Senior Director of Engineering Operations & Platform, Alma
$260-290k
Membership-based network for mental health care providers
Open for applications
Membership-based network for mental health care providers
501-1000 employees
Open for applications
$260-290k
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To simplify access to high-quality, affordable mental health care, by making it easy and financially rewarding for therapists to accept insurance and offer in-network care.
Role
Who you are
- Strategic & Transformational Leadership: You have a track record of defining a clear vision and leading scaled organizational and technical transformations. You are a practitioner of Transformational Leadership and Generative Culture, with demonstrated success in implementing "Shift Left" principles across quality, architecture, and security
- Deep Technical and Operational Expertise: You possess a deep understanding and practical experience with modern software development lifecycle practices, including Lean, Dual-Track Agile, DevOps, continuous delivery, and scalable cloud technologies. You have proven experience leading multiple teams and driving operational excellence. You have either led platform teams (Infrastructure, Developer Experience, etc.) or have deep experience using and adopting platforms on your teams
- Data-Driven Influence & Accountability: You are highly analytical and data-driven, with demonstrated success in defining, tracking, and acting upon key engineering metrics, like DORA metrics. You have exceptional communication skills with a track record of fostering accountability and influencing stakeholders across the organization to achieve shared goals
- AI-First Mindset & Implementation: You have a demonstrated history of identifying, deploying, and driving the pervasive adoption of new tools, with a strong emphasis on leveraging and maximizing the utility of AI-powered solutions across groups of engineers
What the job involves
- Alma's Engineering and Product teams are on a transformative journey, adopting and perfecting industry-proven practices such as Lean, Dual-Track Agile, DevOps, Generative Culture, and Transformational Leadership, alongside scalable cloud methodologies like microservices and event streaming
- Central to this evolution is our commitment to being AI-first, strategically integrating artificial intelligence across our workflows to dramatically enhance speed, quality, and consistency. We need a leader to be the primary driver and orchestrator of this transformation, while building a platform that accelerates our ability to deliver value to our customers
- How We'll Define Success in the First 12 Months:
- This role is an engine of value, accountable for tangible outcomes that will accelerate our technology organization's performance. The Senior Director, Engineering Operations & Platform will own the following key results:
- Increased Developer Productivity & Satisfaction: You will lead the charge in evolving our platform to be a force multiplier for engineering and product teams. This will be measured by at least a 20% increase in developer productivity (as shown by a significant improvement in metrics: Lead Time, Deployment Frequency, Velocity, Change Failure Rate, and MTTR) and a rise in our internal developer satisfaction scores. This includes driving the pervasive adoption of practices, like shift-left on quality and tools, with a strong emphasis on leveraging AI-powered solutions to dramatically increase productivity, consistency, and quality
- Optimized Infrastructure & Operational Excellence: You will lead strategic cost optimization projects related to our software and infrastructure, leveraging data and AI-driven insights to achieve a more balanced expense base. This will be measured by a reduction in infrastructure and software costs as a percentage of our engineering budget. This outcome requires you to oversee the operational aspects of our new architectural rollout, ensuring a smooth and successful adoption that demonstrably improves speed, quality, and scalability
- Widespread Adoption of an AI-First & Data-Driven Culture: You will be a champion for a generative culture, helping embed high expectations and accountability across the department. Success is the pervasive, department-wide adoption of our AI-first approach and a data-driven mindset. You will accomplish this by running specific, high-impact projects, leading change management for key transformations, and ensuring accountability through transparent communication and a unified departmental scorecard. Your success here will be measured by the rate of AI tool adoption, and the widespread use of DORA metrics and other KPIs to inform decisions
- Strategic & Operational Orchestration: You will act as a "force multiplier" for the CTO, orchestrating internal engineering and product excellence. This means owning and driving the strategic roadmap for platform and internal initiatives, ensuring they are aligned with overall company objectives and that all critical workflows and processes are documented and scalable. You will effectively manage and influence stakeholders at all levels, from individual contributors to executive leadership, to ensure alignment and buy-in for our strategic goals
- Direct Leadership: Directly manage the Infra and DevX platform teams, ensuring they are well-resourced, high-performing, and delivering foundational capabilities that accelerate product development. You will also guide the potential future build-out of a software platform group
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely with Engineering, InfoSec, IT, and Product peers to ensure cohesive and integrated strategies. You will draft and present compelling platform strategies, roadmaps, and progress to various stakeholders, from individual contributors to executive leadership
- Culture & Skill Development: Organize and drive departmental activities that contribute to skill development and team cohesion, such as training and knowledge-sharing sessions, specifically on AI tools and best practices
- Financial & Resource Analysis: Analyze software budgets and project costs to identify opportunities for efficiency and cost reduction, proposing AI-driven solutions where appropriate
Our take
4 in 10 adults in the United States suffer from some form of anxiety or depression, but most go without appropriate support because of difficulties in accessing mental health care providers. Alma exists to meet a growing demand for mental health services by supporting providers in offering online care and making it easy for people who need help to find a qualified, in-network therapist who meets their needs.
There has been something of a boom in the virtual mental health space, and by encouraging online therapy Alma is competing against a plethora of well-funded apps aimed at self help and mental wellbeing offered at a far lower price than regular therapy. However, these are largely unregulated and their quality is often questionable. By prioritising vetted and professional therapists, Alma has provided a real alternative to in-person therapy and this has allowed it to grow rapidly, growing its network to over 8,000 therapists across all 50 states.
Alma's success has also attracted a large amount of funding. This is being used to further expand its network and to develop the tools offered to its providers. Having scaled rapidly through 2022 it is showing no signs of slowing down, and is well poised for future growth.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
77% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 5 rounds)
Aug 2022
$130m
SERIES D
Aug 2021
$50m
SERIES C
Total funding: $220.5m
Company benefits
- We’re a remote-first company
- Health insurance plans through Cigna (medical and dental) and MetLife (vision), including FSA & HSA plans
- 401k plan (Roth and traditional)
- Free Alma platform access
- Monthly therapy and wellness stipends
- Monthly co-working space membership stipend
- Monthly work-from-home stipend to power your wifi, lunches, coffee, etc
- Pet discount program through United Pet Care
- Financial perks and rewards through BenefitHub
- Free EAP access through LifeWorks
- One-time home office stipend to set up your home office
- Comprehensive parental leave plans
- 9 paid holidays, 1 Alma Mental Health Day, and 1 Alma Volunteering Day
- Vacation and time-off benefits
Company HQ
Downtown Brooklyn, NY
Leadership
Harry Ritter
(Founder & CEO)Studied at Harvard and qualified as an MD at The University of Miami. Worked for a year as a Resident Physician before spending almost 2 years as a McKinsey Associate. Worked at Oscar Insurance as a Medical Director and VP of Care Delivery.
Salary benchmarks
We don't have enough data yet to provide salary benchmarks for this role.
Submit your salary to help other candidates with crowdsourced salary estimates.
Share this job
View 6 more jobs at Alma