About U.S. Digital

U.S. Digital Response (USDR) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort that helps governments and organizations respond quickly and efficiently to support the critical needs of the public.

Leveraging a network of pro-bono technical expertise and modern, resilient technology, USDR addresses and uncovers solutions for common, systemic challenges that public servants are facing, leaving them better equipped to deliver services and support to millions of people nationwide.

We operate with humility and deep respect for our partners and believe that modern and resilient technology applied in the public interest can deliver people-centered services at the speed of need.

During our first year, USDR built a year’s worth of deep partnerships with over 180 government and nonprofit partners, strong expertise across more than 250 projects, real-world impact to 13 million people, and repeatable processes to solve some of the most pressing challenges of this pandemic year.

We are in a moment where money and resources are being pointed to areas where these assets can provide a ton of value to people across the country. For example, a recent survey of local governments showed that 50% of their existing COVID-19 relief funds went towards IT infrastructure illustrating how modernizing tech goes hand in hand with serving people. Additionally, the Cyber Security and Information Security Agency (CISA) and the General Services Administration will use $9B to launch new major IT and cybersecurity shared services.

We are looking for team members that will join the early conversations about what our organization can look like in our second year and help us define a strategy in this new world ripe for government digital transformation.

Learn more about our last year in our U.S. Digital Response 2020 Highlights or by reading our recent press coverage.

Position Overview

The Governments Team Lead position is an integral leadership role at U.S. Digital Response who will influence the experience of every government and nonprofit partner that the organization serves as well as run the team that responds to inbound requests for our assistance.

This person is the consummate player-coach: someone who walks in the door with experience in government or technology - ideally both - and can empathize and translate with people in both sectors at all levels from the executive level to front line staff. They will proactively look for opportunities for us to help more people, more impactfully, so we solve big (50-state and 10,000-city) problems; do the little and the big things to keep Governments Team running; stay curious and cultivate communities outside of USDR for us to learn from; strategize with other teams at USDR on how best to build and advise in the space; and assist in fundraising to support these efforts. They will oversee USDR’s government and nonprofit intake portfolio and support the Governments Team (composed of pro bono volunteers supported by full-time staff) in working directly with government partners to use technology to better deliver critical services to people across America.

For people new to working for a nonprofit, you might imagine that our work might feel too slow or removed when compared to the private or public sector—in our case, tackling a crisis and leveraging our rapid response model has enabled us to move incredibly fast and serve huge numbers of people. In just one year, USDR has taken on over 250+ projects with 150+ government agencies and NGOs and our tools have directly served more than 13 million people. We’ve also established specialized program teams focused on Elections, Health, and Unemployment Insurance.

This is an incredibly exciting moment to hold this role. We are in a unique time for governments in which there is more demand for high-quality digital services than ever before, and our partners come to us with an incredible diversity of needs, ranging from intake forms to make sure residents receive emergency rental assistance, to text outreach so that women-and-minority business owners get economic development support, to assistance planning for rural broadband expansion. We earn trust by supporting public servants at their most critical decision points through empathetic partnership, quick delivery, and “demos, not memos.” We believe that we can do more to not only understand what 50-state and 10,000-city problems are most pressing today, but also to proactively develop products and services to solve them. We are also actively building our strategy for scaling so we can continue to serve the diversity of partners who need us.

The ideal candidate is experienced with building partnerships with leaders across public and private sectors. They should also have experience building, mentoring, and supporting a team, and be skilled at synthesizing needs from a wide range of partners into concrete next steps. They do not need both government and technology experience, but should be passionate about serving the public, and recognize that in order to help governments and nonprofits deliver better services, they will need to take the time to deeply understand existing constraints and systems, and learn to work effectively within them.

In this role you will:

Represent USDR at meetings with high-level local, state, and federal partners.
Communicate our shared vision effectively both internally and externally, across our community of volunteers and partner ecosystem.
Present on USDR’s behalf at association meetings, funder events, and convenings.
Build relationships with key partner governments, nonprofits, and associations.
Interview, onboard, support, and mentor account managers, scopers, and project leads who make up Governments Team and who contribute to USDR projects and engagements, including volunteers on specific government partner projects, Technologists-in-Residence, and staff. (We typically have about a dozen members of the Governments Team engaged at once as well as dozens of project leads, and we have multiple Technologists-in-Residence on staff at the moment.)
Facilitate regular meetings for the Governments Team and "state of the field" knowledge shares for the entire organization
Work closely with the executive team to build empathy as the voice of our government and nonprofit partners within the organization and to develop and execute a philosophy and strategy for USDR’s overall approach to partnerships and growth.

We're looking for someone with:

Deep leadership experience in government, technology, and/or public interest technology.
5+ years of management experience and a commitment to building thriving individual team members and a successful, welcoming team culture.
Strong communication skills across a broad set of cross-functional stakeholders, including complex external partners (such as regulatory bodies, government entities, and large enterprise customers).
Experience with account management or public service at scale and the ability to rapidly triage requests, assess partner needs, and support a portfolio of partners at multiple levels of urgency and depth.
A knack for hearing amorphous needs, rapidly empathizing, and translating those needs into concrete next steps.
A commitment to doing the right thing, even when the right thing is hard to do.
Strong work ethic, keen problem-solving skills, and the ability to manage complex projects and multi-task.
Experience in building diverse networks, partnerships, and long-term collaborative working relationships, and someone who is comfortable thinking outside the box and finding creative solutions to reach end goals.
Comfort with a fast-paced environment and changing requirements.
Sound judgment, demonstrated ability in providing high integrity leadership, and capable of making smart decisions in the face of ambiguity and imperfect information.
Strong interest or experience in supporting equitable, effective access to public services using modern technology, design, and research practices.

Application Process

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and will continue until the position is filled. All applicants will hear back from us before the end of the process, and top applicants will be invited to meet with various members of our Executive Team and Team Leads.

The USDR Executive Team recently hosted an information session that is now available to watch to learn more about USDR, this role, and others.

What you’ll get:

A competitive salary, consistent with similar roles in other tech non-profits in the Bay Area where USDR is headquartered. The annual salary range for this role is $130,000-$160,000, depending on experience.
Full health, dental and vision benefits.
A budget for team-level learning and development
A supportive community where everyone can thrive and find a balance between working hard to make a difference and taking care of themselves in a difficult time. This means that we are committed to a fully remote work environment (for US-based employees) along with flexible schedules and time off policies that work with your life.

Equal Employment Opportunity

U.S. Digital Response is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer fully dedicated to achieving a diverse staff. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, and sexual orientation), disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We encourage and welcome all interested potential applicants, regardless of background or prior experience volunteering with U.S. Digital Response, to apply.