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TrustedHousesitters

Posted 2 months ago

Open

Engineering Manager

Remote, United KingdomRemoteFull-time

AI Summary

Fully Remote (UK based) | Competitive Salary + Bonus + Generous Equity | B Corp Certified TrustedHousesitters is a fast growing, direct-to-consumer marketplace that is redefining pet care and travel.

About this role

Fully Remote (UK based) | Competitive Salary + Bonus + Generous Equity | B Corp Certified
TrustedHousesitters is a fast growing, direct-to-consumer marketplace that is redefining pet care and travel.
Here at TrustedHousesitters, we’re on a mission to make travel work better for pets, for their people, and for the global community of animal lovers who look after them. We’ve got big plans on becoming the world’s most-loved travel solution for pet people. We’ve built something pretty special: a trusted place where pet owners and sitters connect to keep pets happy at home while their humans explore the world.
We’ve already grown into a global community with members in over 140 countries, a product people genuinely love, and a team of more than 100 brilliant humans powering it all.
But we’re only just getting started. Our goal? To grow to 1 million members and make TrustedHousesitters the world’s most-loved travel solution for pet people.
At the moment, a sit starts every two minutes somewhere on the planet. We want that to be every single minute and we know the only way we’ll get there is with the right people in the right roles.
The right people in the right roles will shape our future. So, here’s the big question: Could that be you?

The Role: Outcome-Driven, Commercially Sharp, and Deeply Collaborative

You'll lead a cross-functional engineering squad aligned to our acquisition strategy - the part of the product that gets new visitors to the moment they're ready to subscribe. You'll line-manage a small team of engineers, partner closely with Product and Design, and report to the VP of Engineering. You'll also join our established Engineering Leadership team, collaborating with peers and leadership to help shape our engineering strategy and culture.
The challenge isn't just shipping features - it's knowing which ones are worth building. You'll be a genuine strategic peer to your PM, accountable for squad health across people, delivery, and technical direction.

What you'll be doing:

  • Lead and develop your squad: Own the personal development, performance, and day-to-day wellbeing of your engineers.

  • Co-own outcomes, not just output: Challenge roadmap assumptions, bring engineering context into product decisions, and share accountability for the metrics that matter.

  • Drive a test-and-learn culture: Ship lean experiments fast, validate assumptions early, and use metrics like DORA to diagnose what's slowing the squad down and keep delivery improving continuously.

  • Shape the technical direction: Guide feasibility across frontend, backend, and mobile - making sure the squad is solving the right problems the right way. Our stack spans React, React Native, NextJS, Python Django, and AWS.

  • Champion AI-augmented working: Lead by example on what it looks like to work well alongside tools like Copilot, Claude, and LLMs.
  • Who you are:

  • Two-plus years of genuine EM experience - you've owned PDPs, had performance conversations, and kept a team healthy without being told how.

  • Senior engineering background, still thinks architecturally. You don't need to write the code, but you can challenge it.

  • B2C background, ideally in acquisition or growth. You have opinions on what gets built and push back when the scope doesn't make sense.

  • You know when to run a lean experiment versus invest in foundations, and you can frame trade-offs in language that lands beyond engineering.
  • You might feel like a fish out of water if...

    We know this isn't what you'd see in most job ads - but TrustedHousesitters isn't most companies.
    Trust, transparency, and honest feedback aren't just things we say; they're genuinely how we operate, every day. So rather than leaving you guessing if things don't work out, we'd rather give you what you need to make a great decision upfront about whether this opportunity is right for you.
    With that in mind, here are a few things worth considering before you hit apply.
  • You're stepping into EM for the first time. We love ambition, but this squad needs someone who's already navigated the harder parts of people leadership - the performance conversations, the coaching, the moments where the team needs steadying. We'd rather set you up to succeed than put you in the deep end.

  • Your background is mostly frontend, B2B, or agency-side. Genuinely not a slight - those skills travel and we mean that. But this problem is rooted in consumer trust and the very specific psychology of convincing someone to hand over their house keys to a stranger they met on the internet.That context matters here in a way that takes time to build from scratch.

  • You thrive with a fixed roadmap and a clear playbook. We're a scale-up - things move fast and change often. We think that's exciting, but we also know it's not for everyone.
  • If you're reading this and one of those points resonates,and you're sitting here thinking "that's me, but I know I can make it work" - we'd love to hear why. Send a Cover letter. There's a human at the heart of every decision we make here (hi!) - and we'll always take the time to review applications for anyone who wants to join us.

    The Process:

    We value your time and aim for a transparent, efficient process:
  • Initial Talent Call - 20-minute introductory screening call with Mat (Talent Specialist)

  • Hiring Manager Interview: A one-hour conversation with Eilidh Hendry (VP of Engineering) - covering your experience, leadership approach, and what excites you about the role.

  • Product Conversation: A 45-minute discussion with a member of the product leadership team to explore how you think about product-engineering collaboration, roadmap co-ownership, and the member problem space.

  • Task & Presentation: A practical assessment involving a real-world scenario covering technical feasibility, delivery thinking, and people leadership situations - presented to Eilidh and the CTO.
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