Job Description
Organization Description: The Contingent is a national venture nonprofit that harnesses the power of innovation and technology to tackle complex social challenges. We partner with government agencies, nonprofits, and businesses to mobilize volunteers, foster parents, and local leaders—using data-driven tools to accelerate the time and scale of community impact. Our flagship initiative, Every Child, partners with state child welfare agencies to transform foster care recruitment into a coordinated, data-driven system—so every child has a home. We bring together proprietary technology, human-centered design, and community mobilization to move states from fragmented outreach to measurable, scalable results. For more information about the initiatives of The Contingent, please visit www.thecontingent.org . Opportunity Summary: We are looking for a Senior Director, Product and Design, to lead and grow our product and design function at a pivotal moment in our organization's expansion. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who brings clarity and decisiveness paired with deep humanity — a servant-leader who develops people as intentionally as they ship products, and who believes that diverse minds build better technology. What You'll Do: Rally and Align Own and drive the product roadmap, sprint planning, quarterly planning, and release planning end-to-end Lead scope reviews, product approvals, and wireframe reviews — setting a high bar while developing your team's craft Develop Your Team Coach and develop your team with patience, intentionality, and high expectations — finding genuine satisfaction in watching people grow into roles they didn’t know they were capable of You believe that diverse minds build better products, and you create the conditions — structure, patience, and psychological safety — for different kinds of thinkers to do their best work. You are an experienced developer of talent at all career stages, adapting your leadership style to the individual rather than expecting one approach to fit everyone State Implementation Leadership Hire and develop an Implementation PM who will coordinate internal product configuration and state-facing timelines for new state launches Ensure every new state launch is properly configured, thoroughly tested, and delivered on schedule, working cross-functionally with Relationship and Change Management leads Strategic Partnership Serve as a key thought partner to the Chief Product and Innovation Officer (CPIO) on product strategy, team structure, and organizational capability building Translate high-level organizational vision into executable roadmaps and team action This role may include a degree of variability in responsibilities and duties as deemed by the supervisor. The Contingent employees should be prepared for a dynamic work environment. Who You Are: You are a mobilizer and a developer of people. You find satisfaction in getting people aligned and moving together. You create clarity in ambiguous situations, not by having all the answers, but by bringing people together around the right questions and next steps. 7+ years of experience in product management or product leadership, with at least 3 years in a people management role Track record of successfully rallying cross-functional teams — engineering, design, customer-facing — around shared goals and delivering together Experienced coach who develops talent across career stages; you adapt your approach and create conditions where different kinds of thinkers thrive Experience in nonprofit, civic tech, or mission-driven environments; you understand the unique motivations and constraints of mission-driven work Fluent in human-centered design — you advocate for the process and understand why it matters for users navigating high-stakes life decisions Clear, decisive communicator who can energize a room and also say “no” and “not now” with kindness and credibility Experience with government or state agency partnerships is a plus Personal Qualifications: Commitment to the mission of The Contingent, including Every Child, and The Script. Relates well and works effectively with diverse groups of people who represent the range of ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds Ability to articulate a position on the importance of diverse community organizations (including faith communities, political organizations, businesses) engaging vulnerable children, youth, and families Deep commitmen