Director of Engineering, Products

XQ Institute is the nation’s leading organization dedicated to rethinking the high school experience so that every student graduates ready to succeed in life. We work in communities throughout the country, with individual schools and entire school systems, to help them dream big about what high school could be, turn their innovative ideas into action, and create more rigorous and equitable schools.

The Opportunity

Reporting to XQ’s Chief Product Officer,  we are seeking a Director of Engineering who will play a pivotal role in managing multiple external development teams and spearheading the build-out of our internal development team. This leader will be responsible for strategic technical leadership, hands-on development, and generative AI-based innovation. The position requires a minimum of four days a week in the XQ office in Oakland, California. 

Requirements

Key Responsibilities 

• Hybrid Team Leadership: Establish and direct a hybrid development team model that balances in-house capabilities with outsourced expertise, ensuring strategic alignment across all technology projects.
• Internal Team Development: Build out and lead an internal development team focused on developing innovative digital platforms, products, and tools that materially impact XQ's mission to transform the high school experience. Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within the team.
• Generative AI Integration: Lead the adoption of generative AI tools to streamline code development and apply AI infrastructure strategically for enhancing product features.
• Management of External Partners: Coordinate with multiple external development shops to ensure that all projects are delivered on time, within budget, and meet XQ’s quality standards.
• Project Oversight: Oversee the development process from initial concept through to deployment, ensuring seamless integration and consistent performance across our product portfolio.
• Strategic Planning and Execution: Develop a cohesive technical strategy that aligns with XQ’s broader goals, choosing appropriate technologies, tools, and practices to enhance product development and operational efficiency.
• Process: Support Implementation of Agile methodologies, robust project management, and documentation best practices to ensure efficient, transparent, and high-quality development workflows.

Qualifications

• Experience: At least 5 years of leadership experience in software development, including hands-on coding and managing both internal and external development teams. Proven experience with secure systems handling personally identifiable information (PII), ideally within regulated industries such as education, healthcare, or finance.
• Skills: Strong capabilities in both technical leadership and practical development, with experience in using generative AI tools. Expertise in security and privacy best practices. Excellent management skills and the ability to effectively balance multiple priorities.

Additional Skills & Characteristics

• Thinking Big & Small: A leader who is both a strategist and a tactician, capable of thinking big while also diving into the details where necessary.
• Manage Complexity: Proven ability to manage complex projects and lead diverse teams.
• Communication: Strong communication and interpersonal skills, able to effectively communicate strategy to company leadership and coordinate between internal teams and external partners.

XQ Mindsets: Ours is a world defined by uncertainty, a society in flux, a state of unprecedented upheavals. While we don’t anticipate any quick fixes, we can anchor ourselves to what we see emerging. That’s why we have established a set of collective XQ Mindsets to ground us.

• 100% accountability: This doesn't mean you have 100% ownership. It doesn't mean you are responsible for every last thing that needs to be done. It means choosing to take responsibility for our collective success and impact.
• Maker mindset: We build stuff. We won’t always get it right the first time—in fact, we rarely will. But by quickly making and testing our work, we can learn what works and what doesn’t.
• We are the ones we’ve been waiting for: Critique is not enough. It is on us to create the solutions—no matter where we sit in the organization. We are a well-resourced organization filled with brilliant people. No one else is coming to our rescue.
• Opportunity knocks: We are ready, willing, and able to take on anything that is thrown our way. Pivots are a natural part of our approach, so let’s embrace them so that we can experience them joyfully.
• Stand on the shoulders of giants: We honor those who came before us, who aren’t seated at our tables, and build on others’ and our own earlier work with respect and reverence. 

Benefits

The salary range for this role is $275,000-350,000. XQ offers excellent organizational benefits. 

Location

XQ is based in Oakland, CA with offices in Washington DC and New York. This role will be based in Oakland, CA.

To Apply

Please apply online. In your cover letter, please address why your skills, interests, and experience align with the requirements for this role.

XQ is proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace. At XQ, promoting, celebrating, and supporting diversity is a core value. Individuals are considered without regard to race, gender, age, sexual orientation, sexual expression, religion, color, veteran status, disability, marital status, or ancestry.