Director of Engineering • Senior Product Manager
Robert D.
Brissett
Product • Platforms • Digital Transformation
I am an engineering, technology, and product leader with a proven ability to step into under-resourced, fragmented, or stalled organizations and make them work. I specialize in identifying and building the systems, teams, and processes that deliver results; optimized for Director-level Engineering or Senior Product roles that own technical architecture and drive the delivery roadmap. For 15+ years I've worked across mission-driven nonprofits, behavioral health, healthcare, financial services, and life sciences — stabilizing operations, modernizing legacy systems, and launching data and AI capabilities in environments where those investments were overdue. Executive leadership and frontline teams alike trust me to translate complexity into delivery.
I Build | I Lead | I Make Doing Easier.
I've built my career around a simple belief: doing shouldn't be this hard. From behavioral health nonprofits to Fortune 500 pharma companies, I've spent 15+ years walking into complex, under-resourced environments and turning fragmented systems into foundations that actually deliver. Whether the challenge is a broken EHR, a stalled product roadmap, or a technology org that's never had real structure — I show up ready to build.
I lead at the intersection of engineering and product — able to own the architecture and drive the roadmap in the same role. Over 15+ years across healthcare, life sciences, financial services, and mission-driven organizations, I've learned that the best solutions aren't the most complex ones. They're the ones that make doing easier for the people who depend on them every day. That's what I build toward, every time.
I have the privilege to teach computer science and management engineering at Long Island University and President of a community-based organization that provides mentorship scholarships to the Brooklyn community...because the next generation of technologists deserves mentors who've shipped products, solutions, and teams. I approach people development and solution building with same ethos, create a lasting impact and leave this camp ground a little better than I found it.
Impact at Scale
Stabilized and modernized enterprise digital platforms supporting mission-critical clinical and operational programs, strengthening reliability, security, and service delivery across the organization.
Led product and platform initiatives generating $80M+ in revenue and operational savings across healthcare and life sciences organizations.
Built and launched SaaS platforms and data-driven products generating $400K+ ARR while establishing distributed product and engineering teams across the U.S. and Nepal.
Led global product, engineering, and technology teams delivering enterprise digital, data, and AI platforms across healthcare, financial services, and life sciences.
Implemented the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), establishing a remediation roadmap to raise organizational security maturity score to 75% within 18 months.
Led a $100M revenue capture initiative at Merck that addressed international reference pricing concerns through a centralized global pricing evaluation process.
Areas of Expertise
Professional Experience
- Directed a 6-person technology team and $2M operational budget, overseeing infrastructure, endpoint management, enterprise applications, and data operations for 350+ users.
- Architected and led cloud migration of enterprise services (Exchange, data pipelines, backup/recovery) to improve organizational resilience and scalability.
- Optimized the EHR platform by redesigning treatment plan workflows, routing rules, and service configurations, improving program efficiency and billing accuracy for behavioral health teams.
- Implemented the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), establishing a remediation roadmap to raise security maturity to 75% within 18 months.
- Secured ~$600K in grant funding to support endpoint modernization, cybersecurity improvements, and lifecycle management.
- Led development of Northside's enterprise data and digital platform, establishing the foundation for analytics, AI-enabled decision support, and scalable program delivery.
- Teach Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming, Networking, and Web Design.
- FFF Enterprises: Implemented Salesforce replatforming product roadmap and SAFe delivery model, improving internal reporting and delivery coordination across teams.
- AKTANA: Led 0-to-1 product build of the AKTANA Strategy Suite, defined product vision, strategy, and roadmap; coordinated delivery across UX, front-end (React/Node), and content teams.
- Hingehealth: Orchestrated product delivery across EPAM and Hingehealth; identified new subscription product opportunities leveraging Databricks, AWS Redshift, and S3 pipelines.
- Merck (DRACoE): Defined 24-month roadmap and mobilized people, processes, and technology to meet annual decommission and archival goals for Merck's IT and finance teams.
- EPAM (GLSC): Launched Global Life Sciences Community; built AI-driven knowledge base using ChatGPT to connect 4 regional hubs and support talent and client engagement.
- Merck (NextGen Pricing): Led $100M revenue capture initiative by centralizing the global pharmaceutical pricing evaluation process, addressing international reference pricing compliance across markets.
- Phase 1 — EPAM Subcontractor, Enterprise Client Delivery (2009–2019): Delivered healthcare and life sciences digital transformation engagements for EPAM's enterprise clients, led global cross-functional teams on large-scale modernization programs.
- CareFirst BCBS: Led ACA modernization, launching a private healthcare exchange with EDI 834/820 integrations into MD, DC, and VA state exchanges and eHealth platform; led compliance and data projects.
- Merck: Led global cross-functional teams that built and launched a global pricing platform securing 80M ARR savings. Work continued and expanded as a full-time EPAM employee.
- Phase 2 — SaaS Product & Global Delivery Expansion (2017–2024): Pivoted the firm from a services model to a product-led organization, building a distributed engineering team and launched SaaS offerings.
- Built and launched TheCommunityCloud.com — a 0-to-1 SaaS platform for groups and small businesses — securing ~$400K ARR with cloud-native architecture (PHP, Node.js, Laravel, AWS, PostgreSQL).
- Led a distributed engineering team of 20+ across the U.S. and Nepal, establishing a delivery center in Kathmandu with Kubernetes-based hybrid cloud and continuous Agile delivery. Exited in March 2024.
- Consolidated MasterCard Rewards, 1-800 MC Assist, and Cardholder Services into a unified product offering, achieving 30% savings through platform and operational consolidation.
- Designed regional CX models and integrated product roadmaps, improving stakeholder engagement and cross-functional coordination through standardized intake and release processes.
- Improved issuer onboarding processes by 40% and led platform/vendor consolidation as VP Global Solutions Leader.
Enterprise Project Portfolio
Led Salesforce replatforming (1-to-10 product build) for the nation's leading supplier of critical-care biopharmaceuticals. Implemented SAFe delivery model, coordinated PI planning, and improved internal communications and reporting.
Led 0-to-1 product build of the AKTANA Product Suite — an intelligent customer engagement platform for the global life sciences industry. Created product vision, strategy, and roadmap; led delivery teams to build prototypes and MVP versions of the Strategy Suite, Co-Pilot, and AI Analytics offerings.
Led product delivery for a digital physical therapy subscription service. Orchestrated delivery across EPAM and Hingehealth teams, identified new subscription product opportunities, and managed data-driven product improvements.
Led the Data Retention Archival Center of Excellence (DRACoE) — defining vision, mission, and 24-month roadmap. Also led the NextGen Pricing effort centralizing the global price evaluation process for medicines and vaccines worldwide with a global team of 46 across the U.S., Prague, and Germany.
Led 0-to-1 product build of WGH's chronic disease management service — including web and mobile patient/caregiver experience, patient scheduling solution, case management, and EMR platform selection.
Led business analysts and solution architects through ACA Act and MACRA federal regulation implementations — including a Data Warehouse & Ad Hoc reporting solution, enhanced enrollment/billing processes, EDI Integration of 834/820 files, and B2C/B2B online enrollment applications.
Led Agile SAFe implementation with the Wayfair CRM team to increase delivery velocity and capacity. Coached product owners and scrum masters, transitioned agile ceremonies to Wayfair employees, and created a cross-team prioritization process.
0-to-1 build of a Community SaaS platform for small and medium-sized groups. Wore many hats — Product Manager, Scrum Master, Architect, UX Designer, and business development lead — achieving ~$400K ARR.
Academic Background
Technical Toolkit
- Jira, Jira Align, Confluence
- Miro, Figma, Product Discovery
- GitHub, Jenkins
- AWS (Lambda, S3, CodePipeline, Redshift, SQS)
- Azure
- Kubernetes, OpenShift, Vercel
- Java, PHP, Node.js, React.js
- SQL, Perl, C, Ruby
- HTML, Bash
- Salesforce (Sales Cloud, Health Cloud)
- Epic,NetSmart (EHR)
- Microsoft Dynamics
- ChatGPT, MS Copilot, Claude
- Qlik, DataDog
- Appian
- Databricks
- Healthcare & Behavioral Health
- Life Sciences & Pharmaceuticals
- Financial Services
- Consumer Electronics & Retail
- Government & Education
Let's Connect
"I build platforms that don't just scale — they serve. Whether it's modernizing a behavioral health organization's technology stack or leading a $100M pricing initiative at a global pharma company, the goal is always the same: use technology to make things better for the people who depend on it."— Robert D. Brissett