Challenge accepted: 6 Seattle tech companies on the verge of something big

by Quinten Dol
March 5, 2019

Seattle’s tech hiring boom continues apace, with startups large and small hoovering up talent like a vacuum on crunched-up cornflakes. Whether you’re a designer or an engineer, marketer or sales guru, startup hero or a big business type, these six handpicked startups are looking for talented employees to join their ranks right now.

 

pioneer square labs seattle team
photo via pioneer square labs

Pioneer Square Labs works with entrepreneurs to develop business ideas, and has spun out 13 startups since it launched in 2015. The company is backed by 12 VC funds, including local names like Vulcan Capital, Madrona Venture Group, Bezos Expeditions and more.

Headquarters: Pioneer Square, funnily enough

Favorite perks: Among PSL’s favorite perks are the 100 percent coverage for health, vision and dental; self-managed PTO policy; fully stocked kitchen; ORCA card or parking allowance; Friday lunch and learns where the company brings experts in from the wider tech community to speak about their passions; and Monday morning “Sally Up” squat challenges.

 

I love when a candidate has a pet project that they've been building.”

Tech toolbox: Pioneer Square Labs’ engineers work with a wide variety of technologies, but their favorites include Python, React, Postgres, JavaScript, Spark and Airflow.

Who they’re looking for: “I love when a candidate has a pet project that they've been building — the stranger, the better,” co-founder Ben Gilbert said. “It shows passion, a sense of tinkering, and a desire to build.”

 

qualtrics seattle tech company team outside
photo via qualtrics

Qualtrics’ suite of experience data platforms helps businesses collect and respond to data from across a variety of facets — employees, customers, product and brand. The company was acquired last year by German software giant SAP, but retains its own branding and dual headquarters in Seattle and Provo, Utah.

Headquarters: SoDo

Favorite perks: In addition to fully-paid health insurance and a swath of newly updated parental leave benefits, Qualtrics has a few unique perks. Employees who have been with the company longer than a year get an annual $1,500 to “fund a dream” — something they would not otherwise try on their own. The money has been used for everything from Disney World trips to volunteering missions in the Philippines. Qualtrics’ Seattle employees enjoy their office’s spacious rooftop setting overlooking Puget Sound.

 

Our structure allows employees to have an extremely high level of ownership — even in more junior positions.”

Tech toolbox: Qualtrics looks for full-stack engineers, with different teams looking for more or less experience in different areas. For example, the company’s API team looks for experience in Kafka, but the customer experience team (working on an experience product) doesn’t necessarily need the same expertise.

Who they’re looking for: “We are moving so quickly and developing new features and new products so rapidly that it is essential for engineers to have the ability to learn new frameworks and stacks, and pivot roles on a regular basis,” Technical Recruiter Christian Page said. “We look for candidates who demonstrate a mastery of technical fundamentals, who operate using industry best practices and who are experienced working in a fast-paced Agile environment. Our structure allows employees to have an extremely high level of ownership (even in more junior positions) and every employee will have the opportunity to work on impactful projects and solve interesting and challenging problems.”

 

accolade seattle tech company team photo
photo via accolade

Accolade builds its software platform to be a single access point for users to see all of their personalized health and benefits information, and combines the knowledge of industry veterans with technology to help users make informed health-related decisions. Founded in Philadelphia in 2007, Accolade has since opened a second HQ in Seattle.

Headquarters: Downtown Seattle

Favorite perks: Accolade employees love that their company walks the walk on work-life balance, providing strong maternity and paternity leave policies. They also enjoy paid volunteer days, as well as a remote work program, company equity and commuter benefits.

 

The work is worth it when you’re helping people get through some of the most challenging parts of life.”

Tech toolbox: Accolade is building a service-oriented platform that integrates partner data to power highly scalable applications that help members make better healthcare decisions. To that end, they use Java, JavaScript, Python SQL, React, Redux, Node.js, Spark and TensorFlow.

Who they’re looking for: “We look for people who want to seriously change healthcare and support our members,” Senior Director of Product Management Ben Hackett said. “We seek to provide everyone in the United States with a health assistant to help navigate through the complicated healthcare system, and to provide people and their families with clinical support. It’s a big goal with significant barriers — but the work is worth it when you’re helping people get through some of the most challenging parts of life.”

 

upbound seattle tech team meeting
photo via upbound

As large businesses begin to run services across multiple public and private clouds, the level of complexity can become too much for in-house tech teams to handle. Upbound steps in to help businesses run, scale and optimize their services across several different cloud providers at the same time, and last year received a $9 million investment led by GV, formerly known as Google Ventures.

Headquarters: Pioneer Square

Favorite perks: Upbound employees love their catered lunches on Wednesdays, free drinks and snacks, unlimited PTO, travel/parking allowance, wellness benefit and a state-of-the-art espresso machine.

 

We look for people who are... driven by a desire to do their best work in an environment where they can thrive.”

Tech toolbox: Upbound codes in Golang on the backend and uses JavaScript and React on the front end. They are also extending their use of Kubernetes.

Who they’re looking for: “We look for people who are not only interested in developing an exciting new space, but are also passionate, inquisitive and driven by a desire to do their best work in an environment where they can thrive,” said CEO Bassam Tabbara.

 

pro.com outside seattle downtown street team
photo via pro.com

Pro.com functions as a tech-enabled general contractor, using software to guide users through the entire home improvement process from digital quotes to virtual walkthroughs of the finished product. The startup recently raised a $33 million Series B, and plans to push its services across the country over the coming year.

Headquarters: Belltown

Favorite perks: Pro.com is headquartered right around the corner from the Spheres and one of the first Amazon Go cashierless stores in the country — and right above the famous Dimitrou’s Jazz Alley club. Not only does Pro.com enjoy listening to the rehearsals going on downstairs, but they often receive discounted or even free tickets for shows. There’s also weekly lunches and access to a fully-stocked kitchen.

 

Our mission is to improve lives by improving homes, and with that goal comes a relentless customer focus.”

Tech toolbox: Pro.com is technically a construction company, so while they like to use hammers, power drills, reciprocating saws, their software engineering team tends to stick with React, JavaScript (along with some TypeScript), Ruby on Rails, Swift, React Native and Java. They heavily invest in AWS for their infrastructure, including Elastic Container Service, RDS, Lambda, Redshift and more.

Who they’re looking for: “At Pro, we’re a company of builders, and whether that’s working hard to deliver world-class software products or delivering world-class construction projects, we’re seeking a range of experiences and capabilities to join our team,” said Product Manager Collin Carrihill, Senior UX Designer Dave Holmberg, and Principal of Customer Experience and Design Chip Rogers. “But one thing we all share is a deep commitment to a great customer experience. Our mission is to improve lives by improving homes, and with that goal comes a relentless customer focus. We look for people who are similarly driven to improve the lives of everyone involved in the construction industry — from the person who owns the home to the person who swings a hammer.”

 

polly seattle survey tech company team
photo via polly

The nuts and bolts of white collar work increasingly takes place on digital communication platforms like Slack which, while fantastic for dispersed (and GIF-happy) teams, can pose challenges for keeping track of everything. Through a series of integrated and customizable surveys, Polly helps businesses identify and address those pain points.

Headquarters: Pioneer Square

Favorite perks: Polly employees enjoy unlimited PTO, as well as top medical, dental and vision benefits. Other favorite benefits include paid holidays, a casual dress code, team lunches, commuter benefits and company equity.

 

We take a lot of pride in building an inclusive and diverse team full of bright, talented minds.”

Tech toolbox: Polly’s tech team works with JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Twitter Bootstrap, Express, Meteor, Node.js, MongoDB, Jira, Confluence, Intercom and Pipedrive.

Who they’re looking for: “As a small but mighty startup that’s rapidly growing, we look for team members that are excited about the opportunity to grow with the company and to make an impact on not only our users, but each other as well,” CEO Samir Diwan told Built In Seattle. “Business acumen and technical capability aside, we place a higher value on hiring someone that embodies our culture and believes in our mission of building a more productive future. We take a lot of pride in building an inclusive and diverse team full of bright, talented minds that is empowered to take ownership and initiative, show intense mutual respect for one another, and emulate genuine empathy in everything they do.”

 

Jobs from companies in this blog

Seattle startup guides

LOCAL GUIDE
Best Companies to Work for in Seattle
LOCAL GUIDE
Coolest Tech Offices in Seattle
LOCAL GUIDE
Best Benefits at Seattle Tech Companies
LOCAL GUIDE
Women in Seattle Tech