VP, Innovation Engineering

VP, Innovation Engineering

LABUR is partnering with a client to identify a VP, Innovation Engineering who will lead a small, senior build team on a rapid launch cadence, shipping new AI-driven B2B capabilities to production in weeks rather than quarters. This player-coach role reports to the CTO and collaborates closely with product management and the executive team to convert high-value ideas into working software at real scale. The ideal candidate lives in the code, in the models, and in the data - driving technical direction, architecture decisions, and shipping cadence for new applications built on production data.

Responsibilities

• Lead a small, senior engineering team on a two-week launch cadence - define the thinnest viable slice, ship to real users, measure results, and iterate
• Own architecture and technical decisions for new applications, including build-vs-buy trade-offs and determining where AI belongs in each workflow
• Partner directly with product management and executives to translate ambiguous, high-value ideas into working software
• Monitor a rapidly evolving AI toolset and make informed adoption decisions that create real competitive advantage
• Move new capabilities from prototype to production without compromising security, reliability, or compliance
• Recruit, coach, and continuously raise the technical bar across the team
• Make progress visible through frequent demos of working software rather than status decks

Qualifications

• Proven B2B application development experience at a product company, building data-centric systems where data model, quality, and volume are central challenges
• Demonstrated rapid iteration methodology - short cycles, continuous delivery, tight feedback loops, and a track record of shipping quickly with real users and production-scale data
• Deep, current fluency with AI models and their capabilities, including hands-on daily use of agentic coding tools (Claude Code preferred) as a core part of the build process
• Direct experience partnering with product management and executive stakeholders, with the judgment to maintain alignment across many stakeholders while shipping fast
• Track record of leading and developing small, senior engineering teams while remaining deeply hands-on technically
• Healthcare technology experience preferred, including HIPAA compliance, patient data handling, revenue cycle applications (eligibility, benefits, patient responsibility, payments, collections), and EMR/practice management system integration patterns
• Multi-tenant SaaS experience serving specialty medical practices, health systems, or FQHCs preferred, ideally including introduction of AI capabilities in a regulated environment with measurable outcomes