DataKind is looking for a Senior Technical Project Manager to lead our technical project management function, manage a team of project managers, and drive the development and scaling of mission-critical products!

Location

Remote position available anywhere in the U.S. with working hours primarily between 8am-6pm Eastern Time.

Salary Range

The salary range is $110,000 - $130,000.

This range is based on DataKind's director level salary band. Actual salary within this range will be based on the candidate's experience and internal salary equity scan of active employee(s) with similar role and experience. Candidates who meet the role's requirements are typically positioned in the lower to middle of the range, with higher placement reserved for candidates who bring significantly above-required experience or expertise.

About the Opportunity

Reporting to the Vice President, Technology, the Senior Technical Project Manager combines hands-on technical project management with team leadership. In a lean, mission-driven organization, you'll need to both lead the TPM practice AND carry a significant individual workload—managing critical projects yourself while coaching a small team of 1-2 TPMs.

This role requires someone comfortable rolling up their sleeves daily. You'll be involved in the details of sprint planning, stakeholder updates, and technical decisions while simultaneously establishing standards, mentoring team members, and building scalable processes.

You'll be the primary bridge between Research, Education, Product, Engineering, and Data Science teams, translating organizational technology priorities into coordinated delivery while developing your team members (who may not have traditional PM backgrounds) into skilled practitioners. You'll manage a complex portfolio with multiple external and internal stakeholders, including technical leaders, end users, donors, university leaders, and implementation partners.

Core Responsibilities

Strategic Planning & Hands-On Execution (60% of role)

Co-create the technical roadmap with Engineering and Data Science leadership—you're at the table shaping strategy, not just executing it
Own end-to-end delivery of the most complex, high-stakes projects yourself while mentoring other TPMs (currently one TPM and possibility of an additional hire in the future)
Balance portfolio priorities across feature delivery, technical debt, platform stability—making trade-off decisions collaboratively with VP of Technology
Define and track program-level milestones, deliverables, and success metrics across concurrent projects
Jump into the details when needed—reviewing technical designs, attending architecture discussions, debugging blockers, or covering for team members
Identify strategic risks early including technical dependencies, integration challenges, resource constraints, and scalability issues; drive mitigation with urgency
Document complex technical requirements and propose practical pathways forward based on stakeholder needs and compliance requirements
Facilitate cross-functional alignment between product, engineering, data science, and business stakeholders through working sessions, not just status meetings

Day-to-Day Project Delivery

Run multiple complex projects concurrently—you're managing 2-4 major workstreams yourself at any given time
Implement practical agile practices that fit the team's size and culture (no process for process's sake)
Track and communicate project schedules, sprint plans, and release dates clearly and concisely
Proactively identify and resolve risks, issues, and dependencies before they become blockers
Lead critical planning sessions, standups, and retrospectives—facilitating decisions, not just documenting them
Create useful documentation (roadmaps, status reports, technical requirements) that people actually read and reference
Make real-time resource trade-offs when priorities shift or capacity changes
Roll up your sleeves to unblock teams—whether that's clarifying requirements, getting stakeholder decisions, or coordinating with partners

Quality & Compliance

Define and integrate appropriate quality standards into product requirements and technical design without slowing teams down—find the right balance for your context
Define clear validation, testing, documentation, and risk management requirements, ensuring the team understands completion criteria and the quality standards that must be met
Work with Data Security team to integrate security and privacy requirements into development workflows
Implement quality checks that catch issues early (definition of done, code review standards, testing protocols)
Champion accessibility and compliance requirements (e.g. FERPA, WCAG, etc.) from the start of projects, not as afterthoughts
Track meaningful quality metrics (defect rates, rollback frequency, user-reported issues) and address trends

Stakeholder Communication

Own the relationship with VP of Technology—provide regular updates, escalate blockers quickly, recommend strategic decisions
Present project status and portfolio health to VP-level stakeholders with clarity and confidence
Manage expectations actively with external partners, university leaders, and donors through regular communication and transparency about timelines and risks
Translate between technical teams and non-technical stakeholders fluently—you speak both languages
Navigate difficult conversations about scope, timeline, or resource trade-offs with professionalism and solutions-oriented mindset
Build trust with stakeholders through consistent delivery, honest communication, and follow-through

Team Leadership & Development (40% of role)

Establish lightweight but effective project management standards, methodologies, and best practices that work for a small, agile organization
Create reusable frameworks and templates that enable teams across product and engineering to work consistently without creating bureaucracy
Model excellence through your own project work—team members learn by watching how you handle stakeholders, manage risks, and drive delivery
Manage and mentor our current TPM and any future hires through regular 1:1s, performance feedback, and career development support
Develop TPM capabilities in team members who may not have traditional PM backgrounds, providing hands-on training, shadowing opportunities, and gradual skill-building

Qualifications

Required

Deep alignment with DataKind's mission and values, and demonstrated commitment to educational equity and data-driven social impact
8+ years managing software/data engineering projects with proven ability to deliver complex initiatives end-to-end
3+ years in a player-coach or team lead role—you've managed/mentored others while still doing significant IC work yourself
Comfort with ambiguity and scrappiness—you thrive in lean, mission-driven environments where you need to be flexible and pragmatic
Strong technical fluency: Can review technical designs, participate meaningfully in architecture discussions, understand trade-offs between different technical approaches, and debug why projects are stuck
5+ years working directly with engineering teams using modern SDLC practices (CI/CD, Git workflows, API development, microservices)
3+ years working on data engineering, ETL/ELT pipelines, analytics platforms, or data-intensive applications
Track record of successful technical product launches—you've taken projects from concept through production
Proficiency with project tracking tools (Asana, Jira, Linear, Monday.com) and documentation platforms
Exceptional communication skills: Can explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders, translate business needs to engineers, facilitate difficult trade-off discussions, and write clear documentation
Proven ability to deliver multi-quarter projects with cross-functional teams while building processes and standards along the way
Coaching mindset: Can develop team members who may not have traditional backgrounds, meeting people where they are and building skills progressively
Bias toward action: More comfortable shipping something good than perfecting something forever; knows when to move fast and when to slow down
Strong technical judgment: Can assess when technical debt is worth taking, when to push back on scope, and when quality is non-negotiable

Preferred

Prior experience as a software engineer, data engineer, data scientist, or similar hands-on technical role—this gives you credibility with engineering teams and helps you understand technical constraints viscerally
PMP, PMI-ACP, CSM, or SAFe certification (strongly preferred)
Previous work in education, edtech, student information systems, or higher education technology
Understanding of data privacy regulations (FERPA, GDPR), security requirements (SOC 2), and accessibility standards (WCAG, Section 508)
Experience managing vendor relationships or external development partners
Background in mission-driven, nonprofit, or social impact organizations—you understand the unique constraints and motivations
Comfort working remotely with distributed teams across time zones

About DataKind

At DataKind, we believe in the transformative power of data science and AI to create a more promising future. Since our founding in 2012, we've been at the forefront of designing scalable, data-driven tools that address some of the world's toughest challenges—ranging from frontline health, humanitarian action, climate and environment, economic opportunity, education, and more. As both a product innovator and a movement catalyst, we set new standards in the social sector, empowering organizations to harness the full potential of data science and AI while putting communities first.

Why Work with DataKind

At DataKind, we believe that people are the most important asset to delivering on our mission. As a people-first remote organization, we offer the following for all our employees:

Flexibility and time off. Enjoy genuine flexibility that goes beyond adjustable hours. We build in shared time off, organization-wide recharge days, bi-weekly meeting-free days, and flexible PTO (with a minimum of 20 vacation days encouraged annually).

Comprehensive Wellness Support. We care for your total wellbeing with 100% employer-paid medical, vision, and dental benefits for employees (72% for dependents), a wellness reimbursement program for the activities and purchases that matter to you, and 12 weeks paid parental leave when you need it most.

A Culture of Growth. Every team member receives professional development funding each year, alongside mentorship and advancement opportunities. We invest in your future with a 401(k) plan with 5% employer matching.

Meaningful Connection. Despite being distributed across time zones, we value being able to come together in person for conferences, strategic planning, and at our annual staff retreat.

Living our Values. DataKind is committed to a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment in our day-to-day work and via special initiatives driven by our DEI Steering Committee.

DataKind is an Equal Opportunity Employer

DataKind is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages candidates from underrepresented groups in tech to apply. DataKind does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, disability, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected category.

Applicants must have a U.S.-based permanent address and be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis indefinitely without employer visa sponsorship.