Vice President, Engineering
Description
Uplight is creating a new category of energy. We make software that manages energy resources in homes and businesses—including things like smart thermostats, electric vehicles, solar panels, storage batteries, heat pumps, and even people’s behavior—to generate, shift, or save energy to balance the grid, making it more efficient and reliable. This creates clean energy capacity that can be used by the power grid instead of burning more fossil fuels. Our solutions accelerate the transition to clean energy and save money for energy customers.
We are looking for a VP, Engineering to drive our company forward and help us lead the clean energy revolution!
How you will make an impact:
Engineering Strategy & Execution
Finish foundational technology transitions currently underway, with AWS Migration and Project Upgrade serving as the key enablers for our forward-looking technology roadmap.
Establish a clear long-term technology strategy that eliminates complexity, unifies duplicate systems (e.g., standardizing CI/CD, consolidating variants like Flex on Databricks), and removes low-value work.
Partner closely with Product, Strategy & Operations, Cyber Security, and customer-facing teams to align engineering capacity with the company's highest-value technical and commercial opportunities.
Drive predictable execution, clear technical planning, and estimation discipline without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
Increase Engineering Leverage & AI Transformation
Partner with the Sr. Director of AI and Architecture to establish an AI-first engineering mindset, transforming how we build software and leveling up our team to leverage AI effectively to innovate, boost productivity, and reduce OPEX.
Own key outcome-driven metrics, with an emphasis on measuring efficiency, outcomes, and reliability across the products and teams..
Maintain high technical, architectural, and reliability standards across platform modernization, MLOps, Databricks Lakehouse architecture, and cost-effective cloud infrastructure.
Global Leadership, Accountability & Culture
Build and enable a truly distributed global engineering organization with full authority to make in-region decisions at the highest level.
Partner directly with the India Country Manager to empower and build strong in-region leadership, driving local decision-making and operational excellence.
Develop a strong layer of Directors and Engineering Managers through mentorship and clear succession planning to prepare Uplight for its next stage of growth.
Address organizational and performance issues decisively and fairly while fostering an inclusive, high-accountability, and psychologically safe engineering culture.
What you bring to Uplight:
10+ years of engineering leadership experience in software/SaaS environments, including 5+ years managing managers and directors in global or distributed teams.
A proven ability to scale engineering organizations while maintaining team engagement, high-quality output, and technical rigor.
Demonstrated success delivering complex, data-driven, cloud-native products across hybrid architectures (GCP and/or AWS preferred).
Hands-on experience with large-scale cloud migrations, technical debt remediation, or replatforming legacy systems to modern architectures.
Deep understanding of data infrastructure and modern data engineering practices, including Databricks, MLOps, and Lakehouse/Medallion data patterns.
Strong systems thinking and architectural experience with full-stack applications, distributed systems, and infrastructure reliability.
Effective collaborator and communicator, able to influence at the executive level and foster alignment across technical and non-technical teams.
Commitment to agile values, lean delivery, and building empowered, customer-focused teams.
Passion for climate tech, energy systems, and the impact of software in decarbonizing the grid.
Bonus Points:
Experience supporting SaaS products for regulated industries or public sector clients, especially utilities.
Background in machine learning platform engineering, observability, or cost optimization in hybrid cloud environments.
Experience in data privacy, security, or compliance (SOC 2, GDPR, etc.) as it relates to engineering practices.
Familiarity with behavioral science, user engagement, or DER orchestration platforms.
Why Join Uplight in Leading the Fight Against Climate Change?
At Uplight, we're not just offering a job – we're offering a chance to be part of the solution to one of the world's biggest challenges. As a certified B Corporation, we're deeply committed to both social and environmental responsibility. Here's why you should join our team of passionate Uplighters:
Make a Meaningful Impact: Your work directly impacts our mission of decarbonization and building a more sustainable future.
Grow Your Career: We offer ample advancement opportunities, robust learning and development programs, and a supportive team environment that fosters collaboration and innovation.
Thrive: We offer comprehensive benefits, including flexible time off, generous parental leave, a wellness stipend, and work flexibility to help you thrive both personally and professionally.
Belong to an Inclusive Community: We celebrate diversity and foster an inclusive workplace where everyone feels respected, empowered, and heard. Our Employee Resource Groups offer opportunities to connect with colleagues who share your interests and backgrounds.
Be Part of a Growing Movement: Join a team of dedicated individuals who are passionate about creating a more sustainable future. We offer a collaborative environment where your ideas are valued and your contributions recognized. Together, we can build a brighter tomorrow.
To learn more about our comprehensive benefits package and other perks, visit uplight.com/careers
In accordance with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the approximate annual base compensation range is listed above. The actual offer, reflecting the total compensation package and benefits, will be determined by a number of factors including the applicant's experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity among our team.
Uplight provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race (including hair texture and hairstyles), color, religion (including head coverings), age, sex, national origin, disability status (including neurodivergence), genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, neurotypicality, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.