Vice President, Software Engineering and Development

Ascensus; Massachusetts; Hybrid; USD 230,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) match

Medical, dental, vision

Paid time off

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Ascensus, a leading technology and service platform powering savings plans across America, seeks a Vice President of Software Engineering and Development to lead multiple engineering, QA, DevOps, and data teams. You will partner with product and business leaders to deliver scalable, secure software, drive lean and AI-enabled initiatives, and govern platform architecture and risk.

Reports to the SVP and shapes enterprise technology strategy.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering with 5+ years leading multi-team organizations.
• Expertise in agile delivery, engineering metrics, and continuous improvement; hands-on experience with CI/CD, test automation, infrastructure as code, and quality assurance.
• Experience operationalizing AI and data-driven engineering practices in production; familiarity with SRE and FinOps.

Responsibilities

• Lead multiple engineering, QA, DevOps, data, and architecture teams across the assigned line of business.
• Drive operational excellence with lean practices, automation, and data-driven metrics; govern AI with governance and platform capabilities.
• Oversee software delivery, agile execution, DevEx, and AI-first development to improve efficiency and productivity.

Skills

Leadership

Agile delivery

Stakeholder management

Communication

Decision making

Influence enterprise decisions

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

CI/CD

Test automation

Infrastructure as code

SRE

FinOps

AI in production

Job description

Overview

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.

Position

Vice President of Software Engineering and Development lead s high-performing teams across engineering, QA, DevOps, Application Support, and data architecture for the assigned line of business. Partners with product, technology, and business leaders to deliver scalable, secure, and high-quality software solutions. Drives operational efficiency through lean practices, automation, and data-driven metrics, and operationalizes AI with governance, delivery patterns, and platform capabilities that move pilots into production with measurable business outcomes. Influences enterprise technology strategy and aligns IT to deliver scalable, secure, and innovative solutions. Reports to the SVP of Software Engineering and Development for the assigned line of business.

Responsibilities and Duties

• Leadership and Talent Development: Attract, develop, and retain diverse, high-performing engineering, QA, DevOps, data, and architecture teams. Set clear goals and succession plans, foster accountability, learning, and psychological safety. Model inclusive leadership and promote continuous learning.
• Operational Excellence and Efficiency: Improve time to value using lean value-stream practices and a standard metric set (throughput, cycle time, predictability, change failure rate, lead time for changes, mean time to restore). Apply SRE practices for reliability, observability, incident response, and post-incident learning. Standardize tools and automation to reduce toil and raise productivity; optimize run costs and unit economics with FinOps. Champion quality assurance to meet rigorous standards and client experiences. Strengthen onboarding with structured training, documentation, and mentorship; promote continuous learning and targeted enablement programs.
• Software Delivery and Agile Execution: Ensure consistent agile execution with clear sprint and release commitments across multiple teams. Institutionalize feedback loops and retrospectives to inform capacity planning and roadmaps. Advance engineering excellence, including test automation, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and quality engineering. Promote a metrics-driven culture guiding roadmap sequencing, capacity planning, and risk management. Lead Developer Experience (DevEx) and champion AI-first development to improve efficiency and productivity.
• Innovation and Emerging Technology: Translate prioritized business problems into AI roadmaps with defined success metrics. Govern data privacy, responsible AI, and model risk in partnership with Risk, Security, and Compliance. Scale repeatable AI patterns into production, ensuring alignment with business outcomes and compliance. Foster experimentation and evaluate new AI capabilities, tools, frameworks, and platforms. Monitor trends to identify opportunities for strategic adoption and competitive advantage.
• 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 platform transformation initiatives for long-term scalability and resilience.
• Risk, Security, and Compliance: Ensure SOC-aligned controls and internal governance. Embed secure development lifecycle practices with remediation SLAs. Protect confidential data and produce audit-ready evidence. Collaborate with Security and Risk teams to identify and mitigate threats across the software lifecycle.
• Financial and Vendor Management: Own budget planning and forecasting; manage capacity. Oversee vendor performance and contracts, make build vs. buy decisions, and present portfolio health with actionable insights to senior stakeholders. Align financial decisions with long-term technology strategy and efficiency goals.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration and Client Support: Align with Product on outcome-based roadmaps and prioritization. Support RFPs and client engagements as the primary IT contributor. Share best practices and drive alignment across IT. Represent technology leadership in client-facing discussions to reinforce trust and transparency.
• General: Protect, secure, and properly handle confidential data to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure. Uphold Ascensus core values of People Matter, Quality First, and Integrity Always in daily actions.
• Supervision: Hire, coach, and develop associates and leaders with clear growth plans; provide ongoing feedback and succession coverage for critical roles. Ensure organizational structure supports scalability, agility, and cross-functional collaboration.

Experience, Skills, Knowledge

• 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 experience with CI/CD, test automation, infrastructure as code, and quality assurance.
• Experience operationalizing AI and data-driven engineering practices in production; familiarity with SRE and FinOps.
• Experience leading platform upgrades or migrations. Strong communication, stakeholder management, and decision-making skills; ability to influence enterprise-level technology decisions and build consensus.
• Proficiency in modern frameworks and at least one major language such as C# or Java.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range indicated is a general guide: $230,000 to $280,000 base pay, exclusive of bonuses and benefits. Actual salary may vary based on location, experience, performance, and internal pay alignment. Benefits may include 401(k) match, medical, dental, vision, paid time off, and additional programs. Details at careers.ascensus.com/#Benefits.

Additional Information

Be aware of employment fraud. All email communications from Ascensus or its hiring managers originate from @ascensus.com or @futureplan.com. We will never ask for payment or equipment. If you are unsure about a posting, apply directly through our website. Ascensus is dedicated to helping millions save for a better future and offers opportunities such as professional development, in-house training, tuition reimbursement, generous rewards, paid time off, health benefits, and 401(k) plans.