Tech Lead, Benefits Engineering

Tech Lead, Benefits Engineering At WEX, we simplify the business of running a business. Our WEX Benefits solutions reduce complexity and help employers and partners manage the cost and administration of employee benefits. We are looking for passionate technologists, collaborators, and problem solvers to join our Benefits Technology team as we build the next generation of employer benefits solutions and services. About the Role As a Tech Lead on the WEX Benefits Technology team, you will provide hands-on technical leadership for the design, development, and evolution of modern software solutions that power the employee benefits experience. This is a technical leadership role, not a people-management position . You will serve as a trusted technical partner to engineers, product managers, architects, and other stakeholders, helping teams make sound technical decisions and deliver high-quality, scalable software. You will spend your time balancing architecture, technical design, planning, mentoring, code quality, and hands-on engineering . You will help translate complex business problems into practical technical solutions, identify risks and dependencies early, and guide engineering teams through both new development and modernization of existing platforms. The ideal candidate is a highly autonomous technical leader who can operate effectively in complex environments, influence across teams, and bring clarity to challenging technical problems. What You'll Do Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers, helping establish sound engineering practices and raising the overall technical bar. Lead the architecture, technical design, planning, and implementation of complex software solutions across distributed systems and cloud environments. Translate business and customer needs into scalable, maintainable, and secure technical solutions. Guide teams in designing and building cloud-native, distributed, and event-driven applications and services . Partner with Product, Architecture, Engineering, and other stakeholders to define technical approaches, manage dependencies, identify risks, and drive initiatives forward. Provide technical input into high-level estimation, planning, sequencing, and delivery strategy for complex initiatives. Review designs, code, and technical approaches to ensure solutions meet standards for quality, scalability, reliability, security, and maintainability. Remain hands-on with software development and contribute code where it provides the greatest technical value. Help evolve applications and platforms from legacy approaches toward modern, domain-aligned, cloud-native architectures . Help teams navigate technology and organizational transformation, including the evolution from traditional development practices to Agile and iterative delivery models . Apply strong architectural thinking to help establish clear domain boundaries and reduce unnecessary coupling across systems and services. Promote automated testing, CI/CD, observability, proactive monitoring, and operational excellence throughout the software development lifecycle. Mentor engineers through complex technical challenges and foster a culture of continuous learning and engineering excellence. Use data, experimentation, and engineering metrics to evaluate solutions and drive continuous improvement. Stay current with emerging technologies, including Generative AI and Agentic AI , and identify opportunities to responsibly apply these capabilities to engineering and customer solutions. What You'll Bring Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. 10+ years of professional software engineering experience , with a demonstrated history of technical leadership. Proven experience leading the technical design and delivery of complex software systems. Strong experience with C# and .NET / and modern software development practices. Strong experience building and consuming RESTful APIs and designing API-driven architectures. Strong proficiency with React and/or Angular and modern web application development. Experience designing and developing distributed, event-driven systems , including experience with Kafka or similar event-streaming technologies. Experience developing and operating cloud-native applications and services in AWS and/or Azure environments. Strong understanding of relational and NoSQL database technologies and experience making appropriate data architecture decisions. Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and modern CI/CD practices. Experience transitioning teams or organizations from waterfall to Agile development practices. Strong understanding of software architecture, design patterns, scalability, reliability, security, and performance. Experience with automated testing, including unit, integration, and end-to-end testing strategies. Strong understanding of software security principles and OWASP guidelines. Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills with the ability to independently navigate ambiguous and complex technical problems. Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence technical decisions across teams without relying on formal authority. Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and provide technical direction while remaining an individual technical contributor. Track record of delivering complex technical initiatives and making sound trade-offs among scope, quality, risk, and delivery. Technology Must-Haves C# / .NET / AWS and/or Azure RESTful API design and development Kafka / event-driven architecture React and/or Angular Docker Kubernetes Relational databases such as MS SQL, PostgreSQL, or MySQL NoSQL databases Cloud-native application and service development Git and CI/CD Automated testing and modern engineering practices Technology Nice-to-Have — or Ability to Learn Quickly Terraform Helm / ArgoCD GitHub Actions GraphQL Python Generative AI and Agentic AI models, frameworks, and development patterns Experience with domain-driven design, domain decomposition, or domain-boundary transformation Experience modernizing legacy platforms and integrating modern services with existing systems What Will Set You Apart Experience in the benefits, healthcare, payments, financial services, or other highly regulated domains . Experience leading technical transformation across complex enterprise environments. Strong understanding of domain modeling, service boundaries, and distributed system architecture. A history of successfully solving complex technical problems with a high degree of autonomy and ownership . Ability to quickly learn new technologies, tools, processes, and business domains and apply them effectively. Ability to act as a technical bridge across teams, communicate complex concepts clearly, and build alignment around technical decisions. Curiosity about emerging technologies and a practical approach to evaluating and applying Generative AI and Agentic AI capabilities. The base pay range represents the anticipated low and high end of the pay range for this position. Actual pay rates will vary and will be based on various factors, such as your qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role. Base pay is one component of WEX's total compensation package. Most sales positions are eligible for commission under the terms of an applicable plan. Non-sales roles are typically eligible for a quarterly or annual bonus based on their role and applicable plan. WEX's comprehensive and market competitive benefits are designed to support your personal and professional well-being. Benefits include health, dental and vision insurances, retirement savings plan, paid time off, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, disability insurance, tuition reimbursement, and more. For more information, check out the "About Us" section. Pay Range: $140,600.00 - $173,100.00