Vice President, Engineering

As VP of Engineering, you will lead the technical vision and execution for NGP VAN’s political technology platforms. Reporting to the CTO, you’ll oversee engineering teams responsible for maintaining, innovating, and modernizing the tools that power Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations. This role blends technical leadership, strategic execution, and organizational management, innovation with a focus on driving AI adoption, system performance, and cross-functional collaboration to keep our platforms cutting-edge. If you’re passionate about building technology that powers Democratic victories, this is your opportunity to lead the future of the most trusted tools in progressive politics. 

Key Responsibilities:

Technical Leadership & Innovation 

• Lead the modernization of NGP VAN’s political technology platforms, integrating AI and other emerging technologies, where impactful. 

• Establish and enforce high standards for security, scalability, and performance to support mission-critical political operations. 

• Guide the adoption of automation and AI-driven efficiencies across the development lifecycle. 

• Ensure compliance with industry security standards such as PCI, ISO, and similar frameworks. 

• Team Leadership & Culture 

• Build, mentor, and scale high-performing engineering teams in a collaborative, results-driven environment. 

• Foster alignment across Product, Design, and Business teams to drive innovation and execution. 

• Promote a culture of learning, experimentation, and continuous improvement. 

Strategic Planning & Execution 

• Align engineering initiatives with NGP VAN’s product strategy and business goals. 

• Partner with Product Management to deliver a seamless roadmap and execution strategy. 

• Drive continuous improvement in development processes, ensuring efficiency and innovation. 

• Define and track key engineering metrics to measure impact and optimize performance. 

• Customer & Stakeholder Engagement 

• Serve as a technical advocate for internal teams, customers, and key stakeholders. 

• Work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure our technology meets the needs of Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations. 

• Provide clear communication on product updates, technical roadmaps, and innovation efforts. 

Required Qualifications 

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years in senior leadership roles. 

• Deep understanding of the Democratic political ecosystem, preferably with experience working with the national or state level party, campaign, or progressive organizations. 

• Proven track record of leading engineering teams in delivering scalable, secure, and high-impact software products. 

• Experience with modernizing legacy platforms and implementing automation and AI-driven efficiencies. 

• Strong knowledge of security and compliance standards, such as PCI, ISO, and similar frameworks. 

• Excellence in cross-functional leadership and organizational collaboration. 

• Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively across technical and non-technical teams. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience working with political technology platforms and voter engagement tools. 

• Background in large-scale SaaS platforms with high availability and performance requirements. 

• Familiarity with data-driven decision-making and analytics to optimize engineering processes. 

• Hands-on experience with AI/ML applications in software development, where applicable. 

Impact You'll Have 

• Lead the evolution of NGP VAN’s technology, ensuring our platforms remain the most trusted tools for Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations. 

• Modernize and scale our infrastructure to support the growing needs of campaigns, from the local level to the national stage. 

• Empower engineers to build innovative, high-performance solutions that drive real-world electoral and organizing success. 

• Shape the future of political technology, integrating cutting-edge advancements to keep Democratic campaigns ahead. 

• Ensure reliability, security, and scalability, so the progressive movement can focus on winning—not worrying about their tech.