Director of Engineering, Network for Good Salsa

📋 Description

• • **Lead and Innovate in Engineering for Social Good:** As the Director of Engineering, Network for Good Salsa at Bonterra, you will be at the forefront of driving technological innovation within the social good sector. This pivotal role combines hands-on technical leadership with strategic people management, empowering a globally distributed team to deliver exceptional software solutions that amplify the impact of nonprofits and corporations. You will be instrumental in shaping the future of our products, particularly by championing the adoption and integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to solve real-world challenges and enhance user experiences.
• • **Strategic Product Stewardship:** You will serve as a key guardian of our product vision, working collaboratively with Product Management, Customer Support, and Sales teams. Your primary responsibility will be to translate complex customer needs and market opportunities into clear, actionable engineering priorities. This involves a deep dive into understanding client challenges and identifying innovative ways AI can be leveraged to create impactful solutions. You will actively contribute to the product roadmap and backlog refinement, bringing a crucial engineering perspective to business discussions. Ensuring the engineering team has a crystal-clear understanding of requirements and validating that all deliverables precisely align with customer expectations and business objectives will be paramount. You will own the end-to-end success of your product areas, fostering a strong sense of accountability and collaboration across all stakeholders.
• • **Pioneering Technical Leadership and AI Integration:** This role demands a leader who can not only guide but also exemplify technical excellence. You will collaborate closely with Product Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to define robust technical solutions, design scalable systems, and architect future-proof platforms. A significant aspect of your leadership will be serving as an exemplar for AI adoption in your daily work and guiding the team to do the same. You will contribute directly to the codebase, setting a high standard for quality and enforcing it through rigorous code reviews. Establishing and continuously reinforcing engineering best practices, coding standards, and scalable development approaches will be critical. You will expertly guide the team through complex technical trade-offs, ensuring that all solutions are not only efficient and maintainable but also inherently secure and aligned with our long-term technical strategy.
• • **Empowering and Managing a High-Performing Global Team:** You will lead and mentor a globally distributed team of approximately 10 engineers across the US and India. Your focus will be on fostering a high-performance culture characterized by productivity, accountability, and continuous improvement. This includes conducting regular performance reviews, providing constructive and timely feedback, and actively driving the professional development of each team member. Setting clear, measurable expectations, diligently monitoring delivery progress, and proactively addressing any performance issues will be key to your success. You will cultivate an environment where ownership, quality, and a commitment to continuous learning are deeply ingrained in the team's ethos.
• • **Driving AI-Powered Innovation:** A core mandate of this role is to lead the charge in adopting AI. This means not only identifying opportunities to integrate AI into our existing product suite but also exploring new AI-driven features that can provide significant value to our customers. You will assess the evolving landscape of AI and machine learning, determining how these technologies can best serve the needs of the social good sector. This includes understanding how AI can automate processes, generate insights, and ultimately help our clients achieve greater impact. You will be responsible for guiding the team through the development and deployment of these AI initiatives, ensuring they are implemented effectively and deliver measurable business outcomes.
• • **Hands-On Contribution and Quality Assurance:** While leading a team, you are also expected to remain a hands-on technical contributor. This dual role allows you to stay connected to the codebase, set a high bar for quality, and lead by example. Your direct involvement in coding and rigorous code reviews will ensure that our software is robust, scalable, and maintainable. You will champion best practices in software development, including Agile methodologies and CI/CD pipelines, ensuring efficient and reliable delivery of features. Your technical acumen will be crucial in navigating complex architectural decisions and ensuring the long-term health of our technology stack.
• • **Cross-Functional Collaboration and Impact:** Success in this role hinges on your ability to collaborate effectively with various departments, including Product Management, Sales, and Customer Support. By bridging the gap between business needs and technical execution, you will ensure that the engineering team is building solutions that truly resonate with our customers and drive business value. You will be a key voice in strategic discussions, influencing both the 'what' and the 'how' of software delivery. Your contributions will directly impact Bonterra's mission to increase the giving rate as a percentage of GDP, empowering those who power social impact.
• • **Technical Environment:** You will be working with a robust tech stack including Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, Java, and MySQL, all hosted within the AWS cloud environment. A strong understanding of these technologies, particularly AWS and at least one of the specified language/database pairings, is essential for success in this role. You will leverage your expertise to optimize performance, ensure scalability, and maintain the security of our platforms.