Director, Engineering

We saw a problem within the life insurance industry: getting covered took too long, involved too much paperwork, and required too many in-person meetings with salesy agents. Having lost his father at a young age, our CEO, Jamie, was determined to make it easier for people to get the coverage they needed to provide for their families. So, we got to work. We developed a method of real-time underwriting and, in doing so, reduced the months-long process of applying for life insurance to minutes. Our digital experience is quick (instant decisions!), loved by users (check out our Trustpilot or Google reviews) and prolific ($34 billion+ in coverage provided)..

The Ladder engineering team is looking for a Director to come and join us to reimagine what life insurance can be. You will be responsible for leading a team of engineers working on full-stack features that directly impact the business by collaborating closely with other managers, designers, and product managers.

If you're interested in doing mission-driven work with smart, caring people, we’d love to hear from you.

• Lead a growing team of 10-15 engineers with 2-3 main ownership areas
• Be responsible for continuously improving the productivity of your team
• Remove roadblocks for your team and escalate when you need additional context or direction
• Promote a culture of feedback and transparent communication
• Establish measurable goals for your team's productivity and impact
• Mentor and lead other engineers and other managers
• Coordinate with other engineering managers and directors across the engineering org to help to drive standardization, establish best practices, simplify the architecture, remove barriers to shipping, and ultimately achieve your goals

• 12+ years of relevant work experience in software development
• 6+ years of people management experience
• Focused on end-user and creating customer-centric solutions
• Demonstrated ability to build a team, develop people, and influence cross-functional teams and senior management 
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science preferred; Master's degree preferred
• Startup experience, or fintech/insurtech experience a plus
• High level of proficiency in algorithms, data structures, and systems design

Check out our Key Values profile 

• Bottom-up leadership: teams are most successful when everybody shares their ideas, comfortable that they'll be seriously considered. engineers can and should provide product & business insights.
• Ship fast without breaking things: we've invested heavily in engineering tooling that provides guardrails without getting in your way. We believe in shipping MVPs & iterating quickly rather than waiting for perfection to ship.
• Invest in automation: automating repetitive tasks saves time and reduces errors. We're always on the lookout for manual workflows to automate away.
• Continuous improvement: we learn from our past wins & losses by conducting blameless retros.

While it's great if you're already familiar with some of these, we strongly believe that general technical proficiency is more important than knowledge of specific technologies. If the role sounds interesting, please apply even if you don't know any of these technologies! 

• Frontend: Clojurescript, React, GraphQL
• Backend: Clojure, JVM
• Infrastructure: Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes, Packer, Terraform, AWS
• Data: BigQuery, Tableau, BEAM

Whether you work in our beautiful office in Palo Alto or remotely, Ladder is highly collaborative and fun. To support you in your role, we offer fantastic perks and benefits that reflect our mission of care and support, including:

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage | We offer competitive healthcare, dental and vision plans for you and your family.
• Flexible paid time off | Take the time that you need to rest and recharge, including our week-long winter holiday closure. 
• Stock options | We offer competitive stock option packages to participate in the success of building Ladder, including an extended option exercise window of 7 years after two years with Ladder.
• A rewarding 401k match program | We'll match up to 4% of your contributions as you save for your retirement goals.
• Ladder Fit Program | Your health matters. That’s why Ladder provides reimbursement of up to $50 a month for wellness-related expenses.
• Commuter benefits | When you work from the office, you will receive pre-tax 
• benefits for your commute and free parking.
• A stocked, beautiful new office | Located in downtown Palo Alto, our office was specifically designed to accommodate all working styles. We've invested in technology to support our hybrid team, plus we provide office snacks and daily catered lunches so that team members can work well and have fun together.
• Paid parental leave | We think it's crucial that new parents have time to adjust to their new lives without worrying about work, so we provide all parents inclusive of birthing, adoption, or fostering ten weeks of paid baby bonding.
• Work-from-home flexibility and support | We recognize that everyone's homelife is different and support remote and hybrid work. Upon joining, we provide a one-time $500 remote office stipend for all team members and then a monthly $150 stipend to cover WFH costs such as the internet.
• Fun company-wide events | Whether we work locally or remotely, we genuinely enjoy spending time together. That’s why we plan fun virtual and in-person events to let loose and laugh.

Ladder is building a diverse team of talented and enthusiastic people. We are an equal opportunity workplace. At Ladder, differences are celebrated and supported to benefit our people, product, and community. Let us know why you're interested in this position and what unique contributions you can make to the Ladder team. We look forward to hearing from you.