Head of Engineering

Head of Engineering

Location: Remote
Commitment: Volunteer, minimum 5-10 hours/week
Reports to: CTO

About Wevise

Wevise is a nonprofit founded in 2022. Our mission is to make careers in the technology industry more attainable and build a more diverse and inclusive tech community through equitable access to mentorship, education, and career opportunities. We’re a team of volunteers from diverse backgrounds who are committed to leveling the playing field in tech (and beyond).

In June 2023, we launched our inaugural program - a mentorship platform crafted for individuals seeking personal or professional mentorship, particularly those from economically marginalized backgrounds or facing unique challenges. In 2025, we conducted our first Cohort - the TechPath Alliance - in Chicago. The Alliance is a partnership between Wevise and local companies and nonprofits that ran a 6-month career development and mentorship program for marginalized and underserved emerging technologists. In 2026, we plan to launch Cohort 2 and Cohort 3 to test the hypothesis that our mentoring program has an impact on the communities we serve.

Role Overview

The Head of Engineering owns day-to-day technical execution in a resource-constrained, volunteer-driven environment. Working closely with the CTO, this role ensures the Wevise platform continues to evolve reliably, securely, and sustainably while supporting the organization's mission and program commitments.

This is a working leadership role, not an advisory role. The Head of Engineering is expected to spend their time enabling engineering progress through technical leadership, code reviews, architectural guidance, delivery coordination, and removing blockers.
This role is expected to be hands-on. While the primary responsibility is enabling volunteer engineers to be successful, there will be periods where the Head of Engineering serves as an individual contributor and writes production code when engineering capacity is unavailable or insufficient.

The expected commitment is a minimum of 5-10 hours per week.

What You'll Be Accountable For

• Maintaining development velocity across a distributed volunteer engineering team with variable availability.
• Coordinating engineering delivery against active organizational and program priorities.
• Maintaining code quality, engineering standards, and development best practices.
• Supporting onboarding and successful integration of new engineering volunteers.
• Making technical decisions within the scope delegated by the CTO.
• Ensuring continuity of platform operations, maintenance, and delivery.
• Contributing hands-on technical work when required to keep initiatives moving.

Who this role is ideal for:

• You have previously led engineering teams and are comfortable operating in startup, nonprofit, or resource-constrained environments.
• You are pragmatic, self-directed, and capable of balancing leadership responsibilities with hands-on execution. You can establish standards, drive accountability, and maintain momentum without relying on extensive organizational structure or full-time staffing.
• You enjoy mentoring others and are motivated by creating social impact through technology.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead day-to-day technical execution of the Wevise platform.
• Support and coordinate volunteer engineering contributors.
• Maintain engineering quality through code reviews and technical guidance.
• Contribute hands-on development work when needed.
• Partner with the CTO on priorities, architecture, and delivery planning.
• Help ensure platform reliability, security, and sustainability.

Qualifications

• Previous experience leading software engineering teams or technical initiatives.
• Strong software development background, ideally with modern web technologies such as React, NodeJS, TypeScript, and PostgreSQL.
• Experience with software architecture, system design, and delivering production applications.
• Experience reviewing code and maintaining engineering quality standards.
• Familiarity with Git, version control workflows, and collaborative development practices.
• Experience with Agile methodologies, DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, cloud infrastructure, and testing practices.
• Comfortable remaining technically hands-on and contributing code when needed.
• Strong communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a remote, volunteer-driven environment.
• Passion for mentorship, education, and social impact.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with TypeScript, React, Next.js, NodeJS, Postgres, Prisma, Supabase, and Vercel.
• Experience building and scaling SaaS products.
• Familiarity with cloud infrastructure and modern deployment practices.
• Understanding of UI/UX principles and data-informed product development.
• Experience mentoring early-career engineers or emerging technical talent.
• Experience supporting security, compliance, and platform governance initiatives.

Volunteer Leadership Expectations

As a volunteer leader, you are expected to:

• Commit a minimum of 5-10 hours per week.
• Maintain reliable communication with the CTO and engineering team.
• Participate in essential engineering planning and coordination activities.
• Ensure responsibilities are delegated or communicated when unavailable.
• Foster a culture of accountability, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Support succession planning and knowledge transfer to ensure continuity.

Impact You'll Make

• Help create pathways for underrepresented individuals to access careers in the technology industry.
• Build and support a platform that connects mentors and mentees in meaningful ways.
• Develop and nurture a high-performing volunteer engineering community.
• Contribute to a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable technology ecosystem.
• Make a tangible difference in the lives of individuals facing barriers to entering and thriving in tech.

We welcome applications from individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences, particularly those who understand firsthand the barriers to entering and thriving in the technology industry.