Director, Software Engineering (Partner Platform)

About Niche

Niche is the leader in school search. Our mission is to make researching and enrolling in schools easy, transparent, and free. With in-depth profiles on every school and college in America, 140 million reviews and ratings, and powerful search tools, we help millions of people find the right school for them. We also help thousands of schools recruit more best-fit students, by highlighting what makes them great and making it easier to visit and apply.

Niche is all about finding where you belong, and that mission inspires how we operate every day. We want Niche to be a place where people truly enjoy working and can thrive professionally.

About The Role

We are looking for a Director of Engineering to lead the engineering side of the Partner Experience organization — the group responsible for the end-to-end partner journey across two product teams: Partner Quoting & Delivery and Partner Reporting & Insights.

The Partner Acquisition & Delivery team owns the platforms and products that answer did the partner receive what they bought — partner onboarding, prospect quoting, and the lead delivery pipeline. Looking ahead, quoting evolves toward a partner-facing experience where partners interact directly with guidance and recommendations on their orders, whether self-serve or in partnership with their account manager.

The Partner Reporting & Insights team owns the platforms and products that ensure how the partner sees the value they purchased, and the insights they need to optimize further — platform performance reporting, monthly insight reports, and the insights engine. The forward direction is an "always on" experience where insights surface continuously to help partners optimize strategy and performance throughout the cycle.

Together, the organization is oriented around how partners onboard, what Niche delivers, how value is reported back, and how that loop drives retention and expansion. This Director will be the engineering co-lead of that mission — partnering tightly with product leadership to set direction, build the teams, and raise the bar on how Niche builds software.

What You Will Do

The Director of Engineering for the Partner Experience organization is a senior engineering leader who owns team health, technical strategy, and delivery velocity across both teams. They are the engineering counterpart to the organization's product leadership, driving alignment from discovery through delivery. Critically, this person is an active champion of AI-native engineering — not just personally, but as an operating model they build, measure, and hold their teams accountable to.

During the First Month:

• Learn about Niche by meeting with various team members to learn more about our company through our Onboarding meetings
• Meet all direct reports and key cross-functional partners; build an initial read on team strengths and gaps
• Get deep on the partner-facing product surfaces, current tech stack, and delivery patterns across both teams
• Understand the partner experience end to end — onboarding speed, lead pacing, platform engagement — and where the biggest engineering leverage points are
• Form an initial point of view on the teams' AI tooling adoption and where the gaps are

Within 2  Months:

• Present your assessment of the organization's engineering health — delivery, architecture, team org, AI readiness — to the CTO and Sr. Director of Product
• Align with product leadership on near-term technical priorities and any pressing architectural decisions
• Identify the top 2–3 things you'd change in the first half of your tenure and propose a plan
• Begin actively coaching EMs on embedding AI-native practices into their teams' day-to-day workflows

Within 3 Months:

• Own the engineering roadmap and resourcing for both teams with full confidence
• Have a defined velocity measurement framework in place that accounts for AI-augmented output
• Be actively leading at least one meaningful initiative to accelerate agentic engineering adoption
• Have established a strong operating rhythm with the product lead, CTO, and Sr. Director of Product

What We Are Looking For

• 8+ years in software engineering, with at least 3+ years managing engineering managers
• Demonstrated, hands-on experience driving a team's transition to AI-assisted or agentic engineering workflows — building the culture, tooling, and measurement systems, not just personal AI usage
• Track record of shipping high-quality product at scale in a fast-moving, cross-functional environment
• Strong communicator — able to represent engineering credibly to product and GTM partners and translate fluidly between technical and business language
• Experience working alongside embedded data engineers, with meaningful exposure to modern data tooling (dbt, Snowflake, or similar)
• Systematic thinker who brings structure to ambiguous problems without over-processing

Nice to Have

• Experience in EdTech, marketplace, or consumer platform businesses
• Familiarity with spec-driven development (SDD) or similar AI-paired engineering operating models
• Experience in B2B2C businesses with CRM-integrated product surfaces
• Exposure to partner-facing reporting systems, data pipelines, or lead delivery infrastructure

Compensation 

Our national target base salary range is $168,640-$210,800, plus participation in our Annual Bonus and Stock Option Program. Base compensation will be commensurate with experience and skills.

At Niche, our Total Rewards Philosophy is centered around creating a workplace environment that attracts, motivates, and retains top talent by providing a comprehensive and competitive rewards package.  This philosophy is built on the principles of performance-based compensation, best-in-class benefits and work-life balance, and employee well-being.

Interview Process

Candidate experience is a top priority for our talent and hiring teams.  We believe in providing a transparent, authentic and comprehensive interview process where you have the opportunity to learn about us while we get to know you and your experience.  The interview process is outlined here:

• Phone Screen with Talent Acquisition Partner - 30 Minutes

• Video Interview with Hiring Manager - 45 Minutes

• Team Interview - 4 Leaders across Product and Engineering

• Case Study - 1 Week to Complete

Why Niche?

• We are a fully flexible workforce empowering our employees to choose to work remotely, in our Pittsburgh office or whatever combination suits you
• Full time, salaried position with competitive compensation in a fast-growing company
• Best-in-class 100% paid employee health plan, including vision and dental and supplemental coverage
• Flexible Paid Time Off Policy
• Stipend that allows you to build your work from home office in a style and function that suits your personal preferences
• Parental leave for all employees (12 weeks fully paid) in addition to short term disability for birthing parents
• Meaningful 401(k) with employer match
• Your ideas and work will make an immediate impact on our company and millions of users
• You will join a team that cares about you, our mission, our work - and celebrates our wins together!

Niche will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship now or in the future for this opening.  

We are currently hiring in states where we currently have employees: AZ, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MO, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, DC, WV.

Candidates only.  No recruiters or agencies, please. Sorry, we do not offer relocation assistance.

Niche is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. Therefore, we provide employment opportunities without regard to age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law.

All interviews are being held remotely. If there are preparations we can make to help ensure you have a comfortable and positive interview experience, please let us know.