Tech Lead, Benefits Engineering

Maine Tech Hub; Portland (ME); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

WEX invites an experienced Tech Lead for the Benefits Engineering team to drive the design, implementation, and modernization of our employee benefits software. You will balance architecture with hands-on development, mentoring engineers, and guiding projects end-to-end.

You will influence across product, architecture, and engineering, promote best practices, and help scale distributed systems in cloud environments. Strong domain leadership and hands-on coding are essential for success.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of professional software engineering with a track record of technical leadership.
• Experience leading the technical design and delivery of complex software systems.
• Strong experience with C# and .NET/ASP.NET and modern development practices.
• Experience building RESTful APIs and API-driven architectures.
• Expertise with React and/or Angular for modern web apps.
• Proven ability to design distributed, event-driven systems using Kafka or similar.
• Experience deploying cloud-native apps in AWS and/or Azure.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers and raise engineering standards.
• Lead architecture, design, planning, and implementation across distributed, cloud-native solutions.
• Translate business needs into scalable, secure technical solutions.
• Guide teams in building cloud-native, event-driven applications and services.
• Partner with product and architecture to define approaches, manage dependencies, and drive initiatives.
• Contribute to high-level estimation, planning, and delivery strategies for complex initiatives.
• Review designs and code to ensure quality, security, and maintainability.
• Remain hands-on and contribute code where it adds the most value.
• Evolve legacy platforms toward modern, domain-aligned architectures.
• Promote automated testing, CI/CD, observability, and operational excellence.

Skills

C#/.NET

REST APIs

React/Angular

Distributed systems

Cloud AWS/Azure

Docker/Kubernetes

CI/CD

Data architectures

Leadership

Event-driven

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Kafka

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

Azure

Job description

Job Description

Tech Lead, Benefits Engineering
At WEX, we simplify the business of running a business. Our WEX Benefits solutions reduce complexity and help employers and partners manage the cost and administration of employee benefits. We are looking for passionate technologists, collaborators, and problem solvers to join our Benefits Technology team as we build the next generation of employer benefits solutions and services.

About the Role

As a Tech Lead on the WEX Benefits Technology team, you will provide hands‑on technical leadership for the design, development, and evolution of modern software solutions that power the employee benefits experience.
This is a technical leadership role, not a people‑management position. You will serve as a trusted technical partner to engineers, product managers, architects, and other stakeholders, helping teams make sound technical decisions and deliver high‑quality, scalable software.
You will spend your time balancing architecture, technical design, planning, mentoring, code quality, and hands‑on engineering. You will help translate complex business problems into practical technical solutions, identify risks and dependencies early, and guide engineering teams through both new development and modernization of existing platforms.
The ideal candidate is a highly autonomous technical leader who can operate effectively in complex environments, influence across teams, and bring clarity to challenging technical problems.

What You'll Do

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers, helping establish sound engineering practices and raising the overall technical bar.
• Lead the architecture, technical design, planning, and implementation of complex software solutions across distributed systems and cloud environments.
• Translate business and customer needs into scalable, maintainable, and secure technical solutions.
• Guide teams in designing and building cloud‑native, distributed, and event‑driven applications and services.
• Partner with Product, Architecture, Engineering, and other stakeholders to define technical approaches, manage dependencies, identify risks, and drive initiatives forward.
• Provide technical input into high‑level estimation, planning, sequencing, and delivery strategy for complex initiatives.
• Review designs, code, and technical approaches to ensure solutions meet standards for quality, scalability, reliability, security, and maintainability.
• Remain hands‑on with software development and contribute code where it provides the greatest technical value.
• Help evolve applications and platforms from legacy approaches toward modern, domain‑aligned, cloud‑native architectures.
• Help teams navigate technology and organizational transformation, including the evolution from traditional development practices to Agile and iterative delivery models.
• Apply strong architectural thinking to help establish clear domain boundaries and reduce unnecessary coupling across systems and services.
• Promote automated testing, CI/CD, observability, proactive monitoring, and operational excellence throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Mentor engineers through complex technical challenges and foster a culture of continuous learning and engineering excellence.
• Use data, experimentation, and engineering metrics to evaluate solutions and drive continuous improvement.
• Stay current with emerging technologies, including Generative AI and Agentic AI, and identify opportunities to responsibly apply these capabilities to engineering and customer solutions.

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a demonstrated history of technical leadership.
• Proven experience leading the technical design and delivery of complex software systems.
• Strong experience with C# and .NET / ASP.NET and modern software development practices.
• Strong experience building and consuming RESTful APIs and designing API‑driven architectures.
• Strong proficiency with React and/or Angular and modern web application development.
• Experience designing and developing distributed, event‑driven systems, including experience with Kafka or similar event‑streaming technologies.
• Experience developing and operating cloud‑native applications and services in AWS and/or Azure environments.
• Strong understanding of relational and NoSQL database technologies and experience making appropriate data architecture decisions.
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and modern CI/CD practices.
• Experience transitioning teams or organizations