Senior Director of Engineering, Partner Products & Core Systems

About Niche

Niche is the leader in school search. Our mission is to make researching and enrolling in schools easy, transparent, and free. With in-depth profiles on every school and college in America, 140 million reviews and ratings, and powerful search tools, we help millions of people find the right school for them. We also help thousands of schools recruit more best-fit students, by highlighting what makes them great and making it easier to visit and apply.

Niche is all about finding where you belong, and that mission inspires how we operate every day. We want Niche to be a place where people truly enjoy working and can thrive professionally.

About The Role

We are looking for an experienced leader who is energized by the opportunity to lead teams, own strategy, and drive performance and impact for 2 critical domains for Niche.  Firstly, this role oversees the engineering efforts of product teams in our Partner Pod, who manage the products and tools that drive our inventory management systems and the customer-facing experience including sales enablement, partner onboarding, order management & fulfillment, value communication, and direct integrations with customer systems.  This role partners closely with the pod’s Director of Product, and is vital to ensuring that the technical direction of the pod stays aligned with the company’s broader business objectives.

Secondly, this role directs the software engineering team within our Platform Pod that is responsible for the underlying core systems that power the Niche platform, as well as tooling to enable rapid development & delivery across all our product teams.  Partnering with the Platform Product Manager and other Platform technical leads, this role ensures the team’s priorities are aligned with technical goals, and meet the key needs of the platform and the product teams they support.

What You Will Do

Across both domains, this Senior Director role balances forward-looking strategic leadership with operational excellence.  You’ll work closely with your cross-functional partners in the Product Development Organization, in particular your Product partner to be thinking and planning multiple horizons ahead to remove hurdles and equip your teams with the clarity, resourcing & skills needed to successfully achieve their goals.  Working with your engineering managers, you’ll ensure the technical stability & security of their systems, while striving to optimize development processes and instill a healthy culture of collaboration, high performance, technical excellence, and continuous improvement.

During the First Month:

• Learn about Niche by meeting with various team members to learn more about our company through our Onboarding meetings
• Spend significant time with the Engineering Managers, tech leaders and Product partners in your domain to understand their goals and workflows, and lay foundations for strong relationships
• Work with members of the Engineering, Product Management and Operations teams to begin to understand the current state of the partner experience with Niche - from onboarding to fulfillment and reporting - and our inventory management
• Join the cadence of the leadership teams for the Tech Dept and Product Development Organization to absorb and understand the workflow, our organizational goals, and to build relationships with cross-functional leaders of the organization. 
• Shadow engineering leaders and product development team members to learn more about our tech stack, stakeholder groups, the products we support, and our development process
• Work with engineering and product leadership to identify and seek the cross-functional peers, stakeholders and other leaders for you to develop strong relationships with

Within 3 Months:

• Develop a full understanding of our development processes, our team workflows, and the technical and work management tools we use
• Gain the knowledge and context needed to have a strong understanding of how the products and systems operate in the partner, inventory and core platform domains
• Establish strong relationships with your partners in Product leadership, collaborating with them to define the dynamics and delegations of your partnership
• Assume the role of Engineering Director for your domain and your product teams; this includes developing a working cadence with your Engineering Managers, technical leaders, and Product partners
• Begin to solidify your perspective of the health and opportunities for the teams, technical systems, and processes of your domain
• Develop relationships with the cross-functional leads for your team (Product Managers, Design, QA) to understand their perspectives and opportunities

Within 6 Months:

• Begin to fully own the direction, performance and operational health for engineering in your domain, bringing identified opportunities to the table for prioritization and implementation
• Responsible for maintaining solid perspective on how your teams are operating;  understanding their strategies, goals, successes and struggles
• Have a deeper understanding of the Niche tech stack, infrastructure and development tools
• Work with Tech and Product Leadership to establish strategic and operational goals for your teams

Within 12 Months:

• You will have deep knowledge of all aspects of the products and systems you oversee and how they integrate with company strategy 
• Having identified and taken action on the operational and technical opportunities to drive high performance and high impact in your domain
• You will have become a critical contributor to the long-term technical and product strategy for Niche, ensuring the platform and our products are set to scale and evolve, and our teams are healthy, high performing and driving meaningful impact for Niche

What We Are Looking For

• Minimum of 5+ years in Engineering Leadership, with at least 2-3 years as a Director or Senior Director managing Engineering Managers and overseeing multiple product teams.
• Strong background in software engineering and architecture, with experience in driving technical strategy and operations.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain high-performance engineering teams, fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Exceptional collaboration and partnership skills, with experience working closely with product leadership.
• Strong understanding of technical project management, resource allocation, and development lifecycle management.
• Experience in managing large-scale, customer-facing systems and internal tools with a focus on scalability, resilience, and security.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to articulate technical vision and strategy to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Are you excited about the position and its responsibilities, but hesitant because your experience doesn't align 100% with the posted requirements? We believe you are more than a resume, so go for it! You won’t want to miss the opportunity to play a part in helping students find where they belong.

Compensation 

Our national target base salary range is $195,200-$244,000, plus participation in our Annual Bonus and Stock Option Program. Base compensation will be commensurate with experience and skills.

At Niche, our Total Rewards Philosophy is centered around creating a workplace environment that attracts, motivates, and retains top talent by providing a comprehensive and competitive rewards package.  This philosophy is built on the principles of performance-based compensation, best-in-class benefits and work-life balance, and employee well-being.

Interview Process

Candidate experience is a top priority for our talent and hiring teams.  We believe in providing a transparent, authentic and comprehensive interview process where you have the opportunity to learn about us while we get to know you and your experience.  The interview process is outlined here:

• Phone Screen with Talent Acquisition Partner - 30 Minutes

• Video Interview with Hiring Manager - 45 Minutes

• Team Interviews - 2-3 panels - 45 Minutes

• Peer Leadership Interview - 45 Minutes

Why Niche?

• We are a fully flexible workforce empowering our employees to choose to work remotely, in our Pittsburgh office or whatever combination suits you
• Full time, salaried position with competitive compensation in a fast-growing company
• Best-in-class 100% paid employee health plan, including vision and dental and supplemental coverage
• Flexible Paid Time Off Policy
• Stipend that allows you to build your work from home office in a style and function that suits your personal preferences
• Parental leave for all employees (12 weeks fully paid) in addition to short term disability for birthing parents
• Meaningful 401(k) with employer match
• Your ideas and work will make an immediate impact on our company and millions of users
• You will join a team that cares about you, our mission, our work - and celebrates our wins together!

Niche will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship now or in the future for this opening.  

We are currently hiring in states where we currently have employees: AZ, CA, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MO, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, DC, WV.

Candidates only.  No recruiters or agencies, please. Sorry, we do not offer relocation assistance.

Niche is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. Therefore, we provide employment opportunities without regard to age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law.

All interviews are being held remotely. If there are preparations we can make to help ensure you have a comfortable and positive interview experience, please let us know.