Senior Staff Software Engineer, AI and Tools

📋 Description

• • As a Senior Staff Software Engineer, AI and Tools at Change Financial, Inc., you will be at the forefront of innovation, architecting and driving the development of our next generation of internal systems, automation, and AI enablement.
• • This pivotal role is instrumental in establishing the technical patterns, governance, and long-term foundations for critical AI-powered internal systems, empowering teams across Engineering, Product, Operations, MarComms, and the broader business to operate with enhanced speed and intelligence.
• • You will be the technical leader for an AI-first, highly strategic initiative, tasked with transforming ambiguous problem spaces into robust, scalable, and reliable systems.
• • Your responsibilities will include defining organizational standards for agentic workflows and automation, and providing the technical leadership necessary to significantly elevate the company's AI maturity and developer productivity.
• • Change.org, the world's largest platform for democracy, is making substantial investments in AI to build powerful tools that amplify people's voices and foster unity across diverse political landscapes.
• • The core petitions platform, serving over 100 million users annually, is undergoing a ground-up rebuild with new tools designed to empower individuals as civic leaders.
• • A new platform is set to launch, aimed at identifying common ground on over 80% of issues locally and nationally, and mobilizing millions to advocate for these shared solutions.
• • To achieve this ambitious vision, you will join a world-class team at the intersection of technology and social impact, dedicated to building healthier democracies globally.
• • A key outcome of your role will be leading the transformation of ambiguous, cross-functional business needs into clearly defined technical problem statements.
• • You will drive the creation of rapid AI-powered proofs of concept to validate strategic directions and inform critical long-term architectural decisions.
• • You will define and deliver foundational AI and automation architectures, including agentic systems, orchestration patterns, and governance frameworks, which will become the de facto organizational standards.
• • You will lead the end-to-end delivery of complex AI-driven internal products, ensuring deep integration with core systems to enhance efficiency and decision-making across various departments.
• • A significant part of your contribution will involve developing and enhancing engineering productivity through the introduction of novel tools, automation, and streamlined workflows.
• • You will establish reusable components, templates, and methodologies designed to accelerate the development velocity of both engineers and cross-functional teams working on automations or AI workflows.
• • Ensuring the safety, reliability, and human-in-the-loop design of AI systems will be paramount; you will create scalable monitoring, approval, observability, and guardrail frameworks.
• • You will play a crucial role in influencing and aligning diverse stakeholders, including Product, Operations, MarComms, and Engineering leadership, around the company's AI strategy, technical direction, and prioritization.
• • Mentoring and upskilling fellow engineers through architectural guidance, rigorous code reviews, technical design leadership, and strategic thought partnership will be a core aspect of your role.
• • You will contribute directly to Change.org's AI governance, adoption strategy, and platform decisions, including the evaluation and integration of tools like v0 by Vercel, Retool, and internal automation frameworks.
• • This position requires participation in an on-call rotation to ensure the continuous operation and support of critical systems.
• • The role demands deep practical experience with AI systems, agentic workflows, and automation architectures, coupled with the ability to evaluate trade-offs, set technical direction, and exercise sound judgment in ambiguous environments.
• • You will be responsible for designing long-term, scalable internal systems that span multiple domains, anticipating potential second-order effects, operational risks, and maintainability challenges.
• • Comfort with end-to-end implementation, encompassing frontend prototypes, backend services, complex third-party integrations, cloud infrastructure, and API ecosystems, is essential.
• • Your ability to navigate ambiguity, synthesize complex requirements, and persuasively communicate with diverse stakeholders will be key to shaping organizational understanding of AI capabilities.
• • An enablement mindset is crucial, focusing on building tools, frameworks, and patterns that amplify the productivity of both technical and non-technical teams, establishing enduring standards.
• • You will leverage strategic prototyping and rapid iteration capabilities to quickly explore, validate, and scale solutions, balancing immediate experimentation with long-term architectural integrity.
• • This role is ideal for a seasoned engineer looking to make a significant impact on the future of internal tooling and AI adoption within a mission-driven organization.