Director, Platform Engineering

Who We Are:

SmithRx is a rapidly growing, venture-backed Health-Tech company.  Our mission is to disrupt the expensive and inefficient Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) sector by building a next-generation drug acquisition platform driven by cutting edge technology, innovative cost saving tools, and best-in-class customer service.  With hundreds of thousands of members onboarded since 2016, SmithRx has a solution that is resonating with clients all across the country.

We pride ourselves for our mission-driven and collaborative culture that inspires our employees to do their best work. We believe that the U.S healthcare system is in need of transformation, and we come to work each day dedicated to making that change a reality. At our core, we are guided by our company values:

• Integrity: Our purpose guides our actions and gives us confidence in the path ahead. With unwavering honesty and dependability, we embrace the pressure of challenging the old and exemplify ethical leadership to create the new.
• Courage: We face continuous challenges with grit and resilience. We embrace the discomfort of the unknown by balancing autonomy with empathy, and ownership with vulnerability. We boldly challenge the status quo to keep moving forward—always.
• Together: The success of SmithRx reflects the strength of our partnerships and the commitment of our team. Our shared values bind us together and make us one. When one falls, we all fall; when one rises, we all rise.

Job Summary:

We are looking for a Director, Platform Engineering leader to set the vision, strategize and execute on this next growth chapter of the company. You will play a pivotal role in our journey to reshape healthcare technology. You will lead a team of highly skilled engineers and leaders in building and enhancing our platform, which serves as the backbone for our healthcare solutions. 

The Platform Engineering organization owns the core backend systems that power our healthcare technology stack — including our claims engine, EDI integrations, API platforms, authorization services, data processing pipelines, and shared service layers. This role is not focused on infrastructure or DevOps, but rather on the foundational platforms and backend systems that enable product velocity (by abstracting complexity and accelerating feature development), service reliability (by ensuring resilient, observable, fault-tolerant architecture), and intelligent data flow (by powering real-time and batch processing, EDI transactions, and insights through modern data pipelines) across SmithRx’s healthcare products.
The ideal candidate brings a deep understanding of system design, domain-driven architecture, microservices, event-based systems, and a mindset for scalability and innovation. They also should have experience in enabling scale, modularity, and intelligence (AI/ML) across our product ecosystem.

In order to be eligible for this position applicants must be based in one of the following states: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

What you will do:

• Strategic Leadership:
• Define and drive the platform's technical strategy, aligning it with the company's overall mission and objectives.
• Partner with executive leadership on architectural decisions, platform investments, and scaling strategies.
• Be hands-on when needed—contributing to design reviews, technical decisions.
• Collaborate with executive leadership to set the technical direction, make critical architectural decisions, and ensure alignment with business goals.
• Lead the creation and execution of a long-term platform development roadmap.
• Lead by example by being hands on as needed e.g. actively contributing to the development efforts, writing code, and providing technical guidance.
• Team Management:
• Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing engineering team, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence. Be the embodiment of our  core values (courage, integrity, together)
• Manage and develop engineering talent, providing guidance, mentorship, and growth opportunities.
• Establish and maintain effective engineering processes and best practices.
• Platform Development:
• Lead the design, development, and evolution of a highly scalable, secure, and reliable platform to support healthcare applications.
• Apply deep system design expertise to architect modular, extensible systems that support rapid product growth and integration needs.
• Ensure the platform is highly secure, compliant with industry regulations, and optimized for performance, low latency and scale.
• Champion operational excellence, with strong observability, incident response, and infrastructure automation practices.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration:
• Collaborate with product management, design, and other cross-functional teams to ensure the platform aligns with product requirements and user needs.
• Foster strong partnerships with stakeholders across the organization, facilitating seamless communication and cooperation.
• Budget and Resource Management:
• Manage the engineering budget, allocating resources effectively to meet project goals and timelines.
• Assess technology and resource needs, making recommendations for investment or optimization.
• Quality and Delivery:
• Drive quality and predictability in software delivery.
• Monitor and improve system SLAs, throughput, and error rates.
• Monitor project timelines and milestones, taking proactive measures to address delays or roadblocks.

What you will bring to SmithRx:

• Bachelors or advanced degree in computer science, software engineering or related field
• 12 years of software development experience, including 5+ years in a leadership or director role. Experience in a fast-paced, start-up environment is strongly preferred. 
• Demonstrated experience building, leading, and maturing engineering teams of 30+ engineers, including experience managing managers.
• Proven track record in developing scalable, reliable, and secure high-traffic, mission-critical systems with ability to go deep and broad on technology. Metrics driven and passionate about rapid experimentation and improvement.
• Extensive experience in driving operational excellence. implementing processes, best practices, and policies to create efficiencies during a time of massive growth.
• Experience navigating through ambiguity while building strong relationships and trust with cross-functional leaders and stakeholders.
• Excellent communication, strategic thinking, and problem-solving abilities.
• Expertise in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), data integration technologies is a plus.
• Located in California or on PST timezone is a plus.

What SmithRx Offers You: 

• Highly competitive wellness benefits including Medical, Pharmacy, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance and AD&D Insurance
• Flexible Spending Benefits 
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Program 
• Short-term and long-term disability
• Discretionary Paid Time Off 
• 12 Paid Holidays
• Wellness Benefits
• Commuter Benefits 
• Paid Parental Leave benefits
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Well-stocked kitchen in office locations
• Professional development and training opportunities