Engineering Manager (Product)

Who Are We?

Government technology has failed the public for decades, and Americans have been conditioned to expect websites from the 90s for essential public services.

Kaizen exists to strengthen trust in American public services by building technology that residents and public servants are proud to use. We partner with local, state, and federal agencies to replace legacy systems with modern, AI-native software that is worthy of the people they serve. We started in outdoor recreation, and now we're building toward something much larger — the software layer that powers how Americans access any government service.

Our platform already reaches 40 million residents across 50+ agencies in 17 states.

Founded in 2022 and based in New York City, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital. We're builders, designers, and operators who believe that beautifully designed software shouldn’t be a luxury in government. It’s how you earn trust back.

Location

This is a hybrid role based out of our New York City HQ. Candidates must reside in New York or be able to commute to New York City to work out of our office at least three times a week (Tuesdays - Thursdays).

The Role

We're looking for an Engineering Manager to lead one of our product engineering teams. You'll own a critical area of the Kaizen platform - driving the technical roadmap, shipping high-quality features, and building a team that delivers for our government partners and the millions of residents they serve.

This is a highly technical role with leadership responsibility: ~80% hands-on engineering and ~20% people management. You'll write code, make architectural decisions, and ship features alongside your team while also setting the bar for quality, mentoring engineers, and collaborating across product, design, and operations to keep the team focused on what matters most.

Kaizen is at the stage where engineering leaders need to be builders first. You won't be managing from a distance - you'll be in the codebase, pairing on hard problems, and setting technical direction through your own contributions. At the same time, you'll be the person your team looks to for clarity, growth, and support.

What You'll Do

• Own and drive the technical roadmap for your team's area of the platform and defining priorities, building, and shipping.

• Write production code across the stack (React/Next.js, Node.js/TypeScript, Postgres) while ensuring your team is shipping high-quality, maintainable software.

• Manage, mentor, and grow a small engineering team - setting clear expectations, giving regular feedback, and creating an environment where people do their best work.

• Set the standard for AI-augmented engineering practices on your team, evaluating new tools, sharing what works, and building a culture where using AI well is a craft, not a shortcut.

• Collaborate closely with Product, Design, and Customer Ops to scope work, make tradeoffs, and ensure what you build actually solves real customer problems.

• Contribute to high-level architectural decisions as we scale from thousands to millions of transactions and users.

• Translate customer needs and feedback into technical direction — working directly with customers when needed to understand pain points and validate solutions.

• Build systems and practices that scale - CI/CD, testing, code review standards, documentation, on-call processes.

• Balance short-term customer needs with long-term platform health, knowing when to move fast and when to invest in foundations.

• Use AI tools as a daily force multiplier - from code generation and review to debugging, testing, and documentation. We expect engineering leaders to be fluent with LLMs and to push the team toward smarter, faster workflows.

What You Bring

• 6+ years of professional software development experience, with at least 1 - 2 years in a technical leadership or management role (formal or informal).

• Strong full-stack engineering skills - React/Next.js on the frontend, Node.js/TypeScript/Postgres on the backend.

• A track record of shipping customer-facing features that people actually use and love.

• Experience managing or mentoring engineers - you've helped people grow, navigated difficult conversations, and built trust on a team.

• Comfort operating in ambiguity - you can take a vague problem, break it down, and drive it to resolution without waiting for someone to hand you a spec.

• A customer-obsessed mindset - you think about the end user, not just the code.

• Strong written and verbal communication - you can explain technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders and write clearly in async environments.

• A builder's mentality - you're excited about improving processes, tooling, and team practices as the company scales.

• Comfort using AI coding tools (e.g., Copilot, Cursor, Claude) in your daily workflow - you've developed a real point of view on where they help and where they don't.

Nice to Have

• Experience at an early-stage startup (Series A–B), especially shipping 0→1 features.

• Background in govtech, fintech, e-commerce, or other domains where reliability and user experience are critical.

• Experience with cloud deployment tools (Vercel, Render, GCP, GitHub Actions).

• Familiarity with building reusable design systems or component libraries.

• Experience balancing IC engineering work with people management - you've figured out how to do both well.

What Kaizen Offers

• Comprehensive medical through Oxford/United - Gold and Platinum PPO plans, with 85% of premiums covered on the Platinum plan and a $0 employee premium option. Dental through Guardian PPO and vision through Beam, with 99% of employee premiums covered and 50% for dependents.

• $100,000 in fully paid life insurance. FSA and Dependent Care FSA. 401(k) access through Guideline.

• 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents. 10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.

• Unlimited PTO & closed for all federal holidays.

• Company-wide winter break the week of Christmas.

• One-time home office or desk setup stipend up to $750.

• $50/month commuter benefit.

• $100/month for wellness or productivity - your call on how you use it!

• $500/year for professional development.

• $250/year for recreation.

• Company-provided laptop.

• Expensed lunch while in the office.

Kaizen is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. If you need an accommodation during the interview process, email us at careers@kaizenlabs.co.