Engineering Director

About Pinecone

Pinecone is pioneering search and database technology to power AI/ML applications for the next decade and beyond. We provide customers with capabilities that until now have only been in the hands of a few tech giants. Our R&D team includes founders of multiple startups and world-class engineers including the core team that created Amazon SageMaker.

We value integrity, passion, pushing boundaries, real-world problem solving, and a sense of humor. We work in collaboration, and encourage new ideas and initiatives.

About the Team and Role:

If you’re excited about working at the intersection of UX and ML, and are a leader who loves technical challenges and mentoring talent, then this is your opportunity to join an early-stage, fast-growing, and well-funded startup to shape the course of an entire industry.

Pinecone is pioneering search and database technology that’s revolutionizing how developers build search systems. Our managed vector database provides customers with easy-to-use capabilities that until now have only been in the hands of a few tech giants. The demand for vector databases is growing incredibly fast, and it shows in our user base. We have a large audience of ML engineers, software engineers, data scientists, and technical architects who are eager to learn and build with our product.

Pinecone takes a product-led approach to growing our userbase. That means we put immense focus on creating a delightful, intuitive, and frictionless user experience — and our users notice. As the Director of the Experience Engineering team, you will be responsible for this critically important part of our product.

You will scale a team of front-end and full-stack engineers, oversee rapid prototyping, be a subject matter expert on front-end architecture, and own Pinecone’s UX (user console, metrics, dashboards, and API integrations) to solve impactful problems for our customers. You will partner closely with our Product, Applied Science, and Backend teams to support search applications seamlessly, and will report directly to the CTO.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the build of Pinecone’s UI/UX.

• Recruit world-class talent, and make sure they have the conditions to do their best work.

• Drive clarity to ship complex projects in high impact areas.

• Develop a multi-year vision & strategy with incremental deliverables.

• Establish high technical standards and processes.

Requirements:

• 5+ years building and managing technical teams.

• Driven by customer impact and value creation.

• Hands-on experience building highly scalable, data-intensive web applications.

• Bias to action and a desire to empower individuals on the team to perform at their best.

• Desire to be a hands-on leader who practices servant leadership.

Bonus points:

• Experience in scaling diverse teams.

• Proficiency in Rust, Go or Python; and familiarity with web servers and databases.

• Strong background in modern web frameworks (e.g., React, Next.js, Typescript).

Perks & Benefits:

• Comprehensive health coverage including Medical, Dental, Vision

• Free mental health therapy sessions; free One Medical, Tela-doc, and Health Advocate subscriptions

• Cost-savings on gynecology, fertility, and family-building care

• Equity award

• 401(k)

• Flexible time off

• Paid parental leave

• Annual Department Retreat

• WFH Equipment Stipend

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) are the cornerstone of everything we do at Pinecone. Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every one of the qualifications in a job description. Our top priority is finding the best candidate for the job and if you are interested in the position, we would encourage you to apply, even if you don’t believe you meet every one of the qualifications listed in this posting. All qualified applicants will receive considerations for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, veteran status, and any other legally protected status under federal, state, or local anti-discrimination laws.