VP of R&D Technology

Location: Chicago, IL 60607, Irving, TX 75062 Vizient Corporate HQ

Time Type: Full time

Job Description

When you’re the best, we’re the best. We instill an environment where employees feel engaged, satisfied and able to contribute their unique skills and talents while living and working as their authentic selves. We provide extensive opportunities for personal and professional development, building both employee competence and organizational capability to fuel exceptional performance through an inclusive environment both now and in the future.

This is not a typical R&D role -- and it’s not meant to be.

We’re building something new inside Vizient -- and we’re starting small on purpose.

This team operates like a set of focused startups: small, hands-on, and accountable for shipping real products that real customers use. The difference is that access to customers, data, and scale is already solved -- from day one.

You won’t be exploring ideas in isolation. You’ll be building, validating, and deploying software directly into live environments, with immediate feedback and a clear line of sight from problem to impact.

Why This Team Exists

Vizient is the largest healthcare performance improvement company in the U.S., working with thousands of hospitals and health systems and supporting care delivery for millions of patients nationwide.

This R&D unit exists because Vizient sits closer to the real needs of health systems than almost any organization in healthcare. By working directly with providers, operators, and product leaders across that network, the team has immediate access to the problems that matter most -- allowing it to identify needs early, validate ideas quickly, and build software grounded in how healthcare actually operates. That proximity enables speed, fidelity, and impact that are difficult to achieve anywhere else.

The Role

You’ll serve as the senior technical leader for this R&D unit, responsible for how products are designed, built, and shipped.

On day one, you’ll lead a small, high-leverage engineering team (~6 engineers) while remaining hands-on as a builder. You’ll set technical direction, contribute production code, and establish the foundations that allow this group to move quickly and safely.

What You’ll Work On

• Own technical architecture and engineering direction across early R&D products
• Lead and grow a small engineering team while staying close to the code
• Partner closely with product and venture leaders to move ideas from concept to MVP to production
• Make pragmatic technical decisions that balance speed, learning, and durability
• Establish lightweight engineering norms that enable teams to ship safely and often
• Ensure privacy, security, and regulatory considerations are built in from the start
• Guide build / buy / partner decisions and perform technical diligence when needed

Hiring & Team Building

• Participate directly in hiring and early team formation
• Help define long-term hiring strategy as the R&D unit grows
• Set a clear technical and cultural bar for the team
• Establish the engineering brand for this new R&D organization

What We’re Looking For

• A senior technical leader with a track record of shipping customer-facing products
• Experience leading small teams while remaining an active individual contributor
• Strong architectural judgment across modern software systems
• Comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
• Healthcare experience is a meaningful advantage, but not required
• Experience in regulated or high-trust domains is helpful

Why This Role Is Different

• You’re shaping a new R&D organization, not inheriting a legacy one
• You’ll work with a small, senior team and real customers from day one
• Your influence comes from ownership and delivery

Qualifications

• Shipped 3+ MVPs or net-new V1 products, preferably in B2B SaaS or healthcare technology
• Full-stack technical expertise across frontend, backend, and cloud infrastructure
• Demonstrated experience with HIPAA-compliant, scalable architectures
• Familiarity with startup ecosystems, venture diligence, and commercial-grade system design

• Deep knowledge of modern technology stacks, cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS, Azure), and full-stack engineering practices
• Ability to translate business strategy into scalable, compliant technical solutions
• Strong understanding of security, privacy, and regulatory frameworks (HIPAA, SOC 2, HITRUST)
• Skilled in managing hybrid engineering teams and external vendors to deliver high-quality MVPs

#LI-KG1

Estimated Hiring Range:

At Vizient, we consider skills, experience, and organizational needs in our compensation approach. Geographic factors may adjust the range estimate and hires typically fall below the top range. Compensation decisions are tailored to individual circumstances. The current salary range for this role is $225,400.00 to $417,900.00.

This position is also incentive eligible.

Vizient has a comprehensive benefits plan! Please view our benefits here:

http://www.vizientinc.com/about-us/careers

Equal Opportunity Employer:   Females/Minorities/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The Company is committed to equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants without regard to race, religion, color, gender identity, ethnicity, age, national origin, sexual orientation, disability status, veteran status or any other category protected by applicable law.