Engineering Team Lead

As an Engineering Team Lead at CredLens, you will take on a critical player-coach role, leading a team of engineers dedicated to our innovative non-degree credential data platform. You will actively mentor your team while contributing directly to development using our core tech stack:  Python, Flask, React (Next.js), and PostgreSQL on the AWS cloud.   Additionally, you’ll play a key role as part of the “Build Team” leadership and work closely with senior leadership on feature prioritization and software release management. 

Your responsibilities will include collaboratively shaping the platform with Product Management, Design, and Data Science; defining and managing development tasks (stories); ensuring high-quality code delivery; and fostering a collaborative and technically proficient team environment. This is an exciting opportunity to have a significant impact on a growing non-profit by shaping our platform's development from its early 1.x releases.

About CredLens

Founded in 2024 as an independent nonprofit subsidiary of Strada Education Foundation, CredLens is building a national data trust to solve for the lack of verified outcomes of non-degree credentials. Our mission is to provide actionable insights and drive research for industry-based, professional, and workforce credentials, addressing a significant data gap. CredLens offers tailored data analytics and visualizations to credential issuers, workforce training providers, philanthropic funders, and state systems to improve credential quality and inform funding decisions.

Key Responsibilties

• Lead and mentor a small team of software engineers, fostering a collaborative and high-performing culture.
• Actively participate in the design, development, and deployment of our platform's frontend using React (Next.js) and backend using Python/Flask.
• Partner with Product Management to define, estimate, and prioritize work based on end-user value and business impact, collaboratively assessing technical complexity and effort to ensure efficient sprint planning and on-time delivery of quality software.
• Provide technical guidance and expertise to team members, promoting adherence to best practices.
• Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented code.
• Conduct thorough code reviews to ensure code quality and adherence to standards.
• Collaborate closely with UX/UI designers, engineers, and product managers to create seamless user experiences and robust services.
• Ensure the technical feasibility of UI/UX designs and optimize applications for speed and scalability.
• Implement and maintain security best practices to protect data integrity and privacy, leveraging AWS Cognito for identity management.
• Partner with the CTO to review, develop and implement new architectural paradigms based on the evolving needs of the organization.
• Build strong unit and integration tests and ensure robust quality assurance practices are followed.
• Actively participate in Agile/Scrum ceremonies.
• Stay informed about the latest industry trends and technologies to keep our applications cutting-edge.

The Person: Qualifications and Experience

• Education: A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field is optimal but not mandatory.  Equivalent experience and/or relevant certifications are highly valued.

Experience Required

• 8+ years of software development experience with at least 3 years in full-stack development.
• Demonstrated proficiency in leading small teams of engineers, including hiring, coaching and performance management.
• Demonstrated competence in strategically aligning engineering efforts with product vision.
• Strong proficiency in either React (ideally Typescript and NextJS) or Python (ideally Flask) for back-end development, with good proficiency in the other.
• Strong experience with building and consuming RESTful APIs and good experience with authorization patterns, including OAuth and OIDC.
• Strong experience with PostgreSQL and SQL Alchemy.
• Good familiarity with cloud services (AWS CDK preferred).
• Good working experience with Git.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.

What Sets Great Candidates Apart

• Experience with AWS IaC using Python CDK.
• Experience with Docker/containerizing application environments.
• Experience with other AWS technologies such as Cognito, ECS, EKS, Redshift & Lambda.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, especially using AWS CodeBuild/CodePipelines and GitHub Actions.
• Experience with Jira, Confluence, Slack, and Figma.
• Experience in understanding and visualizing data, and previous experience in a startup or non-profit environment.
• Experience with developing accessible and inclusive experiences compliant with WCAG 2.1 or greater.

Values Alignment

• A passion for education and technology, with a commitment to CredLens’ mission and values.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Demonstrated alignment with CredLens operating principles (Integrity,  Expertise with a Learning Mindset, Collaboration & Humility, Open, Honest, Direct, and Kind Communication,   Diversity & Openness, and Joy in our Work) and a commitment to building a strong and healthy workplace culture.

Travel Requirements

Minimal travel but hybrid work model and expected to be in the DC office at least 2 days per week, typically Tuesday and Thursday.

Committed to providing equitable pathways to opportunity through PSET, particularly for individuals who have faced significant barriers. Demonstrated alignment with CredLens' guiding values, commitment to building a strong and healthy workplace culture, and working in a collaborative environment.    

Adept at operationalizing strategy and effectively communicating strategic endeavors within the organization and in external contexts, both verbally and in writing. Particular skill in designing annual plans, monitoring progress, and refining plans as needed. Adaptable with tolerance for ambiguity. Able to problem-solve and navigate varied viewpoints. Capacity to refine efforts based on evidence that change is needed. Ability to lead efforts to visualize and monitor change. Capability to see and support innovative ideas and opportunities across the organization, and to embed innovation within operational plans. Capabilities in taking the perspective of others and adapting an agenda and approach – toward a shared aim - accordingly.   

Ability to effectively utilize a hypothesis-driven approach to problem solving, with effective quantitative and communication skills. Ability to take on broad-reaching and sometimes ambiguous questions while working collaboratively and cross-functionally with Strada team members across the organization.  

Ability to translate innovative, strategic ideas into tangible, actionable steps, as well as to effectively monitor progress and partner with others on identifying improvements during implementation to increase the likelihood of successful execution.  

Commitment and professional experience advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within and organization, including incorporating stakeholder perspectives in the design, implementation, and evaluation of strategic efforts.    

Demonstrated ability to cultivate, grow, and manage positive, mutually beneficial relationships at all levels of an organization and with partners outside the organization. Strong communication, interpersonal and relationship management skills—including identifying and working through challenges—underscored by strong judgment and emotional intelligence. Proven collaborator, able to work with colleagues at all levels in the organization. 

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to CredLens' organizational vibrancy, employee experience, and mission. We strongly encourage applicants from people of color/the global majority, immigrant, bilingual, and bicultural individuals; people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA2S+  and gender nonconforming communities; and people with other diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. We believe every member on the team enriches our workplace by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and discover, design, and deliver critical insights and solutions.