Vice President, AI Product & Engineering

PATCH; United States; On-site; USD 225,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Ancillary benefits

401(k)

Unlimited discretionary time off

10 paid holidays a year

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Patch is a remote-first company delivering AI-enhanced media products across web, mobile, email, and publishing platforms. We seek a senior leader who can drive platform product strategy, partner with sales to monetize AI initiatives, and improve the financial well-being and workflows for journalists.

The role blends technical credibility with business leadership, and demands hands-on engagement with customers, engineering teams, and product partners.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of leading leaders in technical and product roles in entrepreneurial environments.
• 10+ years of experience as an engineer and/or managing engineering teams.
• Hands-on: prototype, inspect data, talk with customers, and work through details with the team.
• Fluent in Clay Christensen's JTBD framework.
• Lead with curiosity, candor, self-awareness, low ego, and a sense of humor.
• Clear and proven attribution of commercial success in self-serve SMB products.

Responsibilities

• Lead platform products with bold velocity and distinctive impact.
• Help sales monetize through applying AI work with large brands.
• Find ways to improve journalists' careers financially and operationally.

Skills

Leadership experience

Engineering leadership

JTBD framework

Hands-on leadership

Data-driven decisions

Communication

Curiosity and candor

Tools

TypeScript/JavaScript

React

Next.js

Node.js

Drupal/PHP

AWS

BigQuery

Stripe

Auth0/Okta

OpenSearch

GitHub/Jira

Job description

About You

• You have clear and proven attribution of commercial success and business outcomes in self-serve SMB products (i.e. products similar to Patch's promoted events and featured business listings: self-serve, low price point, recurring).
• You are fluent in Clay Christensen's JTBD framework.
• You have 5+ years of leading leaders in technical and product roles in entrepreneurial environments.
• You have technical credibility: 10+ years of experience as an engineer and/or managing engineering teams, and the ability to reason directly about architecture, data, feasibility, and trade-offs.
• You are hands-on: You prototype, inspect the data, talk with customers and work through details with the team; you do not delegate the substance of product leadership.
• You lead with curiosity, candor, self-awareness, low ego, and a sense of humor.

What We Offer / Why Patch

• Patch – the largest, and one of the few thriving local media businesses – has been on the cutting edge of AI since 2022. We have approximately 15,000 communities with AI newsletters that have a 94+ NPS. Our moderation for 160M active users (and many other parts of the business) are AI-native.
• Our work connecting people with their communities matters. We are Patchy: we have fun and take our mission seriously but not ourselves.
• Even if you are a world-class leader, you will become a better leader at Patch through our leadership standards. All applicants for the role will go through them.
• Competitive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Ancillary benefits
• 401(k)
• Unlimited discretionary time off (DTO)
• 10 paid holidays a year
• Paid parental leave

Product and Technology Environment

• Patch’s products span consumer web and mobile, email, publishing, user-generated content, payments, data, search and advertising integrations.
• The technology environment includes JavaScript/TypeScript, React, Next.js, Node.js, Drupal/PHP, AWS, Heroku, Pantheon, GCP/BigQuery/GA4, Stripe, Auth0/Okta, Typesense/OpenSearch, GitHub/Jira and modern AI tools.
• You need not master the stack, but you must be technically fluent and able to earn the trust of engineers.

What You Will Lead

• Commercial success for platform products, leading with force, courage, and velocity. If you are doing something common in media, it is not bold enough.
• Helping sales make more money, especially through applying our AI work with large brands (separate from platform products)
• Finding ways to make our journalists' careers more rewarding financially and operationally.

Working at Patch

Patch is remote-first, with employees and contractors across countries and time zones. The ideal candidate feels a real connection to our mission: keeping people informed about their communities and helping local businesses and event marketers get the word out to the audiences that matter most.

$225,000 - $275,000 a year

The annual base salary range for this position is $225,000 - $275,000 USD. The actual salary will be determined based on skills, experience and other job-related factors, consistent with applicable law. This position is also eligible for a performance-based discretionary bonus and equity.

Patch Media is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, sex, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Our commitment to equality extends to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, training, compensation, benefits, and general treatment.