Senior Director, Engineering Operations & Platform

Overview

Alma is on a mission to simplify access to high-quality, affordable mental health care. We do this by making it easy and financially rewarding for therapists to accept insurance and offer in-network care. When a provider joins Alma, they gain access to a suite of tools that not only help them better run their business, but also grow it sustainably and develop as a provider.

Alma is available in all 50 states, with over 20,000 therapists in our growing network. Alma has raised $220.5M in funding from Insight Partners, Optum Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, Primary Venture Partners, First Round Capital, Sound Ventures, Box Group, Cigna Ventures, and Rainfall Ventures. Alma was also named one of Inc’s Best Workplaces in 2022 and 2023.

Alma s Engineering and Product teams are on a transformative journey, adopting and perfecting industry-proven practices such as Lean, Dual-Track Agile, Dev Ops, 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.

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
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  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
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  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
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  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
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  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, Info Sec, 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…