Director of Engineering at Descript

We are building the next-generation platform to empower creators with the tools they need to produce high-quality audio and video content, faster and more easily than ever before. Using cutting-edge AI, we’re reimagining how people record, transcribe, edit, and mix spoken audio and video. This vision comes with unique challenges and requires solving complex technical problems at scale.

To achieve our ambitious goals and serve our rapidly growing customer base, we are accelerating the growth of our engineering team. We’re seeking a Director of Engineering to lead, inspire, and grow with our expanding company. You will oversee a team of ~15 engineers and TLMs, with opportunities to scale and develop the team as the company grows. This role reports directly to the VP of Engineering.

What You’ll Do

• Roadmap Development: Collaborate with the team’s technical lead and product manager to develop a comprehensive roadmap, ensuring predictable, reliable, and sustainable execution of projects.
• Strategic thinking: Aligns technical and product strategies with long-term business objectives while proactively anticipating challenges and devising effective solutions.
• Team Development: Recruit, grow, and coach engineers, providing regular feedback and creating opportunities for professional and personal development.
• Organizational Scaling: Shape the broader engineering organization’s operating model by driving best practices in technical execution, recruiting, onboarding, planning, and prioritization processes.
• Cultural Development: Help scale and strengthen the company culture as we grow, promoting collaboration, inclusivity, and excellence.

What You Bring

• Leadership Experience: Has 6+ years of engineering management experience, leading teams of Software Engineers, including managing managers, and track record of shipping high quality products
• Technical Expertise: Experience building web applications (ideally with React/Typescript) and/or native desktop apps, showcasing a strong understanding of modern development practices and frameworks.
• Effective Communicator: Communicates clearly and effectively, both in writing and verbally, while collaborating seamlessly with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Team Builder: Excels at creating collaborative, supportive, empowering, and high-performing team environments — ones where engineers do their best work.
• Empathetic Feedback: Provides and receives direct, empathetic feedback to drive continuous improvement.
• Adaptable and Resilient: Thrives in fast-paced, rapidly changing environments, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and drive results.
• Educational Background: Holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or related field, or has equivalent professional experience.

Nice to haves:

• Startup Experience: Managed engineering teams at a startup before where the rate of change is high
• Creative Tools Expertise: Experience with building or contributing to creative tools.

About Descript

Descript is building a simple, intuitive, fully-powered editing tool for video and audio — an editing tool built for the age of AI. We are a team of 150 — with a proven CEO and the backing of some of the world's greatest investors (OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital). 

Descript is the special company that's in possession of both product market fit and the raw materials (passionate user community, great product, large market) for growth, but is still early enough that each new employee has a measurable influence on the direction of the company.

Benefits include a generous healthcare package, catered lunches, and flexible vacation time. Our headquarters are located in the Mission District of San Francisco, CA. We're looking to hire people who are local and able to join us at the office when needed. We're flexible, and you're an adult—we don't expect or mandate that you're in the office every day. But we do believe there are valuable and serendipitous moments of discovery and collaboration that come from working together in person. 

Descript is an equal opportunity workplace—we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. We believe in actively building a team rich in diverse backgrounds, experiences, and opinions to better allow our employees, products, and community to thrive.