Vice President, Engineering

About Ladder:

Location (Palo Alto, Hybrid or Remote)

We saw a problem within the life insurance industry: getting covered took too long, involved too much paperwork, and required too many in-person meetings with sales agents. Having lost his father at a young age, our CEO, Jamie, was determined to make it easier for people to get the coverage they needed to provide for their families. So, we got to work. We developed a method of real-time underwriting leveraging AI and, in doing so, reduced the months-long process of applying for life insurance to minutes. Our digital experience is quick (instant decisions!), loved by users (check out our Trustpilot or Google reviews) and prolific ($74 billion+ in coverage provided).

This is a remote role based role in one of the 23 States Ladder is currently hiring in - AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IA, KS, MA, MD, MN, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, TX, VA, WA, WI. 

Please note, Ladder is not currently sponsoring or transferring OPT or H1-B visa's.

About the role 

We are a growing team of innovators going after this huge market by putting the user at the center of product design. We've combined a dead-simple, online application with automatic, real-time underwriting to make instant decisions and provide on-the-spot coverage for life insurance.

We're looking for an experienced and dynamic VP of Engineering who is excited to help us reimagine what life insurance can be. The ideal candidate brings demonstrated experience in software engineering, leadership maturity and a deep understanding of the software development life cycle. As VP of Engineering, you’ll be both a strategic leader and an inspiring hands-on mentor. You will work closely with Product, Design and Data Science to bring our product vision to life while maintaining an obsessive focus on user experience, innovation and quality.

What You’ll Do:

• Set the technical vision and strategy in alignment with the company’s mission and goals, focusing on delivering exceptional end-user experiences
• Build and lead high-performing engineering teams, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration and accountability
• Work with our Product organization to analyze customer needs and develop engineering team’s roadmap based on company goals and user impact
• Lead the team through the software development lifecycle of Ladder’s core services, from ideation to deployment, ensuring end-user facing features are delivered on time, within scope and with the highest quality
• Promote a culture of feedback and transparent communication
• Establish measurable goals for your team's productivity and impact
• Mentor and lead engineers and engineering leaders, helping them grow
• Act as an advisor to and collaborate with the executive leadership team to align on business goals and technical priorities 
• Recruit engineering talent into the organization while ensuring we can retain our top performers

Must Haves:

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field; Master's degree preferred10+ years of professional software development experience5+ years of experience in a leadership role, managing and mentoring engineering teams

• Strong technical background, with expertise in full-stack development, cloud infrastructure, and modern software architecture.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams, balancing both business priorities and technical challenges.

Preferred experience: 

• Startup experience, or fintech/insurtech experience a plus
• Familiarity with the challenges of building end-user facing products that require rapid iteration, high cross functional collaboration and continual performance optimization.
• Demonstrable past technical accomplishments and continues to remain hands-on 
• Able to easily transition between high-level strategy and day-to-day implementation
• Results oriented, high energy, self-motivated

Track record of inspiring others & positive change in solution design, technical delivery, and process improvement

 Our engineering values:

• Bottom-up leadership: teams are most successful when everybody shares their ideas, comfortable that they'll be seriously considered. engineers can and should provide product & business insights.
• Ship fast without breaking things: we've invested heavily in engineering tooling that provides guardrails without getting in your way. We believe in shipping MVPs & iterating quickly rather than waiting for perfection to ship.
• Invest in automation: automating repetitive tasks saves time and reduces errors. We're always on the lookout for manual workflows to automate away.
• Continuous improvement: we learn from our past wins & losses by conducting blameless retros.

Technologies

While it's great if you're already familiar with some of these, we strongly believe that general technical proficiency is more important than knowledge of specific technologies. If the role sounds interesting, please apply even if you don't know any of these technologies!

• Frontend: Clojurescript, Typescript, Javascript, React, GraphQL
• Backend: Clojure, Python, JVM
• Infrastructure: Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes, Packer, Terraform, AWS
• Data: BigQuery, Tableau, Sigma, BEAM

Whether you work in our beautiful office in Palo Alto or remotely, Ladder is highly collaborative and fun. To support you in your role, we offer fantastic perks and benefits that reflect our mission of care and support, including:

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage | We offer competitive healthcare and dental plans for you and your family.
• Flexible paid time off | Take the time that you need to rest and recharge, including our week-long winter holiday closure. 
• Stock options | We offer competitive stock option packages to participate in the success of building Ladder.
• A rewarding 401k match program | We'll match up to 4% of your contributions as you save for your retirement goals.
• Commuter benefits | When you work from the office, you will receive pre-tax benefits for your commute and free parking.
• A stocked, beautiful new office | Located in downtown Palo Alto, our office was specifically designed to accommodate all working styles. We've invested in technology to support our hybrid team, plus we provide office snacks and catered lunches so that team members can work well and have fun together.
• Paid parental leave | We think it's crucial that new parents have time to adjust to their new lives without worrying about work, so we provide all parents inclusive of birthing, adoption, or fostering ten weeks of paid baby bonding.
• Work-from-home flexibility and support | We recognize that everyone's homelife is different and support remote and hybrid work. Upon joining, we provide a one-time $500 remote office stipend for all team members and then a monthly $150 stipend to cover WFH costs such as the internet.
• Fun company-wide events | Whether we work locally or remotely, we genuinely enjoy spending time together. That’s why we plan fun virtual and in-person events to let loose and laugh.

The base pay range targeted for this position is $238,000 - $315,000 per year. Base pay is determined by market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. This role is eligible for equity and benefits as shared above. 

Ladder is building a diverse team of talented and enthusiastic people. We are an equal opportunity workplace. At Ladder, differences are celebrated and supported to benefit our people, product, and community. Let us know why you're interested in this position and what unique contributions you can make to the Ladder team. We look forward to hearing from you.

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