What we’re looking for in a VP of Engineering

We’re looking to hire a VP or Engineering at Hiver. This would fill a very critical gap in our company. While we have a great product and we manage to release functionality at a very good speed, we are at a point where we need world class engineering leadership that can help us build the right framework and structures to continue to grow fast.

Here is what our VP of Engineering would be responsible for:

• Enhancing and supporting a popular, fast growing SAAS product
• Building an energetic, impactful and happy engineering team
• Working closely with product, sales and customer success teams to make sure we build right and build fast.

We are looking for a well defined set of 5 attributes in the person who joins us. They are the following:

Engineering skills

While we don’t expect this person to code or architect in the VP of Engineering role, it is important that this person should have been an excellent programmer and architect in the past. This is required because this person would have to participate in conversations on these subjects, provide intelligent feedback, make decisions and do conflict resolution around these.

Attention to Quality

This person should have a keen eye for quality in everything that they deal with. This would range from the quality of engineering, to the quality of UX, the quality of product, and the quality of people they hire. We understand that in the real world, you sometimes have to take short cuts. But we believe that the only people who don’t fall down the slippery slope of low quality are people who have high quality standards.

Ability to resolve ambiguities

This person would be constantly faced with situations where there is no clear answer, and no right direction to take based on the data that is available. Instead of getting into analysis paralysis in a scenario where there is hardly any data to analyse, this person should be able to find a way to zero in on a direction, get the team around, iterate, and get on the right path by experimentation.

Ability to build consensus

Building consensus can be easy when there is adequate data, but as earlier mentioned, this person would be functioning constantly in areas where there is meagre data. This person would have to resolve those situations and get their team and the company management into agreement so that they can move forward. This person should be able to present convincing, well articulated arguments about their opinions and convictions (needless to say, they should have some of those)

Communication

This person should be able to communicate clearly and with brevity. They should know when to expand on a subject, and when to deliver the message in the most concise manner possible. They should be able to convey complex ideas clearly and lucidly through speaking and writing.

Want to join us or have someone you want to refer to us? Please write to me at niraj@hiverhq.com.