Knoxville, Tennessee

Will Austin

Engineering Executive | Technology Leader | Builder of High-Performing Organizations

I |

I build and lead engineering organizations that turn complex business problems into measurable outcomes.

Over more than two decades across healthcare, media, financial services, and telecommunications, I’ve built high-performing technology teams, aligned engineering strategy with enterprise priorities, and led organizations through transformation, modernization, and large-scale delivery.

I’m an engineer by foundation and an executive leader by experience. I believe the best technology organizations are built on exceptional talent, clear accountability, technical credibility, and trust.

0 Years in Technology
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0 Media Brands Supported
Will Austin
Organizations
Trust
Engineering
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Scope, scale, and responsibility

I lead technology organizations that have to deliver under real enterprise constraints: regulated environments, complex stakeholders, and work that only matters if the business can use it.

Organizational leadership

Senior Software Engineering Director at Evernorth Health Services / Cigna Healthcare, with progression from senior manager to director to senior director since 2019.

Enterprise domains

Operational analytics spanning client, claims, provider, and regulatory/compliance work, including commercial Rx teams and HEDIS quality reporting.

Industry breadth

More than two decades across healthcare, media, financial services, and telecommunications—from AT&T through Evernorth.

Regulated delivery

Healthcare quality, HIPAA, NCQA compliance, and earlier regulatory reporting in student loan operations.

Engineer by foundation. Leader by experience.

Technical credibility is not a hobby I left behind. It is how I hire, how I set standards, and how I earn the right to ask teams for excellence.

Build the organization

I am particularly strong at identifying and hiring excellent technologists, then developing them into teams that can carry real responsibility.

Align on outcomes

I create alignment around what the business actually needs, then drive teams through completion instead of leaving work stranded in process.

Air cover with accountability

I protect engineering teams from unnecessary organizational noise, competing priorities, and friction so they can solve the problem—while still holding the line on results.

Trust, kept

I build long-term professional relationships. Trust is foundational. When I make a commitment, I take keeping my word extremely seriously.

Leaders should create clarity, remove friction, develop people, and accept accountability for outcomes.

Chapters of increasing scope

Each chapter expanded organizational responsibility, business impact, and technical complexity—not just a longer title.

2019
Current Role April 2019 - Present

Senior Software Engineering Director

Cigna Healthcare / Evernorth Health Services

Healthcare operations need trustworthy reporting, analytics, and quality measurement across client, claims, provider, and regulatory domains. I lead an organization delivering reporting, analytical data enablement, full-stack engineering, DevOps, and SaaS solutions—including commercial Rx teams and HEDIS quality reporting, with digital measures for interoperability to maintain NCQA compliance.

  • Sr. Software Engineering Director — Evernorth Health Services, Dec 2022 – Present
  • Software Engineering Director — Cigna Healthcare, Dec 2020 – Dec 2022
  • Software Engineering Senior Manager — Cigna Healthcare, Apr 2019 – Dec 2020
Healthcare Org Leadership Clinical Informatics Analytics
2018
March 2018 - April 2019

Director of Data and Analytics Integration

Warner Brothers Discovery Inc.

After the Scripps Networks acquisition, media operations needed a coherent analytics picture. I led integration of data and analytics platforms so reporting and business intelligence could support global media operations, unifying disparate data sources into a cohesive analytics ecosystem.

M&A Integration Media BI
2012
March 2012 - March 2018

Director of Data Applications

Scripps Networks Interactive

Lifestyle media brands needed data applications that supported strategy and audience decisions. I directed development of analytics tools and scalable solutions for HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, and 85 other lifestyle media brands, after first leading database marketing to improve audience engagement and growth.

  • Director of Data Applications — Jan 2015 – Mar 2018
  • Database Marketing Director — Mar 2012 – Dec 2014
HGTV Food Network Travel Channel TLC DIY Network
View all brands
Data Applications Broadcasting Strategy
2007
April 2007 - March 2012

Director of Business Intelligence and Analytics

The E.W. Scripps Company

Newspaper and digital properties needed decision-makers to see what the audience was actually doing. I progressed from specialist to manager to director, oversaw BI and analytics, built reporting for executive decisions, and pioneered web analytics adoption across newspaper digital properties.

  • Director of Business Intelligence and Analytics — Apr 2011 – Mar 2012
  • Manager of Business Intelligence and Analytics — Feb 2009 – Apr 2011
  • Sr. Business Intelligence and Analytics Specialist — Apr 2007 – Feb 2009
BI Web Analytics Publishing
2004
April 2004 - March 2007

Business Intelligence and Analytics Analyst

Edfinancial Services

Student loan operations needed reliable reporting for portfolio management and regulatory compliance. I analyzed financial operations data and developed automated reporting solutions so that work did not depend on manual production.

Financial Services Reporting Compliance
2000
May 2000 - March 2004

Sales and Marketing Manager

AT&T

Telecommunications growth depended on customer engagement and commercial execution. I managed sales and marketing initiatives, led teams in telecommunications solutions, and built the data-driven decision-making foundation that has defined the rest of my career.

Telecom Sales Marketing

Problems, decisions, outcomes

Technology is the means. The work is judged by whether the organization could make better decisions, stay compliant, and deliver.

Healthcare quality and operational intelligence

Quality programs and operations leaders needed reporting they could defend in a regulated environment. I lead operational analytics across client, claims, provider, and regulatory/compliance domains, including commercial Rx and HEDIS quality reporting with digital measures for interoperability to maintain NCQA compliance.

Delivery that starts with the real request

Fragmented intake—email, instant messages, hallway requests—created churn before engineering ever started. I advanced a unified intake approach, qualifying the customer early, and defined an end-to-end path from intake through prioritization, requirements, and engineering execution, including AI-assisted requirements where they help.

Media data after acquisition

Global media operations needed one analytics picture after Scripps Networks joined Discovery. I led data and analytics platform integration so advanced reporting and BI could serve the combined business, following years of data applications across HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, and 85 other lifestyle brands.

Putting information in decision-makers’ hands

Publishing and digital properties needed to understand audience behavior, not just produce reports. I pioneered web analytics adoption across newspaper digital properties and later built the data applications and marketing analytics that supported strategy at scale.

Additional recent work—including agentic workflow enablement, tooling adoption, and operating-model planning—is in the portfolio.

How executives and partners describe the work

"Will puts crucial strategic information at the fingertips of decisionmakers in ways they can actually use."

Co-CEO Direct Manager

"Will Austin is a well-poised leader and champion for innovation and change."

Senior Brand Marketing Manager Direct Manager

Capabilities that keep leadership honest

I am an executive who remains a serious engineer. Cloud, data, software architecture, and AI/ML matter here as current technical credibility—not as a primary identity.

Development

Python
JavaScript
React
Node.js
Go
SQL

Cloud & DevOps

AWS
Docker
Kubernetes
GitHub
CI/CD
Terraform

Data & AI

Machine Learning
Analytics
Data Warehouse
Streaming
ETL/ELT
Visualization

Leadership

Team Building
Agile/Scrum
Roadmapping
Stakeholder Mgmt
Mentoring
Compliance

Foundation and continued development

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Bachelor of Science, Management

Computer Science & Human Resource Development · Haslam College of Business

Class of 2000

Leadership assessments that remain useful context: EQ-i 2.0 and Leadership Circle Profile.

Earlier coursework and certifications SQL training, Microsoft certifications, and additional leadership courses
Leadership

The Leadership Circle

LCP 360 Certification - Kouzes and Posner

Scripps Networks Interactive

Camp Joy Leadership & Development

The E.W. Scripps Company

Effective Time Management

The E.W. Scripps Company

Time Management for the Business Professional

The E.W. Scripps Company
Data & SQL

SQL Server 2008 Business Intelligence Bootcamp

Custom Microsoft Training

Edfinancial Services

SQL Querying Level 1

Fundamentals of SQL

Edfinancial Services

SQL Querying Level 2

Advanced Querying

Edfinancial Services

Querying and Processing SQL Server Data

Course 50027

Edfinancial Services

Writing Queries with Transact SQL

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 - Course 2778

Edfinancial Services
Certifications

Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer

MCSE

Haslam College of Business, UT

Microsoft Office User Specialist

MOUS

Haslam College of Business, UT

Let's Connect

I’m always interested in conversations about technology leadership, engineering organizations, AI, enterprise transformation, and difficult problems worth solving.

Knoxville, Tennessee