About the Obama Foundation

At the Obama Foundation, we are guided by a core belief: that ordinary people working together can change history. Our mission is to inspire those people to take action, empower them to change their world for the better, and connectthem so they can achieve more together than they can alone.

We were founded by community organizers, so when we seek change, we do it by bringing people together.

That approach begins at home, on the South Side of Chicago, where we are building the Obama Presidential Center. The Center represents a historic opportunity for Chicago: a chance to build a world-class museum and public gathering space that celebrates our nation’s first African American President and First Lady, steps away from where he began his career, where she was raised, and where—together—they made their home.  

But that approach extends to all our work, whether its holding leadership training sessions in communities throughout the U.S., bringing local leaders together in countries around the world, working to support the global education of girls, or ensuring young men of color have pathways to opportunity. 

As President Obama has said, “we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together.” So join us.

For more information, please visit www.obama.org.

About the Role

As a member of the Digital team, the Engineering Manager will help us build and maintain digital products to foster the work of the Obama Foundation. The Engineering Manager will report to the Chief Digital Officer.

Outcomes

The Engineering Manager will be responsible for achieving the following outcomes within the first year:

• Obama.org is a comprehensive and innovative one-stop shop for all Foundation stakeholders (programs participants, Presidential Center, potential employees, donors, Chicago community stakeholders, media, email subscribers)
• Tech vendors provide high quality services as specified in contracts on time and within budget (front-end, back-end, analytics/metrics, hosting, security, CRM, fundraising /e-commerce, augmented reality experiences, virtual reality experiences)  
• Program team technology needs scoped and met via digital tools (developed in-house or third party)
• An expanded logged-in and secure environment serves the needs of Foundation staff and the network of Foundation programs participants with dashboards of internal tools and look-up/directory services
• A standardized process/system for fielding and prioritizing technical requests from Foundation departments and stakeholders is established and maintained
• Public facing technical systems maintain 99.9% uptime and availability
• Obama brand consistently expressed in all technology materials
• Digital asset archive expands to include materials from Obama campaigns, White House, and post-Presidential activities
• Create and maintain connections between Foundation tools and third-party tools to support CRM, social listening, email, e-commerce/fundraising, etc (e.g. Shopify, Salesforce Marketing Cloud)

Responsibilities

The ultimate aim of the Engineering Manager is to achieve the outcomes listed above. In order to achieve those outcomes, we imagine that the Engineering Manager will spend their time in the following ways:

• Coordinate cross-functionally with Digital colleagues (Communication, Editorial, Brand/Design/Audience) and other Foundation functions
• Back-End development
• Front-End development
• Manage digital tech contractors and vendors
• Recruit, hire, contract, and maintain a reliable pool of technical employees, contractors, and vendors
• Coordinate and consult with the Foundation’s IT specialists on cybersecurity, opsec, maintenance and expansion of Salesforce-related experiences
• Focus a critical eye for UX and design throughout tech deliverable
• Build new first party digital tools for program needs — applications, video galleries, UGC uploads
• Advise Foundation’s Presidential Center and Museum teams on long-term technical needs and vision for visitors and stakeholders

Qualifications

• Expert knowledge of web technologies including HTML, CSS, Javascript, React, NodeJS
• Deep experience with platforms including WordPress, Shopify, Firebase, Amazon Web Services
• Good design and UX sensibilities preferred
• Exceptional communication, written and verbal required
• Ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences
• Proven ability to build effective relationships at all levels of the organization and across teams; builds trust quickly
• Exceptional project manager, effectively planning long-term projects and investing, managing, and communicating effectively with others to achieve objectives and meet deadlines
• Ability to define and coordinate software development sprints and schedules
• Exceptional people and vendor management - track record of setting clear expectations and managing people and vendors to deliver on them
• Committed to our mission of inspiring, empowering, and connecting people to change their world

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Foundation is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at [email protected] if you require a reasonable accommodation to complete this application.