Director of Engineering, Data

The ACLU seeks a full-time position of Director of Engineering, Data in the Technology Dept of the ACLU’s National office in New York, NY. This is a hybrid role that has in-office requirements of two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month. 

The ACLU Technology Department is a broad umbrella covering both the ACLU’s Analytics and its Product & Engineering teams, two robust and innovative divisions that power the work of the ACLU. The department provides trusted, dependable, and impactful analytics, engineering, as well as product management and product design expertise for the ACLU. In partnership with experts across the ACLU, the technology team delivers best-in-class solutions, services, and innovation that advance the ACLU mission and organizational priorities. The tech team strives to ensure the ACLU leads by example in the ethical use of technology by ensuring privacy and security standards are maintained, directional insights are used to inform programming and business strategy, best-in-class products are designed to get the ACLU message out into the world and grow the ACLU supporter base, as well as to help steward high standards for algorithmic fairness, accountability, and transparency.

This position sits on the Product & Engineering team of the Technology Department. The Product & Engineering division includes engineers, product managers, product designers, and project operations experts who build and maintain engaging digital products and secure technical systems that accelerate the ACLU’s mission as our nationwide guardian of rights and liberties.

Reporting to the Head of Engineering, the Director of Engineering, Data will be responsible for stewarding the organization’s constituent data platform and leading the engineering team that designs, builds, and operates a centralized and robust multi-sourced pipeline and data warehouse ecosystem. This role will work closely with peer leaders in engineering, analytics, and product as well as stakeholders in other departments to set and drive long-term data architecture, design, implementation, and monitoring that meets current and anticipates future organizational needs.

This role requires a strategic and operational technical leader who can operate effectively in ambiguity, translate priorities into platform and product direction, and lead engineers across experience levels while driving complex cross-functional initiatives. The ideal candidate combines strong technical judgment and decision-making under uncertainty with a passion for solving real nonprofit technology challenges, and a proven ability to build, mentor, and guide high-performing engineering teams through clear vision, coaching, and hands-on technical leadership.

• Own the vision and technical roadmap of the organization’s constituent data products, including the data warehouse, pipelines, system to system integrations, orchestrations, and transformations that power the organization’s fundraising, advocacy, and online outreach activities. Ensure that owned data products support reliability, scalability, performance and security requirement
• Lead and develop a team of data engineers, ensuring high-quality, timely delivery, and creating stability and focus during periods of shifting priorities and ambiguity
• Co-own the organization’s shared data and analytics infrastructure, including strategy and architectural decision-making, in partnership with Analytics Engineering leadership
• Own data product investment strategy and technical prioritization, balancing product needs, privacy and security requirements, system quality, and long-term platform sustainability
• Serve as a strong technical leader to the team, capable of executing hands-on when needed, providing architectural guidance and reviewing your team member’s technical work
• Act as a core partner and advisor to stakeholders in security, privacy, fundraising, and other areas where you will provide a strong engineering perspective on major data-related decisions including communicating risks, tradeoffs, and progress in digestible business terms as well as managing expectations proactively.
• Partner with peer leaders to understand, translate, and address gaps or improvement opportunities within the department related to technology, collaboration, team health, operational workflows and other internal needs
• Advise on resource planning, personnel decisions, and team structures to meet current and anticipate future needs of the department
• Hire and onboard new engineers, setting the tone, policy, and goals for building a diverse, high-quality engineering team
• Manage key vendors and service providers to ensure delivery of high-quality work that meets the organization's data and engineering standards and requirements
• Ensure sound technical governance, architectural design reviews and documentation standards are adhered to

• Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU
• Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives
• Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts

• Senior engineering leadership experience leading a data engineering teams with multiple direct reports, strategic planning, goal setting, and other leadership responsibilities
• Strong technical background with hands-on experience designing, building, and orchestrating data pipelines, system to system integrations, data transformation and storage solutions, or other data infrastructure solutions and related operational workflows in a high-volume production environment
• Demonstrated ability to set longer-term architectural priorities while maintaining the ability to break those priorities into deliverable milestones
• Strong experience operating in rapidly changing environments and partnering closely with multiple discipline stakeholders
• Experience leading complex technical projects and guiding teams through planning, system design, prioritization, and execution
• Experience managing and displacing legacy software tools and systems as well as delivering complex and highly technical initiatives.
• Ability to problem-solve with engineers on architectural trade-offs and technology selections while building and maintaining strong execution cadences
• Proven experience operating in complex organizational environments, navigating uncertainty, overlapping ownership, and evolving priorities to drive coherent system outcomes
• Experience hiring and developing high-functioning engineering teams, monitoring and managing team performance, and supporting individual career growth through mentorship, coaching, and feedback
• Excellent leadership skills, including strategic thinking, analytical reasoning, alignment building, initiative, collaboration, communication, and empathy

For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people.

We know that great people make a great organization. We value our people and know that what we offer is essential not just their work, but to their overall well-being. 

At the ACLU, we offer a broad range of benefits, which include:

• Time away to focus on the things that matter with a generous paid time-off policy
• Focus on your well-being with comprehensive healthcare benefits (including medical, dental and vision coverage, parental leave, gender affirming care & fertility treatment)
• Plan for your retirement with 401k plan and employer match
• We support employee growth and development through annual professional development funds, internal professional development programs and workshops

Accessibility, equity, diversity and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. For us diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion are not just check-the-box activities, but a chance for us to make long-term meaningful change.  We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression, anti-ableism, and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us.

With this commitment in mind, we strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.    

The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please email [email protected]. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.

The Department of Education has determined that employment in this position at the ACLU does not qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.