Vice President, Application Development

DrFirst; United States; Remote; USD 200,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote-first culture

Competitive compensation

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401K with company match

HSA

Disability insurance

PTO 18 days + holidays

Education funds

Job summary

DrFirst in the United States seeks an experienced AI/ML engineering leader to scale healthcare AI solutions. You’ll be hands-on, prototyping with LLMs, and architecting systems that process hundreds of millions of transactions.

You’ll lead engineers, data scientists, and BI developers, drive AI development practices, and partner with executives to translate technical vision into tangible business impact. This remote-first role offers autonomy, full hiring authority, competitive compensation, and

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering and data science with 5+ years leading teams.
• Proven track record taking AI/ML products from concept to production with measurable impact.
• Track record hiring, developing, and retaining high-performing technical teams.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical topics to non-technical executives.

Responsibilities

• Build scalable AI services used by healthcare professionals.
• Translate AI weekly advancements into internal medical AI assistants.
• Evolve medication history capabilities on expanding data assets.
• Establish AI development practices and drive adoption.
• Evangelize results with tangible demos and stakeholder buy-in.
• Lead a growing team of engineers, data scientists, and BI developers.

Skills

Technical depth

Hands-on coding

Storytelling

Emotional intelligence

Team development

Strategic thinking

Network of talent

Executive presence

Healthcare domain

Tools

AWS

GCP

Java

Python

Kafka

Postgres

Job description

About DrFirst

For 25 years, DrFirst has empowered providers and patients to achieve better health through intelligent medication management. We improve healthcare workflows and help patients start and stay on therapy with end-to-end solutions that enhance prescription access, affordability, and adherence. Our solutions help 100 million patients a year and are used by more than 420,000 prescribers, 71,000 pharmacies, 270 EHRs and health information systems, and over 2,000 hospitals in the U.S. This is a great opportunity to be a part of a successful Healthcare IT company experiencing significant growth. Here you'll get to work with some of the smartest and most interesting people around; solving unique and complex challenges in healthcare on a scale matched by a few companies. If you get excited about stretching yourself in new ways, developing yourself to your fullest potential, care about working with smart colleagues; we want to talk to you!

Position Overview

You love buildingand scaling intelligent software!Technology still delights you, andthe current wave of AI tools has you energized.You'rehappy to be programming again, experimenting with AI-assisted development, and seeing possibilities everywhere. You want to work somewherewhere your beta launch means 10% of the US population and the freedom to move fast.

You'relooking for a place where you can be both strategic and hands-on. Where you can architect systems that processhundreds ofmillions of transactions. Where you can leadteams butalso build demos that make executives lean forward in their chairs.

You thrive when resources are constrained because it forces creative solutions.You'drather multiply impact through smart architecture and reusable services than throw bodies at problems. Youknow through personal experience thatwell-led teamsleveragingmodern AI tools can compete with organizations 10x theirsize.

If this sounds like you, keep reading.

The Profile We Need

We distilled this role into nine qualities.Here'swhatwe'relooking for:

Technical Depth: You've built systems that process transactionsat scale everyday. You know the difference between a demo and an ML/LLMthatscales. Hands-on Coding: This is a player-coach role. You should spend 20-30% of your time prototyping with LLMs, writing Python, and demonstratingwhat'spossible before your team scales it. Storytelling & Communication: You translate complex technical concepts into narratives that make executives believe. You can demo something impressive while staying grounded and credible. Emotional Intelligence: You read rooms, inspire teams, and navigate organizational dynamics. High EQ matters as much as highIQ here. Team Development: You'll inherit solid engineering teams and will have the opportunities to grow and mature them. Strategic Thinking: You spot opportunities others miss. You understand where AI creates genuine value versus where it'sjust noise. Network of Talent: This is critical. When headcount is limited and the market moves fast, you multiply impact through reusable services, smart architecture, AI-assisted development, and building a network of talented people who want to work with you. Executive Presence: You're comfortable presenting at healthcare conferences, meeting with pharma partners, andrepresentingour technical vision externally. Healthcare Domain: Nice to have but not required.We'llteach you healthcare if you bring the AIexpertiseand learning agility.

What you will work on

Build cool stuff used by 100Ks of doctors daily: Create reusable AI services thatstreamline healthcare, adding agents where they make sense. Translate weekly advancements in AI: To improve and expand our own medicalAI assistantwhile pioneering theindustrynext evidence based medical solutions. Evolve Med History: Architect the next generation of medication history capabilities on top ofoureveryexpandingdataassets. Establish AI development practices:Make AI-augmented development the standard, not the exception.Work with your co-leadersto constantly refine how our products are made. Evangelize internally: Make believers out of skeptics through working demos and tangible results. Sell practical AI transformation to stakeholders. Lead your team: You'll havefull hiring authority with an expanding team of engineers, data scientists, and BI developers.

Why This Role is Important

For the past decade, we've been defining what pragmatic AI in healthcare workflowsactually means.Nothype, not research papers, but systems that work reliably for clinicians who are already overwhelmed.You'dbe continuing that legacy at a moment when the tools have fundamentally changed.

We'rea company of technology entrepreneurs who work hard to make healthcare suck a little less.That'snot marketingspeak. Our people genuinely love helping others with applied technology. We process 300 million prescriptions annually because webuiltplatformsthat actually work, and we have medication history data that createsrealcompetitive advantage.

You'llhave a thought partner who can prototype alongside you andunderstandsthe technical depth of whatyou'rebuilding.You'llhave real autonomy: full hiring authority, technical decisions within proven guardrails, direct influence over product roadmaps, budget input, and partnership discussions withbillion dollarcompanies.

This is a chance to define how a company touching 25% of US prescriptionsoperatesfor the next decade. Not justbuildproducts, butestablish AI capabilities that become the foundation for how we help clinicians do their jobs better.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering and data science, with 5+ years leading teams.
• Proventrack recordtaking AI/ML products from concept to production with measurable business impact.
• Track recordhiring, developing, andretaininghigh-performing technical teams.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical topics to non-technical executives.

Technical Requirements

ML/LLM production experience: You've shipped ML systems at scale. You understand prompt engineering, RAG architectures,embedding models, speech to text and text to speech,and model evaluation.Hybrid solutionsoflocal and cloud LLM. Event-driven architectures: Real-time processing and making decisions in milliseconds is second nature to you. Cloud infrastructure: Deep AWS experiencerequired, GCPa plus. You know both cloud primitives and managed AI services. Modern AI tools: You actively use AI-assisted development tools. You understand how they change what small teams can accomplish. Technical stack: We work with open source, Java, Python, Kafka, Postgres, AWSand GCP. You work within these guardrails.

Physical Requirements

• 85% desk and phone work

• 15% travel across office locations, customer visits, external visits as needed

#LI-GF1 #LI-Remote

Benefits

• Competitive compensation, with a base salary of $200,000 - $280,000 (Exact compensation may vary based on skills and experience)

• Eligible for Company Performance-based Bonus Program, based on individual and company performance

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance

• 401K eligible after 3 months of employment, with 50% company match up to first 5% of salary contributed to the plan with a 3-year vesting schedule

• HSA for eligible employees enrolled in the HDHP, with a generous company contribution up to $500 for individual coverage and $1000 for family coverage per year

• 100% company paid short and long-term disability, AD&D, and group life insurance

• Accrued annual paid time off (PTO) of 18 days for the first 3 years of service, increasing thereafter and 7 paid holiday days

• Employee Assistance Program

• Continuing Education funds up to $1500 annually for eligible programs after 1 year of service

• Voluntary benefits including FSA, Hospital indemnity, Accident and Critical Illness insurances

DrFirst is committed to being a Remote-First company, creating a dynamic and flexible workplace where everyone can thrive, no matter where they log in from. Check out our approach to remote work https://drfirst.com/company/about-us/careers/.

Our recruitment process at DrFirst is straightforward and secure. You will only be contacted by our recruitment team through an official @drfirst.com email address. We will never ask you for payment or sensitive personal information, such as your social security number or banking details, at any stage of the hiring process. Additionally, we will not request that you purchase equipment or accept e-checks or checks for deposit. If you encounter any communications claiming to be from DrFirst that seem suspicious, please contact our recruitment team directly at [e-mail] verify the message's authenticity. Your security is important to us!

Learn more about our benefits and professional development opportunities https://drfirst.com/company/about-us/careers/the-perks/.