Engineering Leader, Payment Plans

Role Overview

As the Engineering Leader for Promise’s Payment Plans team, you will own the technical direction and team leadership for our top revenue-generating business. The Payment Plans platform powers flexible, interest-free installment plans that help residents avoid penalties and utilities recover more efficiently — a true win-win. You’ll lead the team responsible for scaling and evolving this product, ensuring it stays secure, user-friendly, and aligned with the dignity-first principles that define our mission. You’ll work cross-functionally to define technical strategy, drive product velocity, and ensure a high standard of engineering quality and reliability.

What You'll Do

Lead and manage a team of engineers focused on delivering and scaling our Payment Plans platform.

Define and own the technical roadmap, working closely with Product and Design to prioritize features and improvements that drive real-world impact.

Ensure the platform is scalable, composable, and secure as we expand across government and utility partners nationwide.

Build features that reduce friction for residents, from installment flexibility to automated reminders and personalized plan options.

Stay hands-on and connected to technical details, helping the team debug, optimize, and ship with confidence.

Identify opportunities to use AI and automation to replace inefficient manual processes and reduce reliance on support staff.

Collaborate with Customer Success and Operations to ensure the platform meets performance expectations in the field.

Set and uphold standards for engineering excellence, system reliability, and technical collaboration.

What Will Enable You

7+ years of experience building and scaling production software, with at least 2 years managing engineers or leading projects.

Proven ability to own technical direction and outcomes — you can define a roadmap, align stakeholders, and deliver.

Strong understanding of backend systems, system design, and secure architecture best practices.

Experience integrating with legacy or third-party systems, ideally in a regulated, government, or fintech context.

Ability to break down complex problems into actionable, scalable solutions.

Comfort operating in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment where priorities shift based on real-world feedback.

Passion for Promise’s mission and a belief that better systems can produce more equitable outcomes.

Experience in the payments, government, or public infrastructure space is a plus.

Benefits and Work Environment

At Promise, we invest in our team’s well-being, growth, and sense of ownership. Equity for All: All full-time employees receive stock options to share in our company’s success. 100% Paid Health Coverage: We cover 100% of base medical, dental, and vision insurance plans for employees and their dependents. Flexible Hybrid Work: We collaborate in office at least three days a week to stay connected and aligned as a team. Please note: Benefits are reviewed periodically and may be updated at the sole discretion of Promise.

Location & Eligibility

Oakland, US. Promise engages in US government contracts and restricts hiring to US persons, which includes US citizens and permanent residents (e.g., Green Card holders). Additionally, candidates must reside in the US.

Technology

Promise is building a fully-featured payments platform with a modern Web stack: Python + NodeJS + TypeScript backend React + TypeScript frontend Serverless functions infrastructure SQL database storage