Vice President, Software Engineering and Development

About the role

Ascensus is the leading independent technology and service platform powering savings plans across America, providing products and expertise that help nearly 16 million people save for a better today and tomorrow. The Vice President of Software Engineering and Development leads high-performing teams across engineering, QA, DevOps, Application Support, and data architecture for the assigned line of business. This role partners closely with product, technology, and business leaders to deliver scalable, secure, and high-quality software solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-performing teams across engineering, QA, DevOps, Application Support, and data architecture
• Partner with product, technology, and business leaders to deliver scalable, secure, and high-quality software solutions
• Drive operational efficiency through lean practices, automation, and data-driven metrics
• Operationalize AI by establishing governance, delivery patterns, and platform capabilities
• Influence enterprise technology strategy and foster alignment across IT to deliver scalable, secure, and innovative solutions

Leadership and Talent Development

• Attract, develop, and retain diverse, high-performing engineering, QA, DevOps, data, and architecture teams
• Set clear goals and succession plans, and foster accountability, learning, and psychological safety
• Model leadership behaviors that elevate engagement, inclusion, and performance
• Promote a culture of continuous learning and inclusive leadership across all levels

Operational Excellence and Efficiency

• Improve time to value using lean value-stream practices and a standard metric set
• Apply SRE practices for reliability, observability, incident response, and post-incident learning
• Standardize tools and automation to reduce toil and raise developer productivity
• Champion quality assurance practices to ensure software products meet rigorous standards and deliver excellent client experiences

Software Delivery and Agile Execution

• Ensure consistent agile execution with clear sprint and release commitments across multiple teams
• Institutionalize feedback loops and retrospectives that inform capacity planning and roadmaps
• Advance engineering excellence including test automation, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and quality engineering
• Promote a metrics-driven culture that uses data to guide roadmap sequencing, capacity planning, and risk management

Innovation and Emerging Technology

• Translate prioritized business problems into AI roadmaps with defined success metrics and value targets
• Govern data privacy, responsible AI, and model risk in partnership with Risk, Security, and Compliance
• Scale repeatable AI patterns into production and ensure alignment with business outcomes and compliance standards
• Foster a culture of experimentation and innovation across teams

Platform and Architecture Stewardship

• Guide development of scalable, maintainable platforms aligned to enterprise architecture
• Drive reuse through standards and shared components to reduce complexity and cost
• Lead ongoing platform transformation initiatives that support long-term scalability and resilience

Risk, Security, and Compliance

• Ensure compliance with SOC-aligned controls and internal governance standards
• Embed secure development lifecycle practices with clear vulnerability remediation SLAs
• Protect confidential data with proper handling to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure

Financial and Vendor Management

• Own budget planning and forecasting, and manage capacity to plan
• Manage vendor performance and contracts to outcomes, and make sound build versus buy decisions
• Present portfolio health and value delivery to senior stakeholders with clear, actionable insights

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering with 5+ years leading multi-team organizations
• Proven success leading distributed teams at scale
• Expertise in agile delivery, engineering metrics, and continuous improvement
• Hands-on understanding of CI/CD, test automation, infrastructure as code, and quality assurance practices

Skills

• Strong communication, stakeholder management, and decision-making skills
• Demonstrated ability to influence enterprise-level technology decisions and build consensus across diverse stakeholders
• Proficiency in modern frameworks and at least one major language such as C# or Java

Benefits

• 401(k) match
• Medical, Dental, Vision
• Paid-Time-Off

Pay

The national average salary range for this role is $230-280k in base pay, exclusive of any bonuses and benefits.