VP of Engineering (Oddball Labs)

Oddball; Virginia, Northern (MN, KY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual stipend

401(k) match

Flexible PTO

Paid holidays

Job summary

Oddball is seeking a VP of Engineering to lead the Oddball labs team, shape the technical vision, and manage a small engineering group. You will collaborate with product managers to ensure scalable, reliable, and future‑proof products and tools in a hands‑on capacity when needed.

The role emphasizes architecture excellence, cross‑functional collaboration, and a bias for action in a fast‑moving federal‑space environment. Hybrid work in the DMV area is required.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in software engineering / systems architecture / technical leadership roles.
• Deep understanding of architecture concerns: performance, scalability, security, reliability, observability.
• Experience across multiple technologies (polyglot): cloud platforms (e.g., AWS / Azure / GCP), containerization, microservices, distributed systems.
• Experience with infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and deployment pipelines.
• Experience in deploying application to production environments.
• Excellent communication skills and able to explain architectural trade-offs to engineers, product stakeholders and leadership.
• Business alignment mindset: able to translate strategic objectives into actionable technical roadmaps.
• Experience leading and managing engineers and helping raise technical maturity.

Responsibilities

• Lead our Oddball labs team to define the technical vision and set architecture standards.
• Manage a small team of engineers, collaborate with product managers, and deliver scalable, reliable products.
• Define Oddball lab's technical vision, support growth and sales efforts, and drive agile delivery cycles.

Job description

Oddball believes that the best products are built when companies understand and value the things they are working on. We value learning and growth and the ability to make a big impact at a small company. We believe that we can make big changes happen and improve the daily lives of millions of people by bringing quality software to the federal space.

What you'll be doing:

We are seeking a VP of Engineering to join our Oddball labs team to lead our technical vision, manage a small team of engineers, set architecture standards, work hand in hand with product managers, and ensure Oddball delivers scalable, reliable, and future‑proof products and tools. This is a senior technical leadership position for someone who picks the best tool for the job, works well with others and can be hands‑on when needed.

This is a highly visible, hands‑on role where you’ll define Oddball lab’s technical vision, support growth and sales efforts, implement ideas through agile experimentation and delivery cycles.

What you’ll bring:

• 7+ years of experience in software engineering / systems architecture / technical leadership roles.
• Deep understanding of architecture concerns: performance, scalability, security, reliability, observability.
• Experience across multiple technologies (polyglot): cloud platforms (e.g., AWS / Azure / GCP), containerization, microservices, distributed systems.
• Experience with infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and deployment pipelines.
• Experience in deploying application to production environments
• Excellent communication skills and able to explain architectural trade-offs to engineers, product stakeholders and leadership.
• Business alignment mindset: able to translate strategic objectives into actionable technical roadmaps.
• Experience leading and managing engineers and helping raise technical maturity.
• Performs other related duties as assigned

Bonus if you have:

• Prior experience designing and securing federal systems (FedRAMP, ATO, zero‑trust).
• Certifications or background in architecture frameworks (TOGAF, etc.).
• Experience designing systems that incorporate both AI/ML and non-ML components.
• Direct experience delivering AI/ML systems in production at scale with focus on trust and explainability
• Prior experience in startups or fast‑moving environments where you build and iterate quickly.
• Prior experience working with Government, either contractor or federal.

Location: Hybrid. Candidates must be located in the DMV area (DC, Maryland, Virginia) and able to work in the Rosslyn, VA office 3 days a week.

Requirements:

• Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. In alignment with federal contract requirements, certain roles may also require U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a federal background investigation and/or a security clearance.
• Annual stipend
• Company Match 401(k) plan
• Flexible PTO, Paid Holidays

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities:

Oddball is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against applicants based on race, religion, color, disability, medical condition, legally protected genetic information, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity or expression, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), age, veteran status or other legally protected characteristics. Any applicant with a mental or physical disability who requires an accommodation during the application process should contact an Oddball HR representative to request such an accommodation by emailing [e-mail]

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)

Compensation:

At Oddball, it’s important each employee is compensated competitively and fairly. In alignment with state legal requirements. A range for the included position is listed below. Be advised, actual offer details are determined by job category, job location, and candidate skill level.

United States Wage Range: $170,000 – $250,000

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Oddball’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service‑connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three‑year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.