact of technical decisions

Interview Process:
Recruiter Call and then: Codility Assessment
Interview Panel- 4 interviews
(People Management & Communication)
(Culture)
(Technical)
(Executive & Critical Thinking)

A little bit more about us and why you might want to join us:
We work within government, for government—but we don’t work like government.
We’re agile in practice and philosophy.
We’re purpose-driven and outcome-obsessed.
We’re modernizing behavioral health technology in California—including addressing overdose, suicide, and the crises that leave people on the streets.
We’re honest about the challenges—state government is bureaucratic, and we cant match most tech salaries. But here’s what we can offer:
Purpose that matters
Teammates who care deeply
Work-life balance (no nights, weekends, or burnout)
Fully remote work
Were not just changing systems—were changing how government works

Speridian is an EEO employer