VP Software Engineering

We are looking for a VP of Software Engineering to join our small, but growing team of high-performers. We’re after someone who approaches problems from first principles, honing in on underlying causes and diligently iterating towards the best solution. We believe that great products feature incredible experiences that customers never want to stop using.  

Founded in New Zealand in 2017, Timescapes is a visual progress tracking solution for complex construction projects – our mission is to simplify construction through shared visibility. Customers love Timescapes because it helps them stay on schedule, validate construction claims and communicate progress more effectively.

We’re a rapidly growing company, and are used by some of the largest construction firms across Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. We’re deliberate and thoughtful in everything that we do, and we emphasise awareness, care and quality in our approach to product development.

As our first dedicated VP of Software Engineering at Timescapes, you’ll be leading our software development efforts and managing our team of (currently 7) engineers. This will involve continuing to nurture our core product, while also developing potential new products. Key aspects of the role include:

• Engineering management: managing a group of talented engineers across the front end, back end and machine learning disciplines. This will also involve supporting the team with respect to career development, and hiring new roles as Timescapes expands into new regions.
• Delivery & execution: introducing more discipline to the way the team plans and executes work. Proactively identifying risks with respect to delivering the product roadmap and quarterly objectives. Getting on the tools if required to help unblock or accelerate the team. Building strong relationships with Product, Design and other functions within the business. 
• R&D guidance: a focus on ensuring our ML + data science efforts are both effective and scalable. Working with Product to frame up experimentation paths for higher-risk investments, and levelling up our ML infrastructure.
• Infosec: up we grow to a point where we can hire a dedicated infosec professional, this role would own key responsibilities around application security, network security, access controls, incident response and compliance (e.g. SOC2, GDPR, ISO etc.).

We are open to this role being located in Auckland, Melbourne or Vancouver.

We want curious, driven and enthusiastic people who are motivated by the prospect of building solutions that endure. The people who thrive at Timescapes are critical thinkers who are not afraid to embrace the unconventional. If the following resonates with you, we should definitely chat: 

• Value-oriented: we’re focussed on ensuring that Timescapes as a business gets genuine value from engineering investments. You’ll be someone who sees methodologies, best practices and patterns as useful tools, but you don’t blindly adopt them and never let them get in the way of great customer outcomes.   
• Obsessed with the “why”: you’re someone who cares about the details, and you take pride in sharing your rationale for every decision you make. You question things that don’t make sense, and you expect others to do the same.
• All about the editing: when it comes to great solutions, we don’t believe you generally nail it on the first attempt. You’re someone who’s not afraid to leave a lot of ideas on the cutting room floor, and you intuitively understand that the first release is just the beginning.
• Adaptable and creative: as a small company doing ambitious things, we don’t always have the right answer, and we know that what’s worked in the past may not work in the future, but we’re not deterred by the unknown, and we’re excited about trying new things and finding our way through. 
• Communication matters: in addition to communicating clearly and succinctly, you’re also a natural relationship-builder, and you’re equally comfortable on Slack/email, video calls and in person.

The following would be a bonus in this role:

• Startup / scale-up experience: you’ve experienced the chaos of startups, juggled lots of competing priorities and you’ve rebuilt unscalable processes.
• Team structure: you’ve been responsible for creating / driving the engineering structure within an organisation, especially as the company has grown from its earliest single-team form.

This is your chance to help build something meaningful - technology that genuinely makes construction better while working with people who care about doing great work.

We're at an exciting stage where your decisions will directly impact our trajectory as we scale globally.

We offer:

• Competitive compensation and equity package
• Health insurance
• 5% kiwisaver contribution
• EAP & wellbeing support