Team Lead (Clinical Payments – SitePay platform / Python / PHP, min.15 years of experience), EU+UK Full Time

Team Lead (Clinical Payments – SitePay platform / Python / PHP, min.15 years of experience), EU

Employer: Kanda Software (www.kandasoft.com)

Start: ASAP

Duration: long term, full-time

This role will be involved in the end-to-end financial lifecycle of clinical trials, serving as the technical authority and primary architect for the Scout SitePay platform. The Tech Lead is responsible and accountable for translating complex clinical contract terms and financial rules into a deterministic, high-volume rules engine that ensures 100% auditable payment execution. The scope of work includes architecting the “Golden Record” system for contract enforcement, designing multi-tenant data schemas that support both internal managed services and external SaaS models, and leading the development of AI-powered orchestration layers for contract parsing and EDC data normalization. Special tasks include engineering complex payment logic—such as 1:5/1:6 re-screen ratio enforcement, retroactive amendment true-ups, and multi-currency FX governance—while maintaining a strict PHP/Symfony and Python/FastAPI technical stack as defined by leadership. This role will drive the transition from manual, spreadsheet-based reconciliation to an automated, exception-based financial sub-ledger, directly enabling Scout to scale its site payment operations without proportional headcount growth.

Key Outputs

• Production-Ready Rules Engine: An auditable, deterministic calculation core that executes payment logic based on clinical triggers and versioned fee schedules.
• Multi-Tenant Data Schema: A scalable database architecture that supports data isolation for concurrent multi-sponsor deployments and thousands of active payees.
• AI Orchestration Layer: Functional modules for natural-language contract parsing and automated EDC field normalization used by specialists to populate the “Golden Record”.
• Immutable Financial Ledger: A centralized record of all earned, withheld, and paid amounts, serving as the “Single Source of Truth” for reconciliation and regulatory reporting.
• API & Integration Adapters: Production-grade connectors for upstream EDC/CTMS feeds and downstream AP disbursement systems, including automated GL reconciliation logs.
• Technical Documentation & Governance Standards: Comprehensive system diagrams, CI/CD requirements, and “Open Kitchen” repository standards used by the internal team for long-term maintenance.

Responsibilities

• Architect and maintain the SitePay core engine by converting site-specific fee schedules and complex contract terms into versioned, executable code.
• Lead the technical implementation of the “Golden Record” to ensure that once contract terms are validated and locked, they produce consistent, auditable financial outcomes.
• Engineer robust data ingestion pipelines that validate and normalize inconsistent clinical event data from various EDC platforms (e.g., Medidata, Veeva, Oracle) into a standardized format.
• Develop AI-assisted workflows for extracting financial rules from executed CTAs and routing exceptions to specialists, ensuring AI never makes autonomous payment decisions.
• Manage the technical stack by ensuring all development aligns with the established PHP/Symfony and Python/FastAPI standards and utilizes approved AI developer tools like Claude Code or GitHub Copilot.
• Oversee global financial logic including multi-currency reconciliation, VAT/tax withholding governance, and milestone-triggered holdback releases across 170+ countries.
• Facilitate the internal technical handoff by maintaining high-quality code ownership standards that allow the internal Scout team to seamlessly inherit and extend the platform.

Education and/or Experience

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Experience: Minimum of 15 years of engineering leadership experience, with a proven track record in fintech, pharma, or high-volume SaaS environments.
• Domain Expertise: Demonstrated experience building deterministic rules engines, payment subsystems, or financial ledger infrastructure in highly regulated healthcare environments (HIPAA/GxP).

Skills and Competency

• Specialized Knowledge: Deep proficiency in the PHP/Symfony and Python/FastAPI stacks; extensive experience with AI/ML orchestration and natural language processing for document parsing.
• Abilities: Strong ability to systematize complex, “tribal knowledge” into structured data models and auditable workflows.
• Skills & Attributes: Expert-level architectural thinking with a focus on multi-tenancy and scalability; ability to balance rapid MVP delivery with long-term “production-grade” platform stability.

Lead – “I can align people and drive execution.”

A Lead is usually centered on coordination, direction, and delivery across people, not just depth of individual contribution.

• Aligns people around priorities and execution
• Translates goals into coordinated action
• Resolves technical conflicts, dependencies, and ambiguity
• Makes sure work moves across boundaries
• Represents the team in discussions with stakeholders