Original listing text, shown exactly as published by the company.
About the Role
Promise is looking for an Engineering Lead to guide the technical vision and team behind our Payment Plans platform—the engine of our business and a lifeline for families nationwide. Payment Plans empower residents with flexible, interest-free installment options, helping them avoid penalties while enabling utilities and governments to recover revenue more effectively. It’s a product that creates a true win-win—and you’ll be at the helm.
You’ll lead a high-performing engineering team, scaling the platform and building agentic workflows to meet the growing demand from cities, states, and utilities across the country. This is a role for someone who thrives at the intersection of technology, leadership, and mission impact—setting direction, building systems that last, and ensuring our work reflects Promise’s dignity-first values.
What You’ll Do
- Lead by doing: Roll your sleeves up and build alongside the team, know the ins and outs of the product.
- Own the roadmap: Partner with Product and Design to prioritize the right features—balancing usability, scalability, and measurable real-world impact.
- Build for scale & trust: Ensure the platform is secure, composable, and capable of supporting governments and utilities nationwide.
- Elevate the resident experience: Deliver features that make it easier for families to stay on track—like flexible installments, smart reminders, and personalized plans.
- Stay hands-on: Dive into technical details when needed, from debugging production issues to optimizing system performance.
- Automate what matters: Leverage AI and automation to eliminate inefficiencies, reduce operational overhead, and free teams to focus on what counts.
- Collaborate cross-functionally: Partner with Customer Success and Operations to ensure seamless deployments and reliable performance in the field.
- Raise the bar: Define and enforce standards for engineering quality, system reliability, and collaborative excellence.
What Will Help You Succeed
- Technical leadership: 6+ years building and scaling production software, including at least 2 years leading teams or projects.
- Roadmap ownership: A track record of setting technical direction, aligning stakeholders, and delivering against ambitious goals.
- Systems expertise: Strong background in backend systems, system design, and secure architecture.
- Technical curiosity: Follows improvements in AI and other emerging technologies, and finds opportunities to turn new technology into useful technology.
- Integration mindset: Experience working with legacy or third-party systems (government, fintech, or regulated industries a plus).
- Problem-solving skills: Ability to turn complex challenges into simple, scalable solutions.
- Adaptability: Comfort operating in a fast-paced, feedback-driven environment where priorities can shift quickly.
- Mission-driven energy: Belief in Promise’s vision that better systems create more equitable outcomes.
- Bonus points: Experience in payments, civic tech, or public infrastructure.
Who Thrives at PromiseYou’ll love it here if
- You are energized by big, complex challenges and the opportunity to solve them.
- You want your work to have a real, measurable impact on people’s lives.
- You take ownership and run toward problems, not away from them.
- You value clear, candid, and constructive communication.
Promise is not for you if
- You prefer hierarchy and rigid structures. We operate with freedom and responsibility.
- You are uncomfortable with change. We move fast, adapt often, and expect agility.
- You want a typical corporate culture. We are mission-driven, ambitious, and direct.
- You believe efficiency means “doing less.” We believe efficiency means doing better.
