Engineering Manager
About Rent the Runway:
Recently named #9 on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list for 2018, Rent the Runway is transforming the $2.4 trillion global fashion industry by introducing clothing rental as a utility for women. We have pioneered the closet in the cloud and believe that every person globally will soon have a subscription to fashion. Since our launch in late 2009, the company has raised more than $210 million from top-tier investors and built one of the most beloved brands on earth. We are proud to be both a profitable and high-growth business, with a loyal 9 million members who believe that rental is the future.
Our 1200+ employees have a revolutionary spirit that permeates our culture. We’ve built proprietary technology, a one-of-a-kind reverse logistics operation, stores of the future, a viral brand, relationships with hundreds of fashion brands - and we are obsessed with continuing to game change our customer experience.
We are also trying to revolutionize entrepreneurship itself - proving that diverse teams produce outsized impact. The Rent the Runway Foundation, which our two co-founders launched together in 2015, helps thousands of female entrepreneurs build and scale their own businesses with the mission of increasing the number of high growth women-led companies.
About this Role
As an Engineering Manager at Rent the Runway, you will be responsible for leading and guiding the most important part of our engineering organization - our people. Our passion is to deliver experiences that make our users fall in love with us again and again, and this means nurturing our culture of collaboration, communication, and coordination between and within teams.
Behind the scenes at Rent the Runway, we not only have the user-facing website that is the public face of our company, but everything from the platform and reservation systems that power it, to a huge reverse logistics operation that operates from multiple fulfillment centers and retail stores across the country. With over 8 million users, our own physical inventory in hand, thousands of user interactions every day, and much more, our engineering team is the backbone of every single scaling challenge you can think of - and some you might not.
We practice continuous integration & test-driven development, engage in constant peer code reviews & pair programming, and work hard to give back to the software community through open-source contributions.
Prior to taking on engineering management, you likely were a senior individual contributor with a comprehensive understanding of complex systems that you were a vital part of developing & launching over the years. You have the perspective to help other engineers prioritize their tasks, shape their career decisions, and face tricky challenges.
Responsibilities:
- Drive technical projects to success and provide leadership in a fast-paced startup environment
- Conduct regular check-ins and 1-1s with team members
- Think critically about the long-term career development of team members
- Lead a team of diverse and talented software engineers (front end, back end and/or full stack)
- Communicate across cross-functional teams such as Product, Analytics, Marketing, Creative, and Design
- Contribute technically to projects by being a hands-on coder as necessary and removing roadblocks
- Lead prioritization efforts and provide mentorship to others
- Deeply care about the happiness of others
You should have:
- BA/BS in Computer Science, related degree, or equivalent practical experience
- Extensive professional experience in software development, working on robust, complex systems that serve a high volume of users
- Hands-on technical leadership and/or people management experience
- A strong appreciation for engineering best practices and quality over quantity of work
- A passion for bringing great products into our world through collaboration and ingenuity
- A knack for effective and clear communication in all circumstances
Major bonus points:
- Experience with distributed (multi-tiered) systems, Java microservices, algorithms, and relational/NoSQL databases
- Experience in modern frameworks and design patterns (MVC, REST, React, Redux)
- Experience with distributed system performance analysis and optimization
- Ability to understand, diagnose, and effectively articulate technical challenges and solutions
- Ability to handle ambiguous problems and make the tradeoffs without compromising quality