Engineering Manager (Volunteer)

Engineering Manager (Volunteer)

PromiseStack | Software Engineering, Technical Leadership & Product Delivery

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: PromiseStack

Location: Remote / Hybrid (NYC Collaboration as Needed)

Type: Volunteer Leadership Role

Commitment: Approximately 5–10 Hours Per Week

Minimum Commitment: 6-Month Commitment Required

Reports To: Chief Product & Technology Officer

Works Closely With: Product Owners, Delivery Managers, Agile Coaches, UX/UI Teams, Software Engineers, Data Teams, Security Teams, and Executive Leadership

About Mentor A Promise

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit organization supporting children, youth, and families experiencing housing instability through mentorship, literacy, social-emotional learning, educational enrichment, workforce development, technology innovation, housing initiatives, and community-centered opportunity.

Technology plays an increasingly important role in how MAP delivers services, engages volunteers, measures impact, and supports students and families.

As MAP continues to build products, platforms, and digital infrastructure, strong engineering leadership becomes essential.

Great software is built by great teams.

Great teams require strong leadership.

About PromiseStack

PromiseStack is MAP's Product, Technology, Data, and Innovation Division.

The division is responsible for designing, building, maintaining, and continuously improving the technology ecosystem that supports MAP's mission.

This includes:

• PromisePath
• PromiseLink
• Internal Operations Platforms
• Data & Analytics Systems
• Volunteer Systems
• Community Engagement Tools
• Future MAP Technology Initiatives

PromiseStack exists to build technology that creates meaningful impact.

Role Overview

Mentor A Promise is seeking an experienced and collaborative Engineering Manager to lead software engineering efforts across MAP's technology initiatives.

The Engineering Manager serves as both a technical leader and people leader, helping engineers deliver high-quality solutions while fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, learning, and continuous improvement.

This role balances:

• Technical leadership
• Team development
• Delivery execution
• Engineering excellence
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Product alignment

The Engineering Manager helps transform product vision into scalable, secure, reliable, and impactful technology solutions.

This is a technical leadership role focused on engineering execution, team growth, delivery excellence, and technology stewardship.

Core Responsibilities

Engineering Team Leadership

Lead and support engineering teams by:

• Providing technical guidance and mentorship
• Supporting engineer growth and development
• Facilitating team collaboration
• Removing blockers and obstacles
• Promoting accountability and ownership
• Building a positive engineering culture

Help engineers succeed both individually and collectively.

Technical Delivery & Execution

Partner with Product Owners and Delivery Managers to:

• Translate product requirements into technical solutions
• Support sprint and project planning
• Manage engineering priorities
• Monitor delivery progress
• Ensure quality execution
• Balance speed, quality, and sustainability

Help ensure engineering commitments become successful outcomes.

Architecture & Technical Excellence

Guide engineering decisions related to:

• Software architecture
• Application scalability
• Performance optimization
• System reliability
• Technical debt management
• Code quality
• Development standards

Help build systems designed for long-term growth and maintainability.

Software Development Leadership

Support engineering efforts involving:

• Front-End Development
• Back-End Development
• APIs & Integrations
• Cloud Infrastructure
• Data Systems
• Internal Platforms
• Mobile Applications
• Educational Technology Solutions

Ensure engineering work aligns with product goals and organizational priorities.

Engineering Processes & Best Practices

Establish and strengthen:

• Agile engineering practices
• Code review processes
• Documentation standards
• Release management practices
• Testing and quality assurance workflows
• Development lifecycle management

Help build a culture of engineering excellence.

Collaboration Across Teams

Partner with:

• Product Teams
• UX/UI Teams
• Data Teams
• Security Teams
• Operations Teams
• Program Teams
• Executive Leadership

Help create strong collaboration between technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Security, Reliability & Scalability

Work closely with PromiseShield to:

• Support secure development practices
• Address technical risks
• Improve system reliability
• Strengthen platform resilience
• Promote privacy-by-design principles
• Ensure responsible technology stewardship

Help build systems that users can trust.

Recruitment & Engineering Talent Development

Support the growth of MAP's engineering community by:

• Participating in engineering recruitment efforts
• Reviewing technical candidates
• Supporting onboarding processes
• Mentoring emerging engineers
• Building engineering leadership pathways

Help create a strong and sustainable technology team.

Technologies & Platforms

Depending on organizational priorities, engineering teams may work with:

• React
• TypeScript
• JavaScript
• Node.js
• Python
• APIs & Integrations
• Firebase
• PostgreSQL
• Supabase
• Google Cloud
• AWS
• GitHub
• Docker
• CI/CD Platforms
• Data & Analytics Tools
• Google Workspace Ecosystem

Experience across modern web technologies is highly valued.

First-Year Priorities

Within the first year, the Engineering Manager will help:

• Strengthen engineering team structures
• Improve software delivery practices
• Establish development standards
• Build technical documentation systems
• Support key product initiatives
• Improve engineering collaboration across divisions
• Develop engineering onboarding processes
• Enhance code quality and development workflows
• Support platform scalability and reliability

Success Measures

Success in this role includes:

• High-quality software delivery
• Improved engineering team effectiveness
• Strong development standards
• Reliable and scalable systems
• Improved collaboration across product and engineering teams
• Reduced technical debt
• Strong engineering documentation
• Increased engineering talent retention and growth
• Successful delivery of MAP technology initiatives

Qualifications

We welcome candidates from nonprofit, startup, technology, consulting, and enterprise engineering backgrounds.

Helpful experience may include:

• Software Engineering
• Engineering Management
• Technical Leadership
• Product Development
• Cloud Infrastructure
• Systems Architecture
• DevOps
• Agile Development
• Technology Operations

Strong candidates often demonstrate:

• Technical leadership experience
• People management and mentorship skills
• Strong engineering judgment
• Systems thinking
• Project delivery experience
• Excellent communication abilities
• Commitment to continuous improvement

Previous experience managing software engineering teams is highly valued.

Experience in startup, nonprofit, education technology, SaaS, or mission-driven technology environments is a plus.

Why This Role Matters

Technology can create access.

Technology can create opportunity.

Technology can remove barriers.

But only when it is built thoughtfully.

The Engineering Manager helps ensure that MAP's technology solutions are reliable, scalable, secure, and capable of supporting the communities we serve.

This role helps transform ideas into platforms, platforms into services, and services into impact.

What You'll Gain

• Engineering leadership experience within a growing mission-driven organization
• Opportunity to help build products that support children, youth, and families
• Collaboration with product, design, data, security, and executive leaders
• Experience leading real-world technology initiatives
• Professional references and letters of recommendation
• The opportunity to help shape the future of MAP's technology ecosystem

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply directly through Idealist and submit:

• Resume or CV
• LinkedIn Profile (if available)
• GitHub Profile (if available)
• Brief statement of interest

Please share experience involving:

• Software engineering
• Engineering leadership
• Technical architecture
• Team management
• Agile development
• Product delivery
• Cloud platforms and modern development practices

Help build technology that creates opportunity.

Because behind every great product is a team of engineers committed to solving meaningful problems.

This role holds the pieces together.

From architecture to delivery to team development—help ensure every line of code advances the mission before it reaches production.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with our organization. At this time, volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, and programmatic requirements. We appreciate your interest in our mission and your understanding of these constraints.