Director of Engineering

ABOUT BUILDOUT

Buildout is the AI deal engine for CRE brokerages, automating every step from first contact to commission. While brokers focus on relationships and winning listings, Buildout handles the workflows behind the scenes, turning manual processes into intelligent, scalable systems. Trusted by over 50,000 brokers, Buildout powers more profitable deals from lead to close.buildout.com.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Buildout is hiring a Director of Engineering to lead the performance and execution of our engineering organization. You’ll manage a team of engineers and technical leads, creating the clarity, accountability, and support they need to do their best work. You will own the people and operating systems behind a healthy engineering organization, from coaching and performance management to staffing, planning, delivery, and cross-functional partnership. You’ll help the team thoughtfully adopt AI-assisted development practices that improve developer productivity, software quality, and delivery speed.

This role is an important partner to our SVP of Engineering. While the SVP of Engineering remains focused on technology strategy, architecture, and long-term direction, you will turn that direction into an effective, predictable, and high-performing engineering operation.

WHAT YOU'LL OWN

Engineering Leadership & Talent

• Lead the day-to-day performance and development of our engineering organization, making sure every engineer knows what good looks like, where they stand, and how they can grow.
• Manage and coach engineers and technical leads, giving them the context and support to make good decisions without needing you in the middle of every one.
• Recognize and grow strong performers, develop future technical leaders, and address performance concerns directly and early.
• Own engineering hiring and onboarding, building the talent and team structure we need to meet the needs of the business.

Delivery & Operational Excellence

• Create clear accountability for engineering delivery across teams, with enough structure to make execution predictable without slowing people down.
• Maintain a clear view of capacity, commitments, dependencies, and risk so problems surface early and leadership isn't surprised.
• Step into cross-team dependencies, competing priorities, and delivery challenges when teams need help getting unstuck.
• Use AI as a force multiplier for the engineering organization, setting clear expectations for adoption and turning what works into repeatable practices across coding, testing, documentation, automation, and the broader development lifecycle.
• Drive measurable improvements in developer productivity and team effectiveness while maintaining strong standards for software quality and responsible AI use.

Product & Business Partnership

• Serve as Product's primary partner for engineering execution, bringing a clear view of capacity, feasibility, risk, and tradeoffs into roadmap and prioritization decisions.
• Help turn product priorities into realistic engineering commitments—and make the tradeoffs clear when everything can't be a priority.
• Communicate risks early and honestly, bringing problems forward with enough context to make good decisions.
• Be a steady escalation point when delivery, staffing, or organizational issues cross team boundaries or don't have an obvious answer.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

First 30 Days:

LEARN THE ORGANIZATION

• Build trust with engineers, technical leads, Product, and executive stakeholders.
• Understand team structures, responsibilities, delivery processes, and technical ownership.
• Learn existing strengths, bottlenecks, and organizational pain points.
• Observe planning, delivery, and cross-functional interactions before making major changes.

ESTABLISH LEADERSHIP PRESENCE

• Begin regular one-on-ones with all direct reports.
• Understand individual career goals, concerns, and performance histories.
• Build credibility as a leader who listens, follows through, and removes obstacles.

First 90 Days:

BECOME THE PRIMARY OPERATIONAL LEADER

• Become the first point of escalation for delivery and personnel issues.
• Establish visibility into delivery risks, team health, and organizational capacity.
• Build strong working relationships with Product leadership.
• Create consistency in communication and expectations across teams.

IDENTIFY ORGANIZATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS

• Recommend targeted improvements to execution, planning, staffing, or team structure.
• Clarify ownership boundaries where necessary.
• Ensure technical leads are focused on technical leadership rather than people-management responsibilities.

First 6 Months:

IMPROVE ORGANIZATIONAL EXECUTION

• Delivery risks are identified and addressed proactively.
• Cross-team dependencies are managed effectively.
• Product views the Director as the primary engineering execution partner.
• Engineers receive consistent coaching, feedback, and career development.

REDUCE SVP OF ENGINEERING OPERATIONAL INVOLVEMENT

• Personnel issues are handled without SVP of Engineering intervention.
• Delivery escalations are routed through the Director.
• Team-level execution concerns are resolved without executive involvement.
• The SVP of Engineering is spending significantly less time on organizational and operational concerns.

First Year:

BUILD A HIGH-PERFORMING ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION

• Engineering delivery is predictable and transparent.
• Strong accountability exists across teams without excessive process.
• Performance management is consistent and effective.
• High performers are identified, developed, and retained.
• Underperformance is addressed quickly and professionally.

ENABLE THE SVP OF ENGINEERING ROLE

• The SVP of Engineering focuses primarily on technology strategy, architecture, executive leadership, and long-term planning.
• The Director serves as the trusted operational leader of the engineering organization.
• Engineering and Product leadership operate as effective partners.
• The organization scales successfully without increasing executive involvement in day-to-day operations.

WHAT MAKES A GREAT CANDIDATE

• You make expectations unmistakable. People rarely leave a conversation with you wondering what matters, who owns what, or what happens next. You create clarity without turning every problem into a new process.
• You make teams run better. You look for ways to make the team faster, more effective, and more consistent without adding unnecessary processes. You see AI as a force multiplier and know how to turn it from a tool into a meaningful part of how an engineering team builds, solves problems, and delivers.
• You coach before you rescue. Your instinct is not to take over when someone struggles. You ask the right questions, give direct feedback, and help people build the judgment to solve the next problem themselves.
• You can hold the line without hardening the room. You are comfortable addressing missed commitments, performance concerns, and difficult tradeoffs. You are direct without being careless and empathetic without avoiding accountability.
• You see around corners. You notice when a staffing gap, unclear ownership boundary, or unresolved dependency is likely to become a larger problem. You raise it early and help the right people act before it becomes an emergency.
• You translate between Product and Engineering. You can hear an ambitious product goal and identify the engineering choices beneath it. You help both sides understand capacity, risk, and tradeoffs.
• You likely also have:
  • Experience leading and developing engineers across multiple product teams
  • Experience with performance management, hiring, and career development.
  • Experience leading technical leads and senior engineers
  • Enough technical depth to understand engineering tradeoffs and earn the trust of experienced developers, without needing to be the primary architect.
  • Demonstrated success improving organizational effectiveness while maintaining a strong engineering culture.

Location: This is a fully remote role open across most of the US.

Compensation: The targeted compensation range for this position is $160,000 - $200,000 plus bonus.

Reporting To: Alan Spadoni, our SVP, Engineering

PERKS & BENEFITS

This program includes:

• Impactful insurance and benefit options, including 2 medical plans to choose from, 100% coverage of employee dental and vision insurance premiums, HSA seed, company-paid STD, LTD, life insurance, and telemedicine, and a wellness benefit of $400/year.
• Policies that support a healthy work/life harmony, including Flexible PTO, 14 paid company holidays, paid parental leave, and give back days
• 401(k) with 4% company match and immediate vesting
• A fully remote work culture with a monthly remote work reimbursement ($600/year) to support our distributed team and an annual, in-person company kickoff
• Challenging problems to solve with a committed and supportive team who are invested in your growth and development
• A wonderfully quirky culture where you’re encouraged to bring your whole self to work

Buildout is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, marital status, order of protection status, citizenship status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at accommodations@buildout.com and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information and we will consider your request.

Below, you will be asked to complete identity information for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). It is required by law that we ask these questions using the format provided by the EEOC. However, we want you to know that at Buildout, we understand that gender is not binary and welcome people of all identities.

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