Vice President, Engineering

Patch is the hyperlocal news and information platform for 15,000 U.S. communities, reaching 25 million monthly users and roughly 3 million active email subscribers. Our 85-person newsroom helps people understand what is happening where they live; our events, classifieds, business listings and advertising products help local organizations reach them. Patch spans a high-traffic website, iOS and Android apps, email, a custom CMS, custom digital products, payments, data and advertising systems. We’ve used AI to expand our platform nationwide, to offer new digital products for our customers and to improve workflow and capabilities for local journalists., We are looking for a hands-on Vice President of Engineering to lead software engineering, ad technology, Data and Site Quality. You will be Patch’s senior technology executive, report to the CEO, participate in executive-team and Board discussions, and own engineering delivery. You will work closely with the Head of Product and the leaders of Growth, Revenue and Editorial-translating company priorities into sound technical plans without running the Product function.

The opportunity is broad: advance the platform, modernize critical systems, raise engineering velocity and reliability, and help Patch use AI intelligently in both customer-facing products and internal workflows. This is a builder’s role, not a layer of management between the business and the technology.

What You Will Lead

• Engineering strategy and delivery. Set technical direction, make capacity and risk visible, and deliver against priorities agreed with the CEO and functional leaders.
• Architecture and operations. Guide modern and legacy systems across search, content delivery, publishing, performance, reliability, security and platform migration; lead when production incidents require senior judgment.
• AI-enabled development. Help engineers use AI to prototype and ship faster, establish a practical company technology vision for AI, and move the strongest ideas safely into production.
• The engineering organization. Hire, coach and manage a distributed team while raising standards for code, QA, automated testing, observability and release confidence.
• Data and technical stewardship. Lead data integrity, access and platform cost; oversee major technology vendors, infrastructure and a multi-million-dollar operating portfolio.

• Deep software-engineering experience, including strong JavaScript/TypeScript, React, Next.js and Node.js expertise.
• A record of leading engineering teams that partner well with a strong, separate Product function-and of personally prototyping, shipping and operating high-traffic digital products.
• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted engineering tools, rapid prototypes and agentic workflows, with the judgment to productionize them safely.
• Strong SQL and data skills; experience with AWS, distributed or event-driven architectures, and complex systems with meaningful legacy components.
• Demonstrated people leadership across hiring, coaching, performance and organizational decisions, plus executive-level communication with CEOs, Boards and cross-functional peers.
• A practical builder’s mindset: curious, direct, low-ego and willing to inspect the code, data or workflow before debating abstractions.

Technology Environment

JavaScript/TypeScript, React, Next.js, Node.js, Drupal/PHP, AWS, Heroku, Fastly, Pantheon, GCP/BigQuery/GA4, Stripe, Auth0/Okta, Typesense/OpenSearch, GitHub/Jira and AI development tools including Claude, Bolt, Replit and Google Stitch. You need not know every platform; depth, judgment and fast learning matter most.

Working at Patch

Patch is remote-first, with employees and contractors across countries and time zones. The role requires flexibility across that distributed team and availability for significant production incidents. We are looking for someone who connects with Patch’s mission and wants to help a strong engineering team expand what the company can build next.

$225,000 - $275,000 a year - Full-time, Pulled from the full job description

• Paid parental leave
• Parental leave
• 401(k)
• Health insurance
• Vision insurance
• Dental insurance
• Paid holidays, The annual base salary range for this position is $225,000 - $275,000 USD. The actual salary will be determined based on skills, experience and other job-related factors, consistent with applicable law. This position is also eligible for a performance-based discretionary bonus and equity., * Competitive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Ancillary benefits
• 401(k)
• Unlimited discretionary time off (DTO)
• 10 paid holidays a year
• Paid parental leave

Patch Media is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, sex, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Our commitment to equality extends to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, training, compensation, benefits, and general treatment.

Pay: $225,000.00 - $275,000.00 per year