Reports to: CTO
Department: Technology
Location: This is a fully remote U.S.-based position. Candidates must reside and work in one of the following states due to tax and compliance requirements: AR, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, IL, LA, MD, MO, NC, NJ, NV, NY, OH, TX, VA, WA, WI, or WY.
FLSA Classification: Salaried, Exempt
Compensation: This position has geographic-based pay ranges. Final compensation and geographic tier placement are determined based on the candidate's primary work location, skills, experience, and qualifications.
Tier 1 (Higher Cost Markets): $190,000 - $220,000
Tier 2 (National Markets): $180,000 - $210,000
Tier 3 (Lower Cost Markets): $170,000 - $200,000
About the OpportunityThe technology behind Paleovalley and Wild Pastures is central to how customers shop, subscribe, and get help - and how our teams fulfill orders and run the business. Much of it was built in-house by our co-founder and CTO. As both brands grow, we need a technology organization that can keep these platforms strong, connect them with our business systems, and support the next stage of growth.
The Vice President of Technology will be the CTO's trusted right hand and lead the full technology function across software engineering, business systems, and IT. This leader will set priorities and investment plans with the CTO, make consequential day-to-day decisions with substantial autonomy, and own the team, budget, delivery, and health of our technology. The role gives the CTO room to focus on company-wide direction and the technical work where he can add the most value.
Success here requires executive judgment, real technical depth, and a practical approach to AI and automation. You'll work through architecture, code, and difficult incidents while building shared knowledge and ownership across the team. You'll also guide AI adoption that improves how we build software and run the business, partnering with E-Commerce on reliable solutions for the shopping experience and commercial priorities.
What You'll DoTechnology Strategy and Leadership- Set the technology strategy and multi-year roadmap with the CTO, turning business priorities into clear investments, sequencing, and delivery across both brands.
- Lead engineering, business systems, and IT as one function, developing leaders, clarifying decision rights, and building the capacity needed for growth.
- Own the technology budget, staffing, and vendor strategy; make sound build-versus-buy decisions and raise enterprise-level risks and architectural choices with the CTO.
- Establish and oversee a centralized technology request intake and prioritization process, evaluating incoming requests, defining project scope, assessing business impact, allocating resources, and communicating realistic timelines to stakeholders across departments.
- Develop scalable engineering workflows and project management practices that improve accountability, delivery predictability, and cross-functional communication without introducing unnecessary administrative complexity.
Custom Platforms and Engineering- Own the architecture and engineering delivery of our custom commerce, subscription, customer service, and internal platforms, balancing new capabilities with reliability and maintainability.
- Stay close to the technical work through design and code reviews, hands-on troubleshooting, and selective coding when a critical problem calls for it.
- Set practical standards for testing, releases, monitoring, and incident response so teams can move quickly while protecting the customer and employee experience.
- Reduce dependence on any one person by documenting critical systems, sharing ownership, cross-training the team, and testing recovery procedures.
AI and Automation- Lead AI and automation strategy with the CTO, turning emerging capabilities into practical agents, workflows, and tools that improve efficiency, decision-making, and organizational capacity.
- Evaluate where AI, conventional automation, and human expertise are best applied, measuring business value before scaling adoption across engineering and business functions.
Business Systems, IT and Security- Lead the strategy for business applications, integrations, and data flows that connect commerce with customer service, fulfillment, manufacturing, supply chain, and finance.
- Oversee IT services, infrastructure, access, cybersecurity, privacy, and vendor risk, including practical standards for AI reliability, data protection, and appropriate human oversight.
- Maintain continuity and disaster recovery plans for revenue-critical and operational systems, and prioritize technical debt based on security, scalability, cost, and business impact.
Delivery and Cross Functional Partnership- Partner with E-Commerce and web experience teams to translate storefront and testing priorities into technical solutions; E-Commerce owns commercial outcomes while Technology owns platform delivery.
- Partner with business leaders to evaluate processes, automation opportunities, and capacity needs before recommending additional systems, vendors, or headcount.
- Set realistic commitments, manage competing requests, and give the CTO and executive team a clear view of progress, service health, and emerging risks.
- Serve as a responsive and solutions-oriented technology partner to department leaders, ensuring incoming requests are properly evaluated, stakeholders receive clear updates, and technical priorities remain aligned with business impact and available capacity.
What You'll Need to Succeed- 8+ years of progressive experience in software engineering and technology leadership, including 4+ years leading technical teams and developing managers or other senior leaders.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field preferred; equivalent practical experience and demonstrated technical leadership will be considered in lieu of a degree.
- Strong command of software architecture, production code, integrations, cloud infrastructure, and engineering practices.
- Hands-on experience applying AI tools and automation in software development or business workflows, with sound judgment about their limitations, reliability, and data risks.
- Experience leading customer-facing commerce or subscription platforms alongside enterprise applications and IT services.
- A track record of making custom or founder-built systems maintainable, documented, and independently operable.
- Practical judgment in security, privacy, access, incident response, disaster recovery, and business continuity.
- Business acumen to manage budgets, vendors, technical investments, and competing priorities across functions.
- Ability to earn a technical founder's trust while leading independently and building a stronger technology organization.
Bonus Points- Experience working in a startup, founder-led business, or high-growth e-commerce environment.
- Experience with custom-built e-commerce platforms, legacy application modernization, or migrations involving PHP/Laravel-based systems.
- Familiarity with platforms such as Shopify and the technical considerations involved in building or integrating e-commerce functionality.
- Experience with RESTful APIs, MySQL or comparable relational databases, AWS or similar cloud infrastructure, and modern web development practices.
- Experience with ERP, warehouse management, fulfillment, or customer service platforms, including systems such as Acumatica, Logiwa, Klaviyo, or Gladly.
- Familiarity with Agile, Scrum, or other structured project management practices; relevant certifications are a plus.
- Interest in food, wellness, and regenerative agriculture.
Our Commitment to You- Medical, dental, and vision coverage with 100% employer-paid dental/vision and a small monthly medical premium for employees; dependents may be added at employee cost
- Generous Paid time off to support balance and rest
- Paid sick time for when you need it
- Six (6) company-paid holidays each year & two (2) floating holidays
- Paid parental leave after 6 months of service for eligible employees
- 100% company-paid Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, and Life Insurance
- Referral bonuses up to $1,500 when you refer great people who join our team
- 401(k) or Roth Plans with up to a 4% company match after one year of service
- $300 Paleovalley Monthly product stipend for employees
