About the Role
We are seeking a hands-on, execution-focused VP of Innovation to join one of our key portfolio companies. Reporting directly to the CTO, you will lead a specialized technical team (DevOps & Senior Developers) tasked with the company’s most critical modernization initiatives.
This is a "Player-Coach" role. We are not looking for a theoretical strategist or a pure people manager. We are looking for a senior technologist who has deep experience navigating legacy codebases, migrating on-premise operations to the public cloud, and architecting modern Generative AI solutions.
You will act as a catalyst for change, driving technical excellence and increasing the company's enterprise value by modernizing our stack.
Key Responsibilities
Infrastructure Modernization (Data Center to Cloud)
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Lead the Migration: Architect and execute the migration of product and backend tools from legacy data centers to a public cloud environment ([AWS/Azure/GCP]).
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Modernize Operations: Transition from legacy hosting to modern, containerized architectures (Docker/Kubernetes) and implement robust CI/CD pipelines.
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Infrastructure as Code: Enforce IaC best practices using tools like Terraform or Ansible to ensure environments are reproducible and scalable.
Generative AI Implementation
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Build & Deploy: Go beyond the hype by identifying high-ROI use cases for GenAI. You will architect and build solutions involving LLMs, RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), and Vector Databases.
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Internal Tooling: Develop AI-driven tools to increase developer efficiency and automate backend operational workflows.
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AI Governance: Establish technical standards for API usage, data privacy, and cost management for AI integration.
Technical Leadership
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Manage the "SWAT" Team: Lead a lean, high-output team of DevOps engineers and Full-Stack Developers.
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Hands-on Coding: Actively contribute to code reviews, architectural decisions, and critical development tasks. You will be expected to get your hands dirty.
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Change Management: Bridge the gap between legacy engineering practices and modern cloud-native workflows, mentoring existing staff and raising the bar for engineering quality.
Requirements
Must-Have Technical Experience
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10+ years of total software engineering experience, with at least 3-5 years in a technical leadership position.
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Cloud Migration Expert: Proven track record of personally leading a successful migration from On-Premise/Data Center to Public Cloud (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
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AI/ML Stack: Recent, practical experience building with the modern AI stack (OpenAI/Anthropic APIs, LangChain, Pinecone/Weaviate, Python).
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DevOps Mastery: Strong background in Linux, Networking, Security, and Container Orchestration (K8s).
Management & Soft Skills
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Execution First: You value shipping working code over creating slide decks. You are comfortable working in a "turnaround" or high-growth environment where speed is critical.
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Effective Communication: You can explain complex technical architectural decisions to non-technical stakeholders and Board members.
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Resilience: You have the grit to navigate legacy environments and the emotional intelligence to drive cultural change in established teams.
Nice to Have
- Previous experience working within a Private Equity or Venture Capital-backed portfolio company.
- Experience dissecting and refactoring Java or .NET monoliths.
Benefits
- Long-term contract
- Rate: $100/hr
