Director - Software Engineering
ABOUT GUIDEBOOK
Guidebook is a simple yet powerful event management software that lets you promote your event, manage registration, and create an app in four easy steps with no technical skills required.
Thousands of organizations across the globe use Guidebook to create mobile applications for events, university campus open houses, venue guides, onboarding for associations, corporate training, and so much more. These apps help people stay organized, connect with their peers, and access more information - but it doesn’t stop there.
Our mission is to support the people who bring people together - event organizers. Events have never felt more important in building connections and helping shape and change minds in today’s fractured world. We are a driven team on a mission to elevate event experiences for everyone – and believe we can accomplish that while highly valuing balance, togetherness, and fun!
ABOUT THE JOB
As the Director of Software Engineering at Guidebook, you will be the engineering leader for our team of 10-12 engineers, reporting directly to our President and serving as a key partner to our product leader. This is a role for a 'player-coach' who is excited to get their hands dirty, drive a high-performance culture, and have an outsized, tangible impact on the business. You will be eager and ready to make key strategic and architectural decisions.
We are looking for a leader who is motivated by the opportunity to increase team velocity and deliver customer value. You will have the autonomy to make key decisions, and do what is needed to get results, and be expected to bring your perspective to challenge us and make the company better. You’ll be responsible for the output of the engineering team, championing a 'progress over perfection' mindset to quickly deliver prototypes and iterate based on customer feedback. This is a pivotal role in our company's transformation, and you'll be at the forefront of adopting AI tools and modern engineering practices to accelerate our growth.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Lead and Mentor: Manage the engineering team with a focus on performance and output. Mentor engineers, foster a culture of ownership and accountability, and guide the team through technical challenges.
Drive Velocity: Implement and refine processes to increase engineering velocity and throughput. Champion the adoption of AI-assisted development tools and other modern technologies to boost efficiency.
Player-Coach: Remain hands-on with the codebase (ReactJS, Python) to guide architectural decisions and lead by example, dedicating approximately 10-20% of your time to direct contribution as needed.
Business Impact: Partner with the product leader and President to align engineering efforts with business goals. Shape strategy and clearly articulate the business impact of your team's work, tying it to metrics like NRR, NPS, and customer adoption.
Data-Driven Decisions: Use metrics like cycle time, uptime, and delivery ratios to identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, not blame.
Cross-functional Partnership: Work in lockstep with product management and design. You will build technical and product roadmaps together, ensuring both teams are in sync - and you will make important architectural decisions and recommendations. Together you will work to influence key business outcomes.
WITHIN 30 DAYS, YOU’LL
Understand and Build Trust: Establish rapport and credibility with the engineering team, product managers, and designers.
Assess and Diagnose: Evaluate the current team structure, processes, technical debt, and delivery metrics, presenting an initial diagnostic report to the President.
Deliver a Quick Win: Identify and implement at least one technical or process improvement that demonstrates a 'progress over perfection' mindset.
Get Hands-On: Begin contributing to the codebase to model the player-coach approach and gain a deep understanding of our technology.
WITHIN 60 DAYS, YOU’LL
Implement Improvements: Roll out process changes that measurably improve velocity, predictability, or our say-do ratio.
Pilot New Tools: Launch a pilot of AI-assisted development tools with the team, tracking adoption and productivity outcomes.
Strengthen Partnerships: Improve collaboration between engineering, product, and design, resulting in smoother sprint planning and faster decision-making.
Deliver Customer Value: Ship a meaningful feature or release that is tied to our business impact metrics (NRR, NPS, etc.).
WITHIN 90 DAYS, YOU’LL
Drive Measurable Impact: Demonstrate clear improvements in engineering KPIs (e.g., reduced cycle time, improved uptime).
Link Output to Business Metrics: Present a clear connection between engineering output and improvements in our key business metrics.
Scale AI Adoption: Drive the adoption of AI-assisted development across the team, with all engineers regularly using valuable tools. Encourage experimentation and innovation time.
Shape the Future: Formalize a 6-12 month engineering roadmap in partnership with product, balancing technical debt, innovation, and customer needs.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
5+ years experience as a senior/staff software engineer
History of leading technical projects, mentoring junior engineers, and being a go-to technical leader on a team.
Experience in teams responsible for KPIs like cycle time, uptime, and/or delivery ratios.
Ability to articulate how engineering work directly impacts business metrics.
Experience working in a cross-functional team environment.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Fluency in ReactJS and Python.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Experience managing a team of 8-12 engineers.
A natural change agent who is not a defender of the status quo.
Experience being a strong partner to product managers and designers.
Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code).
Resilient and optimistic, with the ability to see ambiguity as an opportunity and motivate a team through uncertainty.
PERKS
100% paid benefits: medical, dental, and vision.
Short term and long term disability.
Unlimited vacation time.
401k program with matching benefits.
Stock options.
A company culture built on balance, community, and shared success.
MacBook and accessories for comfortable remote work.
Awesome annual retreats (the next one is in Atlanta, Georgia - November 2025).
COMPENSATION:
A competitive salary of $160,000-200,000, depending on relevant experience.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:
At Guidebook, we're committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for everyone – and we know that's best achieved, in part, with a diverse workforce. We're working on increasing diversity across the company. If you're looking to join a team that is smart, highly motivated, and also values work/life balance, we can't wait to hear how you can add to our growing culture!
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.
Ready to shape the future of mobile applications? Join Guidebook and be part of a company culture that values innovation, collaboration, and individual growth. Apply now and make an impact!
About the job
Apply for this position
Director - Software Engineering
ABOUT GUIDEBOOK
Guidebook is a simple yet powerful event management software that lets you promote your event, manage registration, and create an app in four easy steps with no technical skills required.
Thousands of organizations across the globe use Guidebook to create mobile applications for events, university campus open houses, venue guides, onboarding for associations, corporate training, and so much more. These apps help people stay organized, connect with their peers, and access more information - but it doesn’t stop there.
Our mission is to support the people who bring people together - event organizers. Events have never felt more important in building connections and helping shape and change minds in today’s fractured world. We are a driven team on a mission to elevate event experiences for everyone – and believe we can accomplish that while highly valuing balance, togetherness, and fun!
ABOUT THE JOB
As the Director of Software Engineering at Guidebook, you will be the engineering leader for our team of 10-12 engineers, reporting directly to our President and serving as a key partner to our product leader. This is a role for a 'player-coach' who is excited to get their hands dirty, drive a high-performance culture, and have an outsized, tangible impact on the business. You will be eager and ready to make key strategic and architectural decisions.
We are looking for a leader who is motivated by the opportunity to increase team velocity and deliver customer value. You will have the autonomy to make key decisions, and do what is needed to get results, and be expected to bring your perspective to challenge us and make the company better. You’ll be responsible for the output of the engineering team, championing a 'progress over perfection' mindset to quickly deliver prototypes and iterate based on customer feedback. This is a pivotal role in our company's transformation, and you'll be at the forefront of adopting AI tools and modern engineering practices to accelerate our growth.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Lead and Mentor: Manage the engineering team with a focus on performance and output. Mentor engineers, foster a culture of ownership and accountability, and guide the team through technical challenges.
Drive Velocity: Implement and refine processes to increase engineering velocity and throughput. Champion the adoption of AI-assisted development tools and other modern technologies to boost efficiency.
Player-Coach: Remain hands-on with the codebase (ReactJS, Python) to guide architectural decisions and lead by example, dedicating approximately 10-20% of your time to direct contribution as needed.
Business Impact: Partner with the product leader and President to align engineering efforts with business goals. Shape strategy and clearly articulate the business impact of your team's work, tying it to metrics like NRR, NPS, and customer adoption.
Data-Driven Decisions: Use metrics like cycle time, uptime, and delivery ratios to identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, not blame.
Cross-functional Partnership: Work in lockstep with product management and design. You will build technical and product roadmaps together, ensuring both teams are in sync - and you will make important architectural decisions and recommendations. Together you will work to influence key business outcomes.
WITHIN 30 DAYS, YOU’LL
Understand and Build Trust: Establish rapport and credibility with the engineering team, product managers, and designers.
Assess and Diagnose: Evaluate the current team structure, processes, technical debt, and delivery metrics, presenting an initial diagnostic report to the President.
Deliver a Quick Win: Identify and implement at least one technical or process improvement that demonstrates a 'progress over perfection' mindset.
Get Hands-On: Begin contributing to the codebase to model the player-coach approach and gain a deep understanding of our technology.
WITHIN 60 DAYS, YOU’LL
Implement Improvements: Roll out process changes that measurably improve velocity, predictability, or our say-do ratio.
Pilot New Tools: Launch a pilot of AI-assisted development tools with the team, tracking adoption and productivity outcomes.
Strengthen Partnerships: Improve collaboration between engineering, product, and design, resulting in smoother sprint planning and faster decision-making.
Deliver Customer Value: Ship a meaningful feature or release that is tied to our business impact metrics (NRR, NPS, etc.).
WITHIN 90 DAYS, YOU’LL
Drive Measurable Impact: Demonstrate clear improvements in engineering KPIs (e.g., reduced cycle time, improved uptime).
Link Output to Business Metrics: Present a clear connection between engineering output and improvements in our key business metrics.
Scale AI Adoption: Drive the adoption of AI-assisted development across the team, with all engineers regularly using valuable tools. Encourage experimentation and innovation time.
Shape the Future: Formalize a 6-12 month engineering roadmap in partnership with product, balancing technical debt, innovation, and customer needs.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
5+ years experience as a senior/staff software engineer
History of leading technical projects, mentoring junior engineers, and being a go-to technical leader on a team.
Experience in teams responsible for KPIs like cycle time, uptime, and/or delivery ratios.
Ability to articulate how engineering work directly impacts business metrics.
Experience working in a cross-functional team environment.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Fluency in ReactJS and Python.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Experience managing a team of 8-12 engineers.
A natural change agent who is not a defender of the status quo.
Experience being a strong partner to product managers and designers.
Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code).
Resilient and optimistic, with the ability to see ambiguity as an opportunity and motivate a team through uncertainty.
PERKS
100% paid benefits: medical, dental, and vision.
Short term and long term disability.
Unlimited vacation time.
401k program with matching benefits.
Stock options.
A company culture built on balance, community, and shared success.
MacBook and accessories for comfortable remote work.
Awesome annual retreats (the next one is in Atlanta, Georgia - November 2025).
COMPENSATION:
A competitive salary of $160,000-200,000, depending on relevant experience.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER:
At Guidebook, we're committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for everyone – and we know that's best achieved, in part, with a diverse workforce. We're working on increasing diversity across the company. If you're looking to join a team that is smart, highly motivated, and also values work/life balance, we can't wait to hear how you can add to our growing culture!
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.
Ready to shape the future of mobile applications? Join Guidebook and be part of a company culture that values innovation, collaboration, and individual growth. Apply now and make an impact!