Head of Engineering

What You’ll Do

• Drive adoption of AI-powered development tools (AI-assisted coding, automated testing, code review, agentic systems) to multiply engineering velocity.
• Partner with Product and ML to embed AI into core product experiences — search, matching, personalization, and pricing.
• Foster a culture of experimentation; ensure frontier capabilities show up in shipped products, not slide decks.

• Lead a clear engineering vision aligned to our product, personalization, and marketplace strategy.
• Ensure architecture enables rapid iteration, scalability, and reliability at scale.
• Partner with the executive team to set strategic priorities through the lens of engineering capability.

• Set a clear performance bar. Run rigorous calibration. Act decisively on underperformance.
• Develop engineering managers and identify future leaders early; invest in succession planning.
• Own recruiting strategy to attract and retain top engineering talent.
• Create systems and rituals that drive velocity, collaboration, and accountability.

• Champion best practices: code quality, testing, CI/CD, observability, incident response, and architectural review.
• Ship fast, fix fast, raise the bar every sprint. Foundations earn their seat by enabling speed, not by slowing it down.
• Evolve our platform and infrastructure for scalable, reliable, performant experiences.
• Build clear career ladders and invest deeply in coaching, mentorship, and skill development across all levels.
• Sweats the details: you believe the gap between a good product and a great one lives in the transitions, the edge cases, and the moments most people skip. You protect that gap.

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to Product, Design, Data, and ML leaders.
• Bring technical feasibility and opportunity into every decision-making conversation.
• Bring genuine appreciation for craft, interaction quality, and the details that create user delight. Partner with Design not just as a feasibility check, but as a co-owner of the experience.

What You’ll Bring

• 8+ years leading engineering teams, including managing managers and scaling orgs of 40+ engineers in fast-paced, high-growth environments.
• Strong technical foundation: modern web technologies, iOS & Android apps, distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, data-intensive applications.
• AI-native track record: shipped AI-native products to production at consumer scale; drove measurable productivity gains from AI tooling — percent AI-assisted code, cycle time, defect rate — and can cite the numbers.
• Performance management track record: you’ve raised the bar, made hard calls, and can talk about what changed afterward.
• Marketplace or consumer product experience: built and scaled two-sided marketplaces or high-traffic consumer products where conversion, retention, and UX are critical.
• People-first leadership: built cultures where ICs thrive, grow, and retain — and you know retention without a bar is just tenure.
• Business-minded: connects engineering investment to business outcomes; makes smart tradeoffs between speed, quality, and scope.
• Deep design partnership experience: you’ve worked closely with design leaders to ship products where the quality of micro-interactions, motion, and detail were treated as non-negotiable, not nice-to-have.

Why Apartment List

• Lead engineering for a platform that helps millions of renters find homes.
• Profitable, no fundraising pressure — operating with the urgency of a company that needs to win the next 24 months.
• Competitive salary, bonus, and equity aligned to experience and market benchmarks.
• A culture of velocity, calibration, and continuous learning.

Here's the Pay Range:

• Zone 1: $300,000 - $350,000 TTC (including $255,000 - $297,000 base salary) + equity
• Zone 2: $278,000 - $323,000 TTC (including $236,000 - $275,000 base salary) + equity
• Zone 3: $255,000 - $297,000 TTC (including $217,000 - $252,000 base salary) + equity

• Competitive Compensation: Including annual salary, pre-IPO stock options, and other financial compensation (if applicable)
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage: 100% of premiums covered for you AND all of your dependents
• Unlimited Flexible Time Off: Unlimited FTO in addition to 12 company holidays per year, quarterly “recharge” days, and a week-long holiday break
• Home Office Reimbursement: To cover home office furniture and supplies, monthly home internet, and monthly cell phone (if applicable)
• Health & Wellness Reimbursement: To cover monthly gym membership or other qualifying expenses
• Parental Support: Generous parental and family leave, fertility benefits, and employer-sponsored stipends towards family forming services
• 401k Plan: To support you in your individual retirement goals
• Team Events: Frequent team-building events, fun team off-sites, and bi-annual company meetups
• Commitment to DEI: To prioritize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within our workplace and to stay true to our values and mission
• Mentorship and Training: To get you onboard quickly, learn new professional skills, and invest in your career development
• Impact and Visibility: To expose you to and provide the opportunity to work on highly strategic initiatives that will transform the business
• Encouragement and Empowerment: To explore and adopt new technologies and drive meaningful decisions and outcomes
• At Apartment List we believe that everyone deserves a home they love AND a career they love. We strive to build a diverse team that is a reflection of the people we serve; this is made possible through our commitment to fostering a culture of diversity, inclusion, equity, and connectedness.