Software Engineering Manager
This position is open to fully-remote candidates who can work from anywhere in the United States and Canada. Candidates also have the option to work from one of our office locations in Chicago or Toronto.
Who we are: Vivid Seats is the largest independent online ticket marketplace, sending tens of millions of fans to live events. We believe in the power of experiences and are fiercely dedicated to building products that inspire human connections. Named as one of Built In Chicago's top 10 places to work in 2021, we believe that our People are our greatest competitive advantage. To support our People, we have built a company culture that empowers our employees to embrace challenges, encourages unity through collaboration, and seeks to constantly evolve by leveraging data and inspiring innovation.
The Opportunity: As our Software Engineering Manager (Paid Search), you'll be responsible for the group developing the tools that we use to optimize our advertising processes, and consequently a large portion of our company's revenue. You will work with a highly skilled team to develop tools to manage and analyze advertising buys, coordinating with our marketing team to ensure that we are always ahead of the ever-changing demands of the industry.
This role is internal facing, so you'll be working directly with your users and stakeholders, giving you ample opportunity to understand their needs and receive fast feedback on the features your team builds. You will work directly with our VP of Performance Marketing & Technology and the Director of Engineering for our B2B Systems group to ensure paid search engineering initiatives are aligned to business objectives. This role will start with a small team and require you to be hands-on at first, but the expectation is that you will hire a full team over the months following your start date and shift into a more management-first workload.
How your role contributes to the success of Vivid Seats:
- Ensure that we are reaching the right customers at the right time to maximize our market share and revenue.
- Help us in our goal of building the VividSeats brand throughout the United States and Canada.
- Assemble and develop a team of skilled engineers capable of operating in and responding to the fast-paced world of advertising.
How your role expectations will progress as a Engineering Manager in the first 30, 90, and 180 days:
30 days in:
- Complete new hire orientation, gaining the resources you need to be successful
- Learn how ticket marketplaces operate and how you'll contribute to providing great experiences for our customers
- Understand your teams' contributions and the needs of stakeholders that rely on your deliverables to bring business objectives to life.
- Set weekly touch points with direct reports to understand their role, motivations, and needs, building trust and leading with empathy.
- Acclimate to team and company norms, business objectives, and Vivid Seats values
- Develop basic understanding of applications, tech stack, and development process.
90 days in:
- Coordinate with the recruiting team to build a pipeline of qualified candidates to help fill out your team.
- Start to build out a roadmap for functionality that needs to be built to support our strategic goals over the coming year.
- Develop and lead initiatives for your team that enhance process, drive innovation, and build on Vivid Seats values.
- Contribute to the paid search product as a developer and capable of responding to bugs and feature requests independently.
180 days in:
- Develop a deep knowledge of the systems you are responsible for managing.
- Onboard more engineers to your team and building career development plans for them.
- Own business-facing communications regarding your team's progress and accountability for your team's engineering KPIs.
- Lead the way in paid search by developing and executing on a thoughtful and flexible product roadmap.
What You'll Bring:
- A history of success as a software engineer and the ability to apply what you've learned in other roles to our domain.
- A knack for communication and a natural ability to relate concepts clearly and understand others' needs.
- An empathetic management style focused on direct feedback and employee development.
- The ability to balance the day-to-day needs of a rapidly changing business against a defined product roadmap and build an ambitious yet attainable plan.
- A good taste in desktop wallpapers so folks have cool things to look at during your many presentations.
Our Commitment:
We are an equal opportunity employer that values the critical importance of a diverse workforce and sense of belonging. Many of our roles have flexible requirements and we encourage you to apply regardless of whether you meet every qualification.
Vivid Seats provides competitive compensation; bonus incentives; FLEX PTO; mental health days; medical, dental, and vision insurance; 401K matching; monthly credits and discounts for attending live events; remote work and snack allowances; and a variety of additional workplace perks.