Vice President Applied Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Common Sense Media is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the research-backed information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the age of apps, algorithms, and AI. We rate, educate, and advocate for policies to protect and prepare kids online. Our ratings, research, and resources reach more than 150 million users globally, over 1.4 million educators, and more than 100,000 schools worldwide every year. Learn more at commonsense.org. 

The Opportunity
The Vice President of Engineering leads all of Engineering at Common Sense Media, setting the technical and organizational direction for the platforms and products serving our Families and Education divisions. The role is accountable for building a contemporary engineering practice that ships ambitious product roadmaps with velocity and quality, scales engineering capacity sustainably across in-house and global teams, and applies AI thoughtfully across both our products and the way we build them. This is a strategic, people-leadership role that partners closely with peer leaders across Product, Data, and the broader organization, and stays hands-on where it matters most, whether that means unblocking teams or shaping critical technical decisions.

Location: San Francisco, California

Reports to: Chief Product & Technology Officer

Salary: $175,000–$205,000

Type: Full-time, exempt

What You'll Do

• Define and steward a multi-year engineering vision and roadmap for Common Sense Media, aligned with product strategy and the broader organizational mission, that anticipates how engineering must evolve in a world increasingly shaped by AI.
• Set the technical and organizational direction across the Families and Education divisions, ensuring that engineering investments compound into durable platforms, capabilities, and competitive advantage.

• Lead and develop a high-performing engineering organization, including direct management of the Engineering Managers across Families and Education and the Principal Architect.
• Coach and grow engineering leaders, raising the bar on people management, technical judgment, and execution discipline, and build the next generation of engineering leadership at Common Sense Media.

• Serve as a true thought partner to the VP, Product Growth & Engineering, ensuring that engineering and product strategies are tightly integrated and that engineering execution keeps pace with product velocity.
• Build the systems, operating cadence, and engineering muscle that move concepts and prototypes into production-grade products quickly, reliably, and at quality.

• Design and evolve a sustainable operating model for engineering, including the thoughtful use of in-house, distributed, and global engineering capacity, to scale delivery cost-effectively as the organization's ambitions grow.
• Establish the structure, processes, hiring strategy, and tooling that enable Common Sense Media to grow engineering capacity without compromising quality, cohesion, or culture.

• Modernize engineering practices across the organization, including delivery methodologies, quality, security, observability, performance, and developer experience.
• Champion the responsible adoption of AI across both our products and the software development lifecycle, raising the productivity, quality, and creative ceiling of every team.

• Partner closely with the VP, Product Growth & Engineering, the Senior Director, Data & Analytics, and other senior leaders to translate ambitious cross-functional strategies into delivery, including the platforms and architectures that allow Common Sense Media to leverage data effectively across the organization.

• Maintain technical credibility by staying close to the work, reviewing key designs and decisions, and engaging substantively in technical discussions across the stack.
• Roll up sleeves where required, including unblocking teams on complex problems, contributing to high-leverage technical work, and setting the bar for engineering excellence by example.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 15 years of engineering experience, including at least 5 years leading other engineering managers (i.e., second-line leadership) in fast-paced product organizations.
• Proven track record of leading engineering organizations of meaningful scale across multiple product areas, with a clear pattern of accelerating delivery while raising quality.
• Demonstrated experience scaling engineering capacity through a mix of in-house, distributed, and global engineering teams, while preserving a strong engineering culture.
• Deep technical fluency across modern web and mobile stacks (e.g., PHP/Drupal, Flutter, Node.js, Python), with the credibility to engage substantively in design and architecture discussions and the willingness to be hands-on where required.
• Strong working understanding of how to apply AI and emerging technologies across both products and the software development lifecycle.
• Track record of partnering closely and constructively with senior product, design, and data leaders to ship ambitious roadmaps on time.
• Outstanding people leadership skills: hires exceptional talent, develops emerging leaders, and sets a high bar for performance and culture.
• Strategic, systems-thinking mindset combined with operational rigor and a strong execution orientation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to explain complex technical and organizational decisions clearly to engineers, executives, and external stakeholders.
• Experience in mission-driven, nonprofit, education technology, or media organizations is a plus.
• A passion for the mission of helping kids and families thrive in a world of media and technology.

What We Offer
 

• The chance to work with talented, passionate professionals.
• A great health and welfare benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, and a matching 401(k).
• An organization that offers work/life balance.
• The opportunity to really make a difference in the lives of kids and families!

Common Sense Media provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected classification or characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Common Sense Media will also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. However, job offers are made on the condition that the applicant subsequently passes a criminal background check. If the background check indicates a prior criminal conviction, we will conduct an individualized assessment to determine whether the conviction should result in denial of employment. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider employment for qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.