Engineering Manager

FreeWill; United States; Remote; USD 155,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

A philanthropic technology startup is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead and develop a cross-functional engineering team. This role combines technical guidance with people management, emphasizing a people-first approach and empathy-driven leadership. As part of an innovative and mission-driven organization, you will work remotely within most US states, driving impactful software solutions in philanthropy.

Benefits

Unlimited PTO

Flexible hours

Company stock options

401k

Free One Medical membership

Qualifications

• 1-2 years experience as an engineering manager or tech-lead.
• Hands on technical experience to guide complex challenges.
• Proactive, curious, and eager to improve systems.

Responsibilities

• Foster an environment built on trust and empathy.
• Lead technical excellence in software development.
• Mentor engineers in career development.

Skills

Leadership

Technical guidance

Emotional intelligence

Collaboration

Coaching

Tools

React

Node.js

TypeScript

AWS

Job description

FreeWill is an award-winning, social-good startup that has partnered with 2,200+ nonprofits who support our mission while generating $12B in gift commitments for nonprofits since we were founded in 2017. We’ve been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, Oprah’s magazine, and our co-CEOs have even been named to Town & Country’s “Top 50 Philanthropists” list.

All of this is because we’ve figured out how to make some powerful (but complicated!) ways to donate much easier and more accessible. Our products make things easier for the donors who want to change the world and for nonprofits doing heroic work around the planet.

Full-time • Excellent Benefits • Work from Anywhere in the US (except AL, CO, or LA)

About the role

We’re a fast-growing startup with ambitious goals and a people-first culture. Our engineers don’t just build products, they change the future of philanthropy. And we’re looking for a servant leader to help steward our next chapter.

We’re looking for a people-first, technically sharp Engineering Manager to lead one of our growing engineering teams. You’ll manage a cross-functional team of 4–6 engineers and be responsible for both their technical success and personal growth. You’ll model empathy-driven leadership while instilling a culture of accountability, autonomy, and innovation.

You are someone who thrives on ownership, orchestrates well across functions, and constantly looks for ways to raise the bar for your team, for our codebase, and for yourself.

FreeWill has set compensation and a non-negotiation policy for fairness reasons (we don't think that an individual's pay should be determined by how comfortable they are negotiating). As a result, we like to be transparent and up front about the compensation. When we make an offer, we provide multiple options so that employees can choose between compensation packages that prioritize salary or stock options. The base salary offers for this role will be between $155,000 and $175,000; offers will also include stock options.

What You’ll Do

• Create psychological safety. Foster an environment built on trust, blamelessness, radical candor, and empathy where engineers feel safe to experiment, fail fast, and grow.
• Coach, mentor, and grow your team. Support engineers in their career journeys with tailored guidance based on their archetypes and aspirations.
• Lead technical excellence. Advise on architectural decisions, design patterns, and best practices. Ensure we’re building scalable, maintainable systems that serve our users well.
• Engage deeply with the codebase and technical decisions. You’ll understand the systems your team owns and actively participate in building and reviewing high-quality software.
• Drive impact, not just activity. Own the delivery of software that achieves real outcomes. Make space for curiosity, innovation, and developer joy.
• Uplevel our processes. Identify and close gaps in workflows, rituals, and communication. Bring the team along in evolving how we build.
• Collaborate cross-functionally. Work in close partnership with a dedicated product manager and designer, while coordinating with other teams and stakeholders across the company.
• Champion great hiring. Help build a diverse, inclusive, and high-performing team through thoughtful sourcing, interviewing, and onboarding.

Our Stack

• React
• Node.js
• TypeScript
• AWS (Lambda, S3, CloudFront, and other core services)

We are also actively exploring how AI tooling (like ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude, and more) can enhance our developer experience. You’ll have the space and support to experiment with new tech that makes engineers’ lives better.

• Has 1-2 years of experience as an engineering manager or tech-lead with direct reports
• Has strong experience as a player-coach. This role will be 75% people management and 25% hands on code delivery alongside the team
• Recent, hands-on technical experience so that when the team faces complex challenges, they trust you to provide clear guidance when needed
• Brings expert-level knowledge in our stack with strong opinions on architecture, performance, and scalability
• Mentors engineers in technical depth and career development with a focus on coaching
• Leads with emotional intelligence, compassion, and radical candor — fostering trust, navigating tough conversations gracefully, and cultivating psychological safety with a growth mindset
• Creates a high-trust environment that enables people to take risks, learn quickly, and improve continuously
• Is proactive, curious, and eager to improve systems, processes, and people
• Communicates clearly and works seamlessly with product, design, other engineering teams, and stakeholders across the company
• Knows how to balance execution, quality, and people leadership in a high-ownership culture
• Embraces accountability and leads by example with a stewardship mindset that puts the long-term success of the team and company first

Hiring Process

The hiring process for this role is as follows:

• Coding Screen (45 minutes)
• Super Day Interviews: 4 Final Interviews with FreeWill team members (separate interviews- between 30 minutes and 1 hour)
• Offer (contingent on positive references)

Please note that steps in the hiring process can and may change and the Recruiter will be your point of contact in sharing about any updates in terms of the process. If you are selected to move forward in this process, the Recruiter will share more details about the hiring process and interviewers. However, this is a good estimate of what you can expect. For most roles, our hiring processes take an average of 4-6 weeks.

AI Policy

We are excited to engage with candidates who can demonstrate their experience and skills through their own words and work, not through AI-generated content. We want to understand your genuine interest in the company and your unique perspectives, not simply AI-driven responses. We ask that you refrain from use of AI-generated content during the hiring process which includes phone screens, video interviews, tech screens, or other assessment stages except as otherwise indicated to you by the Recruiter.

For example: Using ChatGPT to generate scripted answers to application questions or during phone screens and video interviews is strongly discouraged and will result in not moving forward in the hiring process. However, the use of an AI design tool to enhance the design of a presentation deck is permitted.

The Recruiter will be able to provide additional guidance during the hiring process if needed. If hired at FreeWill, we do encourage the use of AI in your role to build upon or enhance your skill set.

In addition to the immense personal and professional satisfaction you’ll gain from helping to raise $1T for high impact nonprofits in a kind and joyful work environment, full time employees at FreeWill are eligible for the following benefits:

• Work from home
• Unlimited PTO
• Flexible hours
• Company stock options
• 401k
• Medical/Dental/Vision (some single coverage medical plans are 100% employer paid, subsidized rates for spousal, parent-child, and family coverage)
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Free One Medical membership
• Paid parental leave for all parents
• Regular (virtual) team events
• $250 monthly co-working budget which can be used for local co-working spaces
• $300 annual budget to outfit your home office or cover utility bills
• $1,000 referral bonuses for growing our FreeWill community

FreeWill is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. We are committed to finding talent that is not determined on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We are a remote-first company that’s able to hire in 47 states and D.C. Unfortunately, we are unable to hire in Colorado, Alabama, or Louisiana at this time. We also can’t sponsor working visas, so all applicants will need to have work authorization in the US.

Don’t check off every box in the requirements listed above? Please apply anyway! Studies have shown that marginalized communities - such as women, LGBTQ+ and people of color - are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. FreeWill is dedicated to building an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible workplace that fosters a sense of belonging – so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider submitting an application. You may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!

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This role will be 75% people management and 25% hands on code delivery alongside the team. Can you please share if you've been directly delivering code in your most recent role? Please note: Because of the responsibilities of this role, we will be unable to move forward with candidates who have not been actively delivering code in the last year. *

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