PD
Engineering Technical Lead
Accepting applicationsPlanet DDS · Irvine, CA
Full-Time Principal AIMentorSicaiate
Posted
2d ago
Category
Test
Experience
Principal
Country
United States
About Planet DDS
We’re on a mission to fix dental software - and we’re not playing small. Our platform replaces clunky, outdated systems with modern, cloud-based, AI-powered technology built to actually work at scale. From practice management to imaging to revenue cycle automation, we’re tearing down the old infrastructure and rebuilding the future of dentistry. Planet DDS is the fastest-growing provider of dental practice management solutions and the #1 cloud platform for DSOs and multi-location groups.
Here, you won’t just join a team - you’ll join a movement. We want bold thinkers who are ambitious enough to push limits, empathetic enough to work as one, and accountable enough to own big outcomes. Trust is our currency, collaboration is our edge, and impact is our fuel. If you’re ready to grow fast, challenge the status quo, and help reinvent an entire industry, Planet DDS is where you belong.
To learn more, visit: Planet DDS .
Overview
We’re looking for a Tech Lead who is a strong software engineer first – someone who has integrated AI development tools deeply into how they work and can drive a small, autonomous team to deliver meaningful outcomes for our customers. This isn’t a management role. You won’t have HR responsibilities. What you will have is ownership: a dedicated product pod (typically 2 software engineers and a QA engineer), a direct line to DevOps, DBAs, and Product, and access to real customers so you can iterate fast and ship with confidence.
You’ll lead the technical direction of your pod, make architectural decisions, unblock your teammates, and set the standard for how modern, AI-assisted software engineering gets done at Planet DDS. You’ll have meaningful input into how we evolve our engineering practices as an organization, and you’ll be a key part of our transition to outcome-driven, pod-based delivery
Job Duties
Own the technical delivery of your pod’s commitments end-to-end: from technical design through implementation, testing, and deployment
Drive planning, estimation, and prioritization within your pod, working closely with your Product Lead to balance technical quality with delivery speed
Remove blockers for your team; coordinate with DevOps, DBAs, and other pods to keep work flowing
Establish and maintain a sustainable pace of weekly deployments, continuously improving the team’s ability to ship with confidence
Make sound architectural decisions that are maintainable, scalable, and aligned with our product direction
Write production code daily – this is a hands-on role where you lead by doing, not just directing
Use AI-assisted development tools strategically across the full SDLC: planning work with AI agents, generating and refining code, creating comprehensive test coverage, and accelerating debugging
Drive improvements to development processes, tooling, and CI/CD pipelines within your pod and across the wider engineering org
Mentor engineers on effective AI-assisted workflows; help establish team-wide patterns and practices that raise the bar for everyone
Conduct meaningful code reviews that focus on design, maintainability, and helping teammates grow
Foster a culture of technical curiosity, continuous improvement, and shared ownership of quality
Collaborate directly with Product to shape technical solutions that address real customer problems
Participate in customer feedback sessions to build empathy and inform technical decisions
Translate customer needs and product goals into clear technical plans your pod can execute against
Essential
Skills and Qualifications
12+ years of commercial software engineering experience, with a track record of shipping and maintaining production systems at scale
Demonstrated experience leading technical delivery – whether as a formal tech lead, senior engineer who naturally stepped up, or lead on complex projects where you were the person others looked to for direction
Deep understanding of software engineering fundamentals: OOP, design patterns, SOLID principles, testing strategies, and writing code that others can maintain
Proven experience using AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, or similar) as a core part of your daily workflow – you should be able to articulate how you approach complex problems differently with these tools and how you’d help a team adopt them
Ability to work effectively across the stack; .NET and React experience strongly preferred, but excellent fundamentals in other modern stacks considered
Experience with CI/CD, automated testing, and shipping code frequently with confidence
Strong communication skills and the ability to make technical concepts accessible to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders
Comfort with ambiguity and rapid iteration – you ship, learn, adapt, and help your team do the same
Nice to Have
Experience in SaaS, healthcare software, or other regulated/compliance-sensitive environments
Hands-on DevOps experience (IaC, Azure) or infrastructure knowledge that helps you make better architectural decisions
Prior experience introducing new tools, practices, or ways of working to a team – and navigating the human side of that change
Exposure to trunk-based development, continuous deployment models, or outcome-driven delivery frameworks
Experience working with distributed teams across multiple time zones
Background in API design, integration patterns, or building platforms other teams consume
Benefits
Medical, dental and vision insurance
Health Savings Account
Flexible Spending Accounts
Telehealth
401(k) and 401(k) match
Life and AD&D insurance
Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
FTO or Vacation
Sick Time
Employee Well-Being program
11 paid holidays
Volunteer Time Off
Employee Referral program
Additional perk and voluntary benefit programs
Salary is based on a number of factors and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. This position is also eligible for variable pay as part of the total compensation package.
Planet Dds Core Ideology
To encourage measurable progress toward our vision and make the best decisions on behalf of employees and customers, we adopted a set of common values:
Collaborative – Working independently and across teams, we create scalable solutions to enable company growth
Empathetic – We are educated on the experience of our customers and feel vested in their success
Accountable – We feel ownership for the quality of our work and take pride in the positive outcomes
Trustworthy – We operate with integrity and honest, making promises we know that we can keep
Ambitious – We are driven by our ability to make a long-term, positive impact on the lives of dental market leaders
Planet DDS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
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We’re on a mission to fix dental software - and we’re not playing small. Our platform replaces clunky, outdated systems with modern, cloud-based, AI-powered technology built to actually work at scale. From practice management to imaging to revenue cycle automation, we’re tearing down the old infrastructure and rebuilding the future of dentistry. Planet DDS is the fastest-growing provider of dental practice management solutions and the #1 cloud platform for DSOs and multi-location groups.
Here, you won’t just join a team - you’ll join a movement. We want bold thinkers who are ambitious enough to push limits, empathetic enough to work as one, and accountable enough to own big outcomes. Trust is our currency, collaboration is our edge, and impact is our fuel. If you’re ready to grow fast, challenge the status quo, and help reinvent an entire industry, Planet DDS is where you belong.
To learn more, visit: Planet DDS .
Overview
We’re looking for a Tech Lead who is a strong software engineer first – someone who has integrated AI development tools deeply into how they work and can drive a small, autonomous team to deliver meaningful outcomes for our customers. This isn’t a management role. You won’t have HR responsibilities. What you will have is ownership: a dedicated product pod (typically 2 software engineers and a QA engineer), a direct line to DevOps, DBAs, and Product, and access to real customers so you can iterate fast and ship with confidence.
You’ll lead the technical direction of your pod, make architectural decisions, unblock your teammates, and set the standard for how modern, AI-assisted software engineering gets done at Planet DDS. You’ll have meaningful input into how we evolve our engineering practices as an organization, and you’ll be a key part of our transition to outcome-driven, pod-based delivery
Job Duties
Own the technical delivery of your pod’s commitments end-to-end: from technical design through implementation, testing, and deployment
Drive planning, estimation, and prioritization within your pod, working closely with your Product Lead to balance technical quality with delivery speed
Remove blockers for your team; coordinate with DevOps, DBAs, and other pods to keep work flowing
Establish and maintain a sustainable pace of weekly deployments, continuously improving the team’s ability to ship with confidence
Make sound architectural decisions that are maintainable, scalable, and aligned with our product direction
Write production code daily – this is a hands-on role where you lead by doing, not just directing
Use AI-assisted development tools strategically across the full SDLC: planning work with AI agents, generating and refining code, creating comprehensive test coverage, and accelerating debugging
Drive improvements to development processes, tooling, and CI/CD pipelines within your pod and across the wider engineering org
Mentor engineers on effective AI-assisted workflows; help establish team-wide patterns and practices that raise the bar for everyone
Conduct meaningful code reviews that focus on design, maintainability, and helping teammates grow
Foster a culture of technical curiosity, continuous improvement, and shared ownership of quality
Collaborate directly with Product to shape technical solutions that address real customer problems
Participate in customer feedback sessions to build empathy and inform technical decisions
Translate customer needs and product goals into clear technical plans your pod can execute against
Essential
Skills and Qualifications
12+ years of commercial software engineering experience, with a track record of shipping and maintaining production systems at scale
Demonstrated experience leading technical delivery – whether as a formal tech lead, senior engineer who naturally stepped up, or lead on complex projects where you were the person others looked to for direction
Deep understanding of software engineering fundamentals: OOP, design patterns, SOLID principles, testing strategies, and writing code that others can maintain
Proven experience using AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, or similar) as a core part of your daily workflow – you should be able to articulate how you approach complex problems differently with these tools and how you’d help a team adopt them
Ability to work effectively across the stack; .NET and React experience strongly preferred, but excellent fundamentals in other modern stacks considered
Experience with CI/CD, automated testing, and shipping code frequently with confidence
Strong communication skills and the ability to make technical concepts accessible to both engineers and non-technical stakeholders
Comfort with ambiguity and rapid iteration – you ship, learn, adapt, and help your team do the same
Nice to Have
Experience in SaaS, healthcare software, or other regulated/compliance-sensitive environments
Hands-on DevOps experience (IaC, Azure) or infrastructure knowledge that helps you make better architectural decisions
Prior experience introducing new tools, practices, or ways of working to a team – and navigating the human side of that change
Exposure to trunk-based development, continuous deployment models, or outcome-driven delivery frameworks
Experience working with distributed teams across multiple time zones
Background in API design, integration patterns, or building platforms other teams consume
Benefits
Medical, dental and vision insurance
Health Savings Account
Flexible Spending Accounts
Telehealth
401(k) and 401(k) match
Life and AD&D insurance
Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
FTO or Vacation
Sick Time
Employee Well-Being program
11 paid holidays
Volunteer Time Off
Employee Referral program
Additional perk and voluntary benefit programs
Salary is based on a number of factors and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. This position is also eligible for variable pay as part of the total compensation package.
Planet Dds Core Ideology
To encourage measurable progress toward our vision and make the best decisions on behalf of employees and customers, we adopted a set of common values:
Collaborative – Working independently and across teams, we create scalable solutions to enable company growth
Empathetic – We are educated on the experience of our customers and feel vested in their success
Accountable – We feel ownership for the quality of our work and take pride in the positive outcomes
Trustworthy – We operate with integrity and honest, making promises we know that we can keep
Ambitious – We are driven by our ability to make a long-term, positive impact on the lives of dental market leaders
Planet DDS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
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