The problem we’re solving

Canada has welcomed hundreds of thousands of refugees and newcomers fleeing conflict in recent years. Now, many are struggling to become independent. Canada needs a new system to help refugees reach independence in our country, quickly and at scale. It’s good for refugees, good for Canadians, and good for Canada. 

Haven focuses on what helps refugees become independent: language and community integration.

Language: Canada’s language system for refugees is breaking down. Federal funding cuts have led to what Languages Canada calls “the sharpest decline in the sector’s history.” Without sufficient English or French, refugees can’t become independent. 

Integration: Public sentiment toward refugees is getting worse. 60% of Canadians say newcomers don’t adopt Canadian values, and 43% believe most refugee claims are illegitimate (Environics). “Refugees should integrate” is easy to say but hard to do. Ever tried rebuilding your social and professional life, from zero, in a new country? Canada needs a scalable way to help refugees integrate.

That’s the problem we’re trying to solve. If that fires you up, keep reading.

What Haven is doing about it

Haven connects refugees in Canada who need help with Canadians who can help. We make this work scalable through our platform: app.findhaven.org. Our vision has three parts, all working toward refugee independence:

• Language: Haven becomes the best way for refugees to learn English (and soon, French).  
• Integration: Haven becomes the best way for refugees to meet Canadians, rebuilding their social and professional network. 
• For Canadians: Haven becomes the best way to help refugees in our country.

Launched in 2023, Haven now has over 15,000 users. We’ve proven product–market fit, particularly in language learning: refugees learn English through instruction (online classes with ESL teachers) and immersion (conversation practice with Canadians). Haven makes all this scalable by matching refugees with teachers and volunteers on our platform. 

What comes next

We’ve built something that works. Now it’s time to scale. Our goal is to reach every refugee in Canada who needs help, and we’re expanding our product team to make that possible.

This will be one of the most unique challenges of your career. Haven’s platform must serve tens of thousands of refugees from diverse communities, from Gaza to Ukraine to Sudan, while engaging Canadians across the country through a seamless, inspiring experience. We need to build a product that makes Canada stronger and helps families that have lost everything. 

The role and what you’ll be doing

We’re hiring a Senior Product Engineer to help deliver on Haven’s product vision. You’ll take the foundation we’ve built and make it even better. Check out our platform at app.findhaven.org.

Our current tech stack is: 

• Next.js
• Prisma, Mongo
• tRPC
• Tailwind
• Testing: Playwright, Jest

This role combines hands-on engineering (60-70%) with product (30-40%). You’ll spend most of your time building full-stack features, while also leading our product discovery, scoping, and prioritization. We are looking for someone who wants to both build and shape what gets built. You might be a full-stack engineer with strong product experience, or a product manager who loves to code. 

Your engineering responsibilities: 

• Build and maintain our React web app in collaboration with our engineering team. 
• Work closely with our Senior Backend Engineer, Senior Frontend Engineer, and Product Owner (Executive Director) to deliver features that improve Haven’s platform.
• Diagnose and fix bugs. Write automated tests for your code.
• Participate in backend and frontend code reviews, providing and receiving constructive feedback to improve code quality. 
• Contribute across the stack when needed and collaborate cross-functionally to improve the whole product.

Your product responsibilities: 

• Lead product discovery: Identify the most important problems to solve through research, analytics, and team feedback.
• Conduct user research (interviews, surveys, prototype testing) and use insights to drive discovery, scoping, and prioritization.
• Scope new features into clear, actionable specs: what the feature does, how it works, and how success is measured.
• Lead prioritization based on user impact, organizational goals, and engineering effort with input from the Product Owner and engineering team.
• Plan work: Work with fellow engineers to build tickets and support sprint planning.
• Track results: Measure outcomes, share learnings, and iterate based on data.

What we are looking for

5+ years of experience building and shipping full-stack applications in production environments.

Deep understanding of JavaScript and significant experience with frameworks such as React (preferred), Vue, or Angular. Strong HTML and CSS skills, with bonus points for experience in animations and Tailwind.

Strong product instincts: you know how to balance user needs, organizational goals, and technical feasibility to make smart decisions and prioritize effectively.

Experience leading the full feature lifecycle: discovery, scoping, implementation, release, and iteration based on results.

Analytical and data-informed: comfortable using tools like GA4 or PostHog and interpreting user feedback and metrics to guide product decisions.

Excellent communicator: clear and structured. You can fit into complex problem solving with our team, and you can comfortably speak with our refugee and Canadian users. 

Ability to work independently and take ownership in a small, fast-moving team.

Experience using AI tools for development or integrating AI-powered features into products.

You care about our vision: helping refugees in Canada become independent faster and building a stronger Canada. 

What we offer

Competitive compensation in line with experience. As a tech-for-good organization, we’re looking for people who value a balance between meaningful work and compensation. 

Remote work flexibility (Canada-wide, with preference for Montreal or Toronto).

Mission-driven, high-autonomy role at one of the fastest-growing tech-for-good orgs in Canada

An ambitious and fun working culture that combines a private sector, “get things done” mentality with a humanitarian mission.

Haven Time: Dedicated time every week to meet with and help refugees.

Flexible, generous vacation time. 

How to apply

Please email [email protected] with:

1. Your resume. No need for a cover letter. 
2. In your email, please add a brief explanation to make it easy for us to see how your experience fits each aspect that we’ve outlined in the “What we are looking for” section. 
3. Please include any relevant attachments such as your portfolio or GitHub links. 

Applications submitted through LinkedIn will not be considered. We’re reviewing applications sent by email as they come in.