Chief Technology Officer

Location: Hanover, New Hampshire

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

The Opportunity

Aquifer, a non-profit organization delivering online health care education, seeks the ideal candidate to lead our technology team into the next decade of growth and success. We welcome you to join our team in the Upper Valley Region of NH/VT with an opportunity to work 2-3 days per week from home.

About Aquifer

Aquifer’s goal is to empower learners to become the clinicians they imagined themselves to be through online education that serves to dramatically lower the cost of health professions education. We are a virtual learning company with a 98% market share in medical education, and a growing presence in physician assistant and nurse practitioner education. Our pedagogy is the product of the nation’s leading medical educators working together to help students acquire core knowledge, clinical reasoning skills and other cognitive competencies. More than 70,000 students complete over 1,000,000 Aquifer cases annually. 

Job Summary

The CTO is responsible for all technical aspects of Aquifer’s learning platform (Aqueduct), with overall accountability for our product management, software development and pedagogy/AI teams. The CTO collaborates directly with our CEO and Chief Curriculum Officer (CCO) to enable Aquifer’s vision.

1. Technology Leadership
   1. Develop, prioritize and execute a comprehensive technology strategy aligned with Aquifer’s long-term vision and business objectives.
   2. Achieve organizational focus on customer-centric priorities and deliverables through Aquifer’s continuous integration / continuous delivery (CI/CD) framework.
   3. Build, manage and mentor the software development team, ensuring clear direction, optimal performance, best practices skill development and resource allocation.
2. Software Product Architect
   1. Align the product roadmap to Aquifer’s vision and strategy, and ensure the successful on-time delivery of high-quality software products.
   2. Lead the design, development and implementation of scalable, secure and user-friendly software solutions that enhance the online teaching and learning experience. 
   3. Oversee the evolution of the existing platform architecture, identifying opportunities for optimization, modernization and integration with emerging technologies.
   4. Establish and enforce best practices in software development, including coding standard, version control, testing and documentation.
3. Data Architecture and Governance (CISO)
   1. Develop and implement a robust learning platform data architecture that enables a robust lifecycle of data collection, integration, integrity, and disposition.
   2. Serve as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Oversee Aquifer’s cybersecurity strategy and enforce data governance policies and procedures to ensure data quality, security, privacy and compliance with relevant regulations (e.g., FERPA, SOC2).
   3. Oversee the implementation of analytics and reporting capabilities to support data-driven and personalized learning experiences and academic research.
4. AI Architect
   1. Serve as Aquifer’s AI subject matter expert, providing leadership in the strategic application, experimentation, deployment and iteration of AI technologies in Aquifer’s teaching and learning product within a 1-2 year horizon and beyond.
   2. Implement AI-driven innovations that drive the Aquifer teaching and learning experience, improve learner outcomes and differentiate our products.
   3. Lead the of AI architectures, algorithms and models that power intelligent tutoring systems, adaptive learning and personal content recommendations.
   4. Stay at the forefront of AI research and trends in education technology, actively exploring and evaluating emerging technologies for potential adoption.

Degrees in Computer Science, Statistics, and/or Math are preferred. 7 years of work experience in a related field.

Skills/Qualifications

• Experience in overseeing the development, implementation, and maintenance of complex technology platforms.
• Ability to effectively lead collaborative product and software teams through a complete system development life cycle.
• Ability to lead the execution of large complex projects with an ability to complete assignments on time and within budget, with a high attention to detail and focus on quality.
• Ability to identify, analyze and partner with technology providers in healthcare education and learning platforms.
• A commitment to the mission and vision of transforming health care education and learning.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills and high levels of emotional intelligence with a strong stakeholder and learner orientation.
• Proficient in Ruby on Rails and web technologies, along with standard productivity tools including Github, Zoom, Google Suite and Microsoft Office.

Aquifer’s Core Values

1. Live the Aquifer non-profit mission -- feel the need, create the future, evaluate the impact.
2. Collaborate wholeheartedly -- be proactive and agile, seek first to understand, play well together.
3. Keep your promises -- get stuff done and deliver on time, finish what you started, own the responsibility.
4. Do the right thing -- remember the Golden Rule, put the customer first, embrace transparency.
5. Be bold and fierce -- attack the opportunity, show your grit, manage your fear.
6. Strive for excellence -- make your A-game your everyday game, know your stuff, stretch a lot.
7. Embrace learning and grow -- be curious, cultivate and contribute knowledge, experiment and adapt.
8. Enjoy the journey -- take the work seriously and yourself less so, go far together, be well.

Diversity Encouraged

Our organization strongly values diversity and the inclusion of people from a wide range of backgrounds and experience, recognizing that such diversity will enrich our culture and strengthen our ability to fulfill our organization’s mission.