Engineering Director

ABOUT BESTOW

Bestow is a leading insurance technology platform serving some of the world's largest and most innovative life insurers. We are on a mission to increase financial stability for everyone. Bestow is a team of mission-driven, results-oriented individuals. We offer all employees a remote (contiguous 48 only)/hybrid workplace, meaningful benefits, substantial growth opportunities, and equity.

Bestow participates in the E-Verify Program.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Engineering team is the core of Bestow, driving all technology for our innovative SaaS platform that empowers insurance carriers. We build and maintain solutions that serve our employees, consumers, and enterprise customers throughout the entire lifecycle of a life insurance policy. This includes developing robust backend services, integrating and managing essential third-party products, and creating tools that enhance efficiency and accuracy across our operations. Our major functional teams include Product Engineering, Infrastructure, IT, Data & Analytics, and Technical Program Management. Engineering collaborates closely with Product Management and Design to define and prioritize the product roadmap, ensuring our technical vision aligns with business objectives.

As the Director of Engineering, you will provide strategic leadership and technical guidance to Backend Engineering Teams. These teams are responsible for developing and operating critical services that underpin the entire lifecycle of a life insurance policy. This includes building services that manage data to power the businesses of our carrier partners, developing tools for various operational needs, and architecting foundational services that enable our product teams to scale Bestow’s output. Our systems are built using a modern microservices architecture, primarily leveraging Golang and PostgreSQL, and integrate using gRPC, REST, and asynchronous messaging patterns. We deploy and operate our workloads on Kubernetes within Google Cloud Platform, and you will be instrumental in ensuring the reliability, scalability, and performance of these critical systems.

This role is open to remote candidates and reports to the VP of Engineering. 

WHO YOU ARE

You are a highly technical, strategic, and results-oriented engineering leader who thrives in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. You possess a deep understanding of backend systems, distributed architectures, and modern software development practices. You are passionate about building and mentoring high-performing engineering teams, fostering a culture of technical excellence, and driving significant impact on a sophisticated SaaS platform. You have a strong technical foundation and can effectively guide teams to build scalable, secure, and maintainable solutions.

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience required.

• 10+ years of professional software development experience with a strong focus on backend technologies.

• 5+ years of progressive engineering management experience, with a proven track record of leading and scaling multiple backend engineering teams or team leads.

• Experience with managing managers 

• Deep expertise in the entire software development lifecycle, from inception and design to deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvement, including CI/CD practices.

• Significant understanding of Golang (Go) and a strong understanding of its best practices.

• Proven ability to design, build, and operate distributed systems and microservices architectures at scale.

• Extensive experience with relational databases, particularly PostgreSQL.

• Strong understanding of API design principles (Protocol Buffers, Swagger/OpenAPI)

• Solid understanding of containerization technologies; Docker and Kubernetes.

• Advocate for test-driven development (TDD).

• Experience with cloud computing platforms and a preference for Google Cloud Platform. 

• Proven ability to attract, hire, mentor, and retain top-tier engineering talent.

• Excellent communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills.

• A strong advocate for automation testing.

• Ability to understand complex business requirements and translate them into effective technical solutions.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Strategic Technical Leadership:

• Define and drive the technical vision and strategy for multiple backend engineering teams, ensuring alignment with Bestow's overall technology roadmap and business objectives.

• Lead cross-vertical initiatives where you have to make an impact with other teams who do not report to you.

• Represent Bestow in front of other technology companies and partners

• Negotiate vendor relationships

• Provide architectural guidance and oversight, ensuring the backend systems are scalable, reliable, secure, and performant to meet the demands of a high-growth SaaS platform.

• Foster a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and continuous learning within the engineering organization.

• Stay current with emerging backend technologies and industry best practices, evaluating their potential to enhance Bestow's platform.

• Strong advocate for GenAI practices and daily usage

• Collaborate with other engineering leaders and architects to ensure consistency, interoperability, and a cohesive technical strategy across all engineering teams.

Team Leadership and Development:

• Provide strong leadership, mentorship, and guidance to multiple engineering teams and their managers (if applicable).

• Build, nurture, and scale high-performing and collaborative engineering teams, fostering a sense of ownership, accountability, and psychological safety.

• Establish and promote effective engineering processes, best practices, and ceremonies to optimize team efficiency and code quality.

• Develop and execute personalized growth plans for team members, identifying opportunities for technical skill development and career advancement.

• Conduct regular performance reviews, provide constructive feedback, and actively address any team or individual challenges.

• Lead the recruitment and onboarding efforts to attract and retain top-tier backend engineering talent.

Strategic Vision and Execution:

• Translate business requirements and product roadmaps into clear technical strategies and execution plans for the backend teams.

• Make strategic technical decisions, balancing short-term needs with long-term scalability, maintainability, and security.

• Effectively communicate complex technical concepts and trade-offs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executive leadership and product management.

• Drive large, cross-functional technical initiatives to successful completion, ensuring high-quality deliverables and timely execution.

• Champion the use of data and metrics to inform technical decisions, monitor system health, and measure the impact of engineering efforts.

• Foster strong relationships and effective collaboration with Product Management, Design, and other stakeholders to ensure alignment on product goals and technical solutions.

The ideal candidate is a highly technical and inspiring leader who is passionate about building robust and scalable backend systems for a cutting-edge SaaS platform. You are adept at both strategic thinking and hands-on technical guidance, empowering your teams to deliver exceptional solutions that drive Bestow's success in the insurance technology space. Your ability to foster a high-performance culture and attract top talent will be critical to our continued growth and innovation.

TOTAL REWARDS

At Bestow, we’re proud to be awarded for our team members, innovative products, and culture. Our standard benefits include:

• Competitive salary and equity based on role

• Policies and managers that support work/life balance, like our flexible paid time off and parental leave programs 

• 100% paid-premium option for medical, dental, and vision insurance

• Lifestyle stipend to support your physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing

• Flexible work-from-home policy and open to remote

• Remote and WFH options, as well as a beautiful, state-of-the-art office in Dallas’ Deep Ellum, for those who prefer an office setting

• Employee-led diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives

Recent Employer Awards include:

• Best Place for Working Parents 2023

• Great Place to Work Certified, 2022 + 2023 + 2024

• Built In Best Places to Work, 2022 + 2023

• Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Texas 2022 + 2023

• Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Financial Services and Insurance 2022 + 2023

We value diversity at Bestow. The company will recruit, hire, and promote regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, pregnancy or maternity, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law. We understand the importance of creating a safe and comfortable work environment and encourage individualism and authenticity in every team member. 

Thanks for considering a career at Bestow!