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Director of Engineering

New York, NY

About Understood 

Understood is a nonprofit focused on shaping the world for difference. We raise awareness of the challenges and strengths of people who learn and think differently. Our resources help people navigate challenges, gain confidence, and find support and community so they can thrive. 

Having a shared commitment to our values is a key factor in any hire we make. We have five core values: 

  1. Continuously learn.
  2. Act with intention.
  3. Champion difference.
  4. Inspire change.
  5. Grow together. 

Come be part of an organization with an entrepreneurial spirit that’s helping to shape the world for difference. Together, we can build a world where everyone can reach their full potential. 

To learn more about Understood, please visit: www.understood.org.

Who you are 

To advance Understood’s mission and to further our impact, we’re hiring a Director of Engineering, reporting to our Co-President/CTO. The ideal candidate is a visionary leader who can strategize, build, and inspire teams to deliver high quality products both in B2C and B2B spaces, while embracing evolving technologies - such as AI - to drive transformational change.

As a member of the Engineering leadership team, you will lead all product engineering efforts, comprising Web, Mobile, Backend, and Platform teams. You will own the building of scalable products, rapid innovation, psychologically safe environments, healthy teams, and processes.

This is a hybrid role that requires a minimum of three (3) days a week in our NYC office, with a focus on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

What you’ll do

  • Own and evolve a high-level strategic vision for engineering at Understood, with an emphasis on integrating AI and machine learning to enhance product capabilities and user experiences
  • Partner with product and business stakeholders to translate high-level strategic vision into a clear and actionable roadmap
  • Drive rapid innovation, scalable product development, and data-driven insights
  • Ensure solutions align with business needs, translate technical concepts to non-technical business stakeholders and translate business objectives to the engineering team
  • Participate in recruitment, performance assessments, training, and career development; own responsibility for all headcount planning and personnel evolution for multiple areas within the engineering organization
  • Mentor and manage multiple engineering teams (Web, Mobile, Backend, and Platform) and foster a culture of psychological safety, continuous learning, and creativity.
  • Be metrics and performance driven; define healthy SLOs and maintain SLIs and coach the team to be data driven
  • Support technical research, innovation and lead the creation, continual refinement, and active enforcement of our development standards in order to ensure that our technology can be leveraged as a sustainable competitive advantage
  • Be ready to dive into critical system issues, debugging and triaging as needed to maintain operational excellence and support mission-critical functions
  • Elevate technical architecture by asking the right questions to ensure architecture matches business needs for the area
  • Manage vendor and external relationships for the organization, make build v/s buy decisions, and own the department’s budget

Must-haves 

  • 10+ years of demonstrated experience working in software engineering
  • 5+ years of demonstrated experience working as an individual contributor
  • Experience with or a strong understanding of AI/ML technologies, data science concepts, and how these can be applied to improve product functionality and user engagement
  • Ego-free and highly collaborative; mostly acts in a coach leadership role and open to flexing into the player role when need be
  • Clear communicator with an ability to effectively convey strategic risk, opportunities and tradeoffs to executive team and stakeholders; serve as a bridge between business and technology
  • A natural leader; a “lead by influence” team player with the ability to inspire confidence in others and connect business goals to the work
  • Empathetic with your approach; you understand and value the differences in people and are invested in people’s growth
  • “All hands on deck” and roll-up-your sleeves attitude; you wholly own your squads outputs
  • Qualities of an entrepreneur who can operate and scale effectively in a high growth and cross-functional environment to take products from zero to one.
  • Committed to embodying and being a steward of our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging

The base salary range for this role is minimum $240,000-$300,000 maximum, depending on years of experience and qualifications. We offer a comprehensive benefits package that supports wellness for our team members and their families. You can learn more about our benefits and offerings.

Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion

Understood encourages individuals of all learning styles and ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds, including those whose life experiences may include the challenge of access due to a disability, to apply for this position. We are committed to maximizing the diversity of our organization, as we want to engage all those who can contribute to supporting this work.

Understood is an equal opportunity employer and considers all applications without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, alienage or citizenship status, marital or familial status, domestic partnership status, caregiver status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, change of sex or transgender status, genetic information, medical condition, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, physical or mental disability (where the applicant or employee is qualified to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation), any protected military or veteran status, or status as a victim of domestic or dating violence, sexual assault or offense, stalking, or any other characteristics protected by federal, state, or local law or that of persons with whom that individual associates, or any other legally protected characteristics.

For additional information on learning and thinking differences, including ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, executive function challenges, nonverbal learning disabilities, processing issues, and more, please visit www.understood.org.

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