Engineering Manager

Summary

Join FreeWill, an award-winning social-good startup, as an Engineering Manager to lead a growing team of 4–6 engineers. You will be responsible for both their technical success and personal growth, fostering a culture of accountability, autonomy, and innovation. This role requires 1-2 years of experience as an engineering manager or tech lead with direct reports and a strong player-coach background (75% people management, 25% hands-on coding). You'll need expert-level knowledge of FreeWill's tech stack (React, Node.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, AWS) and experience mentoring engineers. FreeWill offers a competitive salary ($155,000-$175,000 base) plus stock options, excellent benefits, and a remote-first work environment. The company is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all qualified individuals.

Requirements

• 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

Responsibilities

• 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

Benefits

• Work from home
• Unlimited PTO
• Flexible hours
• Competitive salary
• Commuter benefits
• 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