If these Seattle-based tech companies have any say about it, the future is going to be a fun place. Sales reps will never have to perform a boring or repetitive task again; the camera will be humanity’s main communication tool; every television will be a smart screen; we’ll be able to forge any concept into reality using the material of our choice (even chocolate); and we’ll use more of our free time to get outside and engage with the world around us.
And their perks aren’t bad, either. Read on to find out which startup has one of the best parental leave policies we’ve seen, and which one offers unlimited free ski lift tickets worldwide.
Outreach uses advanced natural language processing and machine learning technology to automate away the more mundane elements of a sales rep’s work life, thereby boosting productivity and, ultimately, the bottom line. The company recently raised a whopping $114 million, propelling it into the rarefied realm of tech unicorns.
Headquarters: Lower Queen Anne
Favorite perks: Among the startup staples, Outreach employees can make the most of an unlimited PTO policy; company-wide volunteer days; and a parental leave program that includes extended time off, a paid night nurse, meal delivery, the Gottman Institute’s Bringing Home Baby course and a gradual return to work.
Our employees are empowered to take ownership, so we look for people who want to have significant impact and develop both personally and as a team.”
Tech toolbox: Outreach is a collection of React micro-apps on the front-end, communicating with the server through GraphQL. The back-end is primarily a Ruby on Rails API and several microservices connected with RabbitMQ, while data is stored via MySQL, ElasticSearch, Redis and Couch. The company’s service infrastructure is hosted on AWS and managed using Kubernetes.
Who they’re looking for: “At Outreach we are driven by a shared mission to drive growth and efficiency for our customers,” Recruiting Operations Lead Jennifer Pustazi said. “Our teams work collaboratively, and are committed to delivering a world-class experience for every customer, every time. As a company, we truly believe in our core values, and we live them out every day. Our employees are empowered to take ownership, so we look for people who want to have significant impact and develop both personally and as a team. We look for candidates who are self-driven and who embrace and embody our values and passions.”
Geocaching’s employees get to work on the world’s biggest treasure hunting game, managing a platform that leads users to some three million caches hidden by users in 191 countries. Users generally stuff those caches with fun, random little items along with a logbook to record visits. The company is one of Seattle’s most-loved tech companies, famous for being bootstrapped since it was founded in 2000.
Headquarters: Fremont
Favorite perks: Geocaching employees get a comprehensive benefits package; a free gear closet; paid time to find geocaches; a 401(k) match; travel opportunities to Geocaching events; and unlimited free snowboarding and skiing lift tickets anywhere in the world.
Ideal candidates are collaborative and effective, but also ready to roll up their sleeves.”
Tech toolbox: Geocaching’s developers work on small cross-functional teams powered by Node.js, .NET, Sql, ElasticSearch, Redis, RabbitMQ, WebApi, Html, JavaScript, CSS, MVC, React, React Native, Kotlin and Swift.
Who they’re looking for: “Ideal candidates are collaborative and effective, but also ready to roll up their sleeves,” Lifecycle Marketing Manager Audrey Kettler said. “We are on a mission to enable adventure and discovery at every location and we look for passionate, results-driven candidates to help get us there.”
After taking the world by storm with its signature product, Snapchat (maybe you’ve heard of it?), Snap Inc. has expanded into wearables, location-based platforms and works to expand the capabilities of camera technology. The company acquired Seattle-based consumer location data analytics startup Placed in 2017, and opened its engineering center near Pike Place in the same year — its largest outside of the company’s Los Angeles headquarters.
PNW headquarters: Pike Place Market
Favorite perks: Snap’s Seattle employees can make the most of the company’s 401(k) match, child care benefits, adoption assistance, unlimited vacation policy, paid volunteer time, commuter benefits, free daily meals and relocation assistance.
On the technical side, we look for strong experience in distributed systems and working at a massive scale.”
Tech toolbox: Snap’s Seattle engineers mostly work on Snapchat’s back-end, coding primarily in Java. The company also codes in Go on some projects, and utilizes Google Cloud Platform and AWS in its hybrid cloud operation. Snap uses Spring for back-end frameworks and React for the front-end, and runs Redis for the back-end of Snapchat Stories — in fact, the team claims to manage the largest Redis fleet in the world.
Who they’re looking for: “We look for a combination of skills and personality. Snap’s three core values are ‘smart, kind and creative,’ and in Seattle we often lead with ‘kind,’ Tech Recruiter Sara Fleischman said. “This is an especially important value for us as a team since our back-end engineers are building the foundation for experiences within Snapchat. It’s vital for our engineers to be well-rounded and thoughtful in their approach. On the technical side, we look for strong experience in distributed systems and working at a massive scale. With 190 million people using Snapchat to communicate with friends and family, the team is responsible for processing tens of billions of instances every day.”
Glowforge’s 3D printers come straight out of science fiction. While most consumer 3D printers build using minute layers of plastic, Glowforge’s device works more like a laser cutter, allowing users to print, cut and engrave a wide range of materials, from glass and hardwood to leather and chocolate. In addition to the printers themselves, the company also produces the software upon which users create designs and send them to be created.
Headquarters: SoDo
Favorite perks: Glowforge offers a daily catered lunch; floating holidays; paid vacation; allocated work-from-home time; quarterly morale-boosting events and bi-annual company-wide celebrations with families; anniversary vacation days; ORCA cards; a parking spot or bike locker; and stock ownership.
When searching for prospective hires, we are immediately attracted to a candidate’s passion, energy and, of course, their background.”
Tech toolbox: Glowforge engineers work with everything from computer vision and machine learning to embedded software and e-commerce. The company relies primarily on the Google Cloud Platform for hosting its Kubernetes-managed services. Its engineers code using Ruby on Rails, Node.js, Python, C++, React and a variety of storage backends.
Who they’re looking for: “When searching for prospective hires, we are immediately attracted to a candidate’s passion, energy and, of course, their background,” People Ops team member Miriam Shoemaker said. “We look for passion for our product, and for what Glowforge stands for as a whole. The cultural cornerstones of our company include hiring amazing and diverse people, who take care of each other and delight our customers. Our Glowfolx are diverse, intelligent, humble, passionate and respectful — we look for these traits collectively throughout the entire interview process when making a hiring decision.”
While the majority of its employees work out of VIZIO’s Southern California headquarters, the audio technology also has an engineering center just north of downtown. While the company works on a line of sound bars, smart TVs and smart speakers, VIZIO’s Seattle-based engineers primarily work on the company’s ScreenCast platform, which touches on mobile connectivity, voice activation and casting technology, among others.
PNW headquarters: Lower Queen Anne
Favorite perks: VIZIO’s Seattle team gets a 401(k) match, pet insurance and relocation assistance, and regularly attend Sounders and Mariners games together. They’re also involved with company softball and volleyball leagues.
We’re looking for people who are ready to jump into the team and give their best efforts.”
Tech toolbox: While working on the SmartCast product line, VIZIO’s Seattle engineers work with C#, C++, Java, Kotlin, Python, Swift and Node.js, along with BigTable and Cassandra databases.
Who they’re looking for: “We’re looking for people who are ready to jump into the team and give their best efforts,” Program Manager Seth Coker said. “Communication, teamwork and a good sense of instinct is what helps our team thrive and improve in our office.”
