Engineering leader · NYC

I help good teams build the software people actually depend on.

Deeply technical engineering leader — still in the codebase, most recently building production agentic AI and the workflows that make whole orgs faster with it. Fractional CTO, contract AI engineer, and 0→1 build partner for mission-driven founders in health, education, and public infrastructure.

75→90%delivery predictability, in two quarters
125→280team PRs / month, with AI-assisted dev
10×/dayreleases in a validated, regulated pipeline
96→10interviews to hires, hiring rebuilt end-to-end
Selected work

Where I've built, scaled, and steadied things.

Health, education, and real-world operations. Full history on my résumé and LinkedIn — here's the shape of it.

Stepful2025 – 26
Head of Engineering · healthcare-edtech

Series B, TIME's #1 US EdTech of 2025. Inherited the full engineering org in a CTO transition; ran five squads and lifted delivery predictability ~75→90% in two quarters. Made AI-assisted development an org capability — team throughput ~125→280 PRs/month — rebuilt hiring (96 interviews, 10 hires), and authored the L2–L6 career framework.

agentic devorg designhiring systemsSOC2
TrialSpark2017 – 22
Sr Engineer → EM, Platform · clinical trials

One of the first four engineers building software to make clinical trials faster and more humane. Built patient-recruitment and clinical data-capture from zero; stood up CI for 30 engineers releasing 10×/day in a fully validated pipeline, and automated 100+ regulatory requirements (21 CFR Part 11). Built the Platform team and co-authored the career framework still in use.

0→121 CFR Part 11CI/CDplatform
Metropolis2023 – 25
EM, Consumer Experience · computer-vision commerce

Led two full-stack product teams turning parking into seamless, computer-vision-driven commerce — scaling to 13 direct reports across four business areas. Built the product prioritization framework and created Project/Tech Lead roles to grow engineers into leadership.

computer visionteam scalingprioritization
Knewton2014 – 17
Engineer · adaptive learning

Built an observable, extensible edge service for the microservice platform and shipped student-facing features in the adaptive-learning application — partnering with Data Science to automate structuring of millions of lessons.

adaptive learningplatformdata science
The company I founded
Mission Critical · founded 2022

Compliance as a byproduct of building well.

Mission Critical is my company building continuous compliance for software teams in regulated spaces — shifting the evidence for HIPAA, SOC2, and 21 CFR Part 11 left into the CI/CD pipeline, so teams stay audit-ready and fast instead of trading one for the other.

continuous complianceHIPAA · SOC2 · Part 11evidence in the pipeline
Explore Mission Critical →
Things I build

Projects.

Agentic systems I build and run for myself — my proving ground for what's real versus hype. Each one has its own page.

About

Rob Murcek

I'm an engineer and engineering leader in New York with twelve years building software where the stakes are real — clinical trials, adaptive learning, healthcare training, mobility infrastructure. I started as one of the first engineers on a clinical-trials platform, grew into leading platform and product teams, and build the compliance and developer-productivity systems that let small teams move like much bigger ones.

What people remember isn't a particular system — it's that the team got better, communication got clearer, and hard things felt more possible. I bring a founder's ownership, a bias toward shipping small and learning fast, and a real belief that the people on a team matter as much as the architecture. I lead from the heart, and I've found that's an advantage.

Carnegie Mellon, B.S. Computer Science (minor in Computational Finance).

Deeply technicalStill in the codebase, still building
Impact-drivenRooted in business value & KPIs
Founder's ownershipI treat it like it's mine
Team builderI grow engineers into leaders
LeanIncremental value, fast learning
Currently taking on a few fractional & contract engagements

Building something that matters?

Tell me what you're working on and where it's hard. If I'm the right person to help, I'll say so — and if I'm not, I'll happily point you to someone who is.