Are you a technology leader looking for an opportunity to make a major impact at a mission-driven company relying on their ability to build relationships at all levels, build and drive strategic prioritization and grow teams with solution orientation and resilience embedded in how they operate. As the VP of Product & Engineering, you will lead all matters of product and engineering as a member of the senior leadership team and direct supervisor of Product and Engineering leaders and individual contributors.

At Mainstay, our engagement platform helps colleges and employers to attract, retain, and educate their students and employees. From our rigorous research methods to our core IP in Behavioral Intelligence — everything we do is designed to help people take the next step toward achieving their goals.

Mainstay is dedicated to creating an environment of personal and professional growth, empathy, and inclusivity. We believe that every person has the power to make a positive impact, and we’re always looking for motivated and passionate people.

If you’re interested in working with a collaborative team to drive large-scale social impact — we would love to talk to you!

Reporting directly to the CEO, the VP of Product & Engineering will work in concert with the Executive Team. They will lead both an engineering and product team with employees holding a variety of technically focused roles. We foresee the nearterm highest priority being the strategic application of AI with a focus on Mainstay’s mission and vision. They will play a vital role in shaping the technical direction of our Company, translating our business strategy and vision into technical strategy and then following standard processes and frameworks to build roadmaps and ensure a consistent and reliable shipping of releases. Collaborative engagement with leaders across Mainstay will foster cohesion, efficiency, and confidence in our ability to deliver products that resonate with users and transform the education landscape.

What You’ll Do

• Guide the Technical Future: Execute our technical vision and roadmap in alignment with our long-term mission, vision, and goals.
• Innovate with AI: Utilize our strategic resources to push the boundaries of technology, particularly in the realm of generative and conversational AI, aligning with our medium and long-term vision.
• Team Leadership: Continue establishing an empowered Product organization and agile Engineering team. Lead and guide fully staffed and cohesive product and engineering teams that collaborates cross-functionally for innovative product-delivery.
• Manage SOC2 and Technical Compliance: Manage our ongoing SOC2 certification including owning and operating our partnership with Vanta and being our internal expert at all levels for compliance issues or needs at all levels of the business.
• Business Alignment: Engage with senior leadership and operational experts to lead, support, and shape new business initiatives.
• Product Alignment: Oversee our roadmap to ensure alignment with strategy and vision, while solving essential problems and maximizing opportunities for our customers.
• External Representation: Represent Mainstay’s technical perspective at various levels, including investor meetings and external engagements.
• Vendor and Strategy Decisions: Understand the competitive landscape and direct team-building decisions around build vs. buy, onshore vs. offshore, and vendor selections.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with sales and marketing to ensure successful product launches, aligning public messaging with product strategy.

What You’ve Done

• Experience: 10+ years in strategic engineering leadership roles with at least 5 years in a senior leadership position, ideally in a fast-paced, innovation-driven environment. Overall we expect someone with 15+ years of professional experience.
• Track Record: Our ideal candidate will possess a proven ability to create enterprise value and positive social impact, particularly with AI-enabled products.
• Compliance Management: Must have compliance and security management experience
• Relationship Management: Track record of building and managing diverse, cross-functional relationships, aligning all stakeholders toward common goals.
• Communication Excellence: Superior written and verbal skills, including active listening, clarity, and targeted communication for various audiences.
• Team Development: Demonstrated ability to foster an inclusive, innovative, and collaborative team environment.
• Both/And Thinking: Balance creative ideation with robust business judgment and analytical capabilities.
• Results-Oriented: Proven track record of delivering scalable products through strategic metrics-driven leadership.

Mainstay is committed to creating a company where all employees regardless of background can show up and feel they belong. This is an ongoing journey, and we welcome questions one here we’re at during your interview process. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or fitness level.

The minimum pay for this role is $250,000. Actual compensation packages are based on a wide array of factors unique to each candidate including but not limited to demonstrated skill set, years & depth of experience, and some role dependent factors that can include certifications and software expertise. We also hope you’ll consider and be open to what else we provide outside of our base compensation. This includes our benefits, perks, equity, and other aspects of our overall employer brand including our culture which is built on our mission, vision and values. We welcome direct conversations with each candidate about compensation in all our initial calls.