Chief Technology & AI Officer

U.S. Digital Response

6d•$250,000 - $277,500•Remote

About The Position

U.S. Digital Response (USDR) is seeking a Chief Technology & AI Officer to provide strategic vision and technical leadership for digital transformation and AI initiatives. This is a hands-on, executive-level role responsible for owning hard problems end-to-end, raising the technical capability of the organization, and translating USDR's mission into concrete standards, tools, and a clear point of view. The role involves leading internal teams, setting organizational technical standards, and serving as the decision-maker on cross-cutting technical and AI questions. Externally, the position will sharpen USDR's technology and AI perspective, support fundraising efforts, and build trust with government partners. This is not a traditional CTO role managing a large engineering organization, but rather a hands-on leader who partners with the CEO and Executive Team to modernize government service delivery.

Requirements

Belief that governments can deliver for communities big and small, and ability to build trust and credibility with public sector partners across the political spectrum.
Experience building, shipping, and bringing technology to market.
Experience leading engineering, product, or digital service teams directly.
Experience leading go-to-market for products, ideally with governments as the customer.
Sufficient technical depth to quickly contribute discerning, helpful input on architecture and go-to-market approach for a portfolio of projects at various stages of development.
Comfort rolling up sleeves to draft a scope of work and/or publish code (if engineering background) in a small, hands-on organization.
Experience building and leading multidisciplinary teams.
Strong track record of managing across distinct functions.
Experience building and scaling at least one team from the ground up, including recruiting and developing talent.
Energized by making people around you more effective.
Ability to lead and influence in a structure where you manage some teams directly and partner with other leaders across the rest.
Experience leading responsible AI adoption, including hands-on work on AI strategy, responsible deployment, and/or AI governance.
Understanding of AI's transformative potential, limitations, and risks.
Excited by the work of security and quality standards, technical documentation, escalation, and raising an organization’s overall technical fluency.
Ability to stand up the norms and guardrails a growing organization needs.
Ability to represent technology decisions to program leaders, government partners, and funders in plain terms.
Ability to partner well in a matrixed structure where others own execution in their domains.
Effortlessly role model the values in the USDR Community Oath.
Any combination of education, experience, and measurable performance that demonstrates the capability to perform the duties of the position.
Reside in the United States and have and maintain active U.S. Work Authorization.

Nice To Haves

Experience with governments as the customer.
Engineering background (for publishing code).

Responsibilities

Providing product and technical leadership across USDR’s programs to help governments deliver.
Lead go-to-market strategy for USDR’s shared tooling, partnering with product managers across the organization to grow our reach and deepen our impact with government partners.
Shape how we expand and evolve our offerings, including USDR’s Elections Administration Platform and AI tooling.
Bring technical and product judgment to how we position, package, and scale what we build so that it reaches and serves the government partners who need it in a sustainable way.
Strengthen org-wide service delivery and impact measurement, partner on efforts like how we measure our impact so we can demonstrate the value of what we deliver.
Serve as an effective bridge between technical and non-technical worlds, representing technology in plain terms.
Leading responsible AI integration and impact with government partners.
Define how USDR adopts and deploys AI responsibly, both inside our own operations and in the tools and prototypes we build for and with government, to determine where USDR can have the greatest impact.
Contingent on funding: develop, hire, and lead USDR’s new partner-facing AI team, an effort you will begin early to test hypotheses.
Put in place the AI-related policies, tooling, and guardrails that let us move quickly while staying credible and trustworthy as a partner to our partners.
Build USDR’s internal AI fluency - developing the policies, tooling, and overall learning culture for adopting and integrating new technology responsibly.
Partner with our Volunteers Team and programs to determine what opportunities AI presents for recruiting and engaging volunteers on technical engagements.
Setting USDR’s long-term technology infrastructure direction.
Lead strategic decision making on technology policy, principles, and operations to deliver reliable, secure, and sustainable infrastructure.
Manage and partner with our Tools & Ops Lead to guide how we deliver, driving internal adoption of tools that streamline how we work across the organization.
Partner with Volunteers Team and programs to set the platform and infrastructure approach that we need to support our partners.
Build org-wide technical fluency through documentation, training, and clear standards, so teams can make sound day-to-day technology decisions on their own.
Owning and delivering on org-wide priorities as part of an Executive Team of doers, not advisors.
Lead and enable teams across the organization to deliver for our government partners by helping set the strategic direction of USDR and guide how that strategy is implemented.
Shape USDR’s long-term strategic direction around platforms and infrastructure, helping the organization assess emerging technologies, decide what to build, what to maintain, and where to invest for durable impact.
Play a key role in managing organizational change initiatives, ensuring they are implemented smoothly, with clear change management that builds alignment and trust with our incredible team.
Participate in fundraising and development conversations to provide technical credibility and a clear articulation of your take on USDR’s unique value.
Travel 1-2x/quarter for internal meetings and in support of fundraising.

Benefits

Competitive salary ($250,000 - $277,500 annual range).
Full health, dental and vision benefits (USDR pays 100% of employee costs and 80% for dependents).
401K with matching contribution (1:1 up to 3%, 0.5:1 on 3-5%).
Full paid parental leave for up to 4 months.
Equipment reimbursement for computer and peripherals (up to $2,000).
Work from Home allowance ($100/month).
Discretionary budget for work-related learning and development ($400/year).
Supportive community with a balance between hard work and self-care.
Fully remote work environment (for US-based employees).
Flexible schedules and time off policies.