Seattleites are settling into the warm familiarity of the pewter-hued “June gloom” that hangs about the seaside city in the early days of summer. Despite its somber name, this June has been anything but gloomy for the Emerald City.
As tech professionals from around the country continue to seek desirable locales for remote work and in-office culture, Seattle’s dynamic markets have become a destination for wayfaring folks and stalwart locals alike. Seattleites might soon find the bustling markets to be exceptionally vibrant in coming months — a recent Axios study taps Seattle as America’s most appealing post-graduation destination for young tech professionals.
Fortunately for fresh grads and established professionals alike, Seattle tech is hiring.
From consumer web and artificial intelligence to gaming and reward solutions, Seattleite companies like Donuts, OctoML, Card Kingdom and Tango Card are turning up the heat on their hiring sprints and looking for aspiring Pacific Northwesterners to join their ranks. Learn more about these Seattle tech companies setting their sights on summer growth.
What they do: Donuts is a consumer web company that holds an expansive portfolio of top-level domains. Self-described as “the NOT dot.com,” Donuts hosts an online marketplace of distinct domain names that can elevate a company’s branding. Creative businesses can choose from top-level domains like “.careers,” “.support,” “.photography,” “.cafe,” “.pizza,” “.social,” “.world,” “.live,” “.travel” and “.charity.”
Shared success: One of Donuts’ many benefits is their inclusive bonus plan — Donuts employees of all levels enjoy the same generous plan. When Built In Seattle previously sat down Ben Levac, the Donuts VP of Product and Engineering said, “We always give the team a solid understanding of how their project is important to the success of the company. We offer a bonus plan and an equity plan based on company metrics — so all employees share in our financial successes.”
Diverse community: With equitable pay, a diverse management team, impressive stack of ERGs and bias training, Donuts has built a community that welcomes employees of all backgrounds — including Veterans. When Built In previously spoke with Senior Channel Operations Manager Sharon Romes, she told us about her experience as a Veteran working at Donuts: “Learning to be flexible, to always continue learning with an open mind and to recognize the importance of empathy in service are all things the military taught me. What I’m doing now is literally a world away from fixing the radar on a ship in Japan, but the skills I learned while enlisted are so applicable here at Donuts.”
What they do: OctoML is a machine learning company that aims to change how developers optimize and deploy their machine learning models. OctoML’s team is focused on making machine learning more efficient and accessible — using machine learning. The OctoML platform is equipped to help companies across a wide range of industries, from cloud providers to hardware platforms, launch complex machine learning models with ease.
Smart perks: OctoML employees enjoy comprehensive benefits like 100 percent medical coverage, generous PTO, fitness subsidies and mental health resources meant to help them bring their best selves to work. With their well-being fully supported, the OctoML team can take advantage of the swath of professional development resources available to them — including mentorship and diversity programs, customized development tracks and designated time for team and individual learning.
A bright future: In the final quarter of 2021 and hot off an $85 million Series C round, OctoML reported an impressive $132 million of funding to date. The company has its sights set on expanding its team, growing its platform capabilities and forming partnerships with adjacent cloud services providers. “Our ecosystem efforts are driven by our vision for the company, which is to make ML accessible to as many developers, anywhere and on any device — in order to drive an incredible diversity of innovation,” “OctoML CEO Luis Ceze said previously in a statement.
What they do: Card Kingdom is an online retailer that specializes in selling and buying individual cards from the game “Magic: The Gathering.” In addition to its e-commerce business, Card Kingdom owns and operates a game store and restaurant called “Mox Boarding House.” Card Kingdom aims to create a space to gather, share and foster deeper relationships with their customers.
Team players: Card Kingdom partners with nonprofits to provide outreach and support within their community. Some of Card Kingdom’s community partnerships include Gamers Engaged, MagiKids, Child’s Play and Young Women Empowered. Another perk of working at Card Kingdom? They host two annual charity tournaments with the organization Gamers Engaged.
Flexible work model: In addition to robust health benefits, generous family leave and a 401k with a 4% safe harbor match, Card Kingdom employees can enjoy the flexibility of a hybrid work model. Commuters can make use of Card Kingdom’s commuter benefit plan and enjoy the open floor plan office located in beautiful Seattle.
What they do: Tango Card serves as a partner for enterprise digital reward solutions. Tango Card uses easy-to-use technology, e-gift card and donation catalog, and support to deliver reward solutions designed to have an impact.
Just being humans: When Built In previously sat down with Tango Card, Engineering Director DJ Johnstone shared his experience with Tango Card’s welcoming culture: “When I moved to Seattle from Texas, I wanted to get to know the people that I was going to be working with. I chartered a fishing boat and asked if anyone wanted to join me for a day of fishing. Three engineers and David Leeds, our CEO, responded. I’m not used to a CEO being willing to jump at spending the day with a new hire. We had an exceptionally pleasant day fishing, just being humans. That willingness and openness showed me the culture that I was joining.”
Committed to growth: Previously, CFO Monica Williams spoke to Built In about Tango Card’s investment in professional development. She said, “Tango Card sponsors employees’ attendance at conferences to build deeper knowledge and expertise. We have piloted a program that provides one-on-one leadership coaching and 360-degree feedback. This has had a real and positive impact on a number of folks on our team. Recently, we have added Inclusology as a tool to assist our DEI committee as we build out our DEI metrics, goals and accountability systems.”
