Vice President of Engineering & AI – The Trevor Project

About Trevor

The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people. We are a non-profit that provides 24/7 life-saving support via phone, text, and chat. We also operate the world’s largest safe space social networking site for LGBTQ youth and run innovative research, education, and advocacy programs. We’ve been saving lives every day for over 20 years.

Overview of the role

The VP of Engineering & AI will be responsible for building and scaling software development and machine learning departments within the organization. We are seeking a leader with first-hand experience recruiting, building, and leading highly effective global engineering teams with a proven track record of developing new products and scaling 3rd party solutions. This person will be leading the development, growth, and innovation of the technology driven crisis support The Trevor Project provides and contribute directly to our mission of ending LGBTQ youth suicide.

Who you are

• • Experienced. You have a proven track record of building and scaling mission-critical technology products and services. You know how to navigate licensing, privacy, and regulatory issues that come with expanding globally
  • Innovative. You enable a culture of innovation through the establishment of psychological safety, feedback, experimentation, and clear and transparent goal setting
  • Resourceful. You know that building a solution isn’t always the most sustainable approach to scaling, and you have experience both navigating these decisions and leading other teams through them, as well
  • Results-focused. You establish clear timelines and operational frameworks that drive projects to completion. You feel comfortable delivering 360 degree feedback across the org chart to help our team achieve results
  • Knowledgeable. You have a deep knowledge of modern web application tools and architectures including the following: Javascript/NodeJS, Typescript, React/Vue, cloud services (GCP and/or AWS), serverless functions, and REST and GraphQL APIs. You are also comfortable with NoSQL databases. Experience building CI/CD pipelines is preferred, but not required.
  • Collaborative. You understand that the best way to meet and exceed goals is through outstanding teamwork. You have a growth mindset and love learning and seeking out challenges
  • Organized. You know how to manage multiple complex projects and competing priorities through strong prioritization and planning, and are comfortable navigating ambiguity. You are excited about building products in a rapidly evolving landscape
  • Camera-ready. You can communicate clearly and concisely, whether you are speaking to small groups, at conferences, or to media
  • Fun. The work we do is very serious, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have fun. We know how to have a good time and you should too

What you’ll do

• • Establish a clear technical vision and strategy that enables The Trevor Project to scale its programs and services domestically and expand them globally
  • Lead organizational decision-making around “how” to accomplish our technological goals and aspirations, such as  “buying” vs “building” technology solutions, by clearly articulating the cost/benefit of options and driving consensus
  • Serve as a partner to the Head of Product & UX and other business stakeholders across the organization
  • Evangelize high quality technology and software development processes within the organization, working closely with other teams delivering modern solutions
  • Build highly effective partnerships and cross-functional operating models with product teams and business stakeholders that drive outcomes
  • Develop production-ready machine learning capabilities that significantly reduce crisis counselor training costs, improve and optimize the crisis counselor and supervision experiences, and optimize queueing for LGBTQ youth in need of support
  • Support the team in creating deployment processes that enable experimentation and controlled rollouts of platform updates, resulting in maximum platform uptime
  • Build, grow, and lead our software engineering and machine learning departments to meet the needs of LGBTQ youth across the country and around the world
  • Coach senior and junior team members, advocating for them and advising them on their career growth
  • Cultivate talent pipelines for both staff and contractors that enable us to develop sustainable solutions quickly
  • Other tasks, duties, or special projects as assigned

Benefits

• • Generous vacation and holidays (like a full day off to celebrate Harvey Milk Day!), including three half-day Fridays during the summer
  • Comprehensive health insurance, including coverage for various gender affirmation surgeries (and we pay 100% of your premiums for medical, dental, and life)
  • Flexibility to work from anywhere in the U.S. (we provide the technology, a monthly internet reimbursement and a reimbursement to outfit your work-from-home space!)
  • Fun virtual office environment and passionate team
  • Online Subscription to Headspace, a digital meditation platform
  • Meaningful work at an organization that is saving the lives of LGBTQ young people across America every day
  • The Trevor Project is an equal opportunity employer

Your application

We’re excited to hear from you! To join Team Trevor, please upload a resume and cover letter. Applications without cover letters will not be considered. Use this as an opportunity to convey why you want to be the next VP of Engineering & AI at The Trevor Project!