(Senior) Tech Lead Manager

About Us

Propel builds technology that strengthens the social safety net in America. We envision a future where every American has the tools and resources they need to thrive.

The safety net’s strength depends not just on funding, but delivery. Propel exists to dramatically improve how government benefits are delivered. Managing SNAP benefits, picking a D-SNP plan, or protecting against EBT theft should feel as seamless as Apple Pay or Netflix.

Governments struggle to build modern, scalable user experiences. We don’t.

Over 5.5 million Americans trust Propel today. We’ve grown revenue 35% YoY and are reinventing entire benefit categories, including Medicare, around the real needs of low-income Americans. We’re building a high-growth, high-ceiling, sustainable for-profit company where impact drives revenue.

About the Role

We're looking for a (Senior) Tech Lead Manager to set the technical direction for our Marketplace team and lead the engineers who build it. We launched the Propel Marketplace to connect our ~5M monthly active users to products, services, and exclusive offers from leading brands across grocery and retail, healthcare, telecoms, financial services, and auto via the Propel app. As the product scales, the systems underneath it have to keep up, and you'll own that.

This is a player-coach role, and the technical work comes first. Our ideal candidate can easily take on a staff engineer project with no support. You'll design and build the architecture that lets Marketplace reach its goals, lead design review, and decide with product, design, and data what we build and what we leave alone. You'll also manage 3-5 engineers across multiple sub-teams: setting goals, giving direct feedback, running performance evaluations, and helping them grow. You'll own onboarding for new engineers and keep improving it.

You'll do well here if you're empathetic, a clear communicator, a skilled facilitator, and someone who likes building a team. We want you to help us hire, build, and develop a diverse engineering team as we grow.

Propel is a for-profit software company that holds its social mission at its core. Our investors include Andreessen Horowitz, the Omidyar Network, Kevin Durant, Serena Williams, and Nas.

We are strongly committed to hiring a diverse and multicultural team. We encourage applications from traditionally under-represented backgrounds, including those with direct experience with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

We offer:

• An immediate opportunity to make an impact on our growing team

• A get-stuff-done and fun and caring culture

• Meaningful work and a strong shared sense of mission

• A dog-friendly office based in Downtown Brooklyn (or the opportunity to work remotely!)

• Fair, equitable, and competitive salaries. Propel believes that everyone should be compensated fairly and equitably. We set our salary ranges using compensation data from hundreds of NYC based startups at our stage. Additionally, pay is not determined based on location. There are two levels we're willing to hire this role at:

  • Tech Lead Manager: $230,000 - $250,000

  • Senior Tech Lead Manager: $250,000 - $270,000

    Level is determined based on work experience and interview performance. Equity and excellent benefits come with this position as well!

What you’ll do:

• Set technical vision for the marketplace team and build a system that serves helpful offers to our users efficiently and effectively

• Manage and coach 3-5 reports across multiple sub-teams and help them advance in their careers

• Develop team level processes to foster consistency and collaboration in our remote-first company culture

• Help sustain efficient cross functional collaboration between engineering, product, design, and data and be an advocate for change in the system when necessary

• Ensure smooth onboarding for new engineers and help a growing team iterate on the process

What you have:

• 10+ years of experience designing and developing web or mobile applications especially ad tech or consumer products

• 2+ years of experience managing engineers of various levels in a start-up remote first environment

• Strong AI skills and the ability to think systematically about when and where to use AI most effectively

• A growth mindset, curiosity, and the desire to really understand how our Marketplace business operates

• Excellent written and verbal communication

• Passion for making a difference in the lives of our users

• Experience with or knowledge of government services, particularly safety net services like SNAP, WIC, TANF, SSI, SSDI, Medicaid, Section 8, is a plus

Additional Considerations:

• Interview Accommodations: Propel is committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the interview process. If you need accommodations due to a disability or medical condition (such as additional time or accessibility support), please let us know as early as possible so we can support you appropriately.

• We're currently accepting applications from the states we have an established entity, which includes California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

Learn more about our impact from the press

• Fintech Company Propel Announces $10 Million Fund For Food Stamp

• Late Show With Stephen Colbert

• How to Propel the Fight Against Poverty in America

• How Tech is Helping Poor People Get Government Aid

• Propel Routes Money to those Who Need it Most

• How one tech startup is giving cash to SNAP recipients

• Recipients Affected By Government Shutdown

• How hunger relief groups say you can help feed your neighbors during the shutdown and beyond

• Helping our Users Navigate this Crisis

Join us, and let's build something amazing together!