Conventional wisdom states that the holidays are a bad time to look for a new job because companies prefer to do their hiring right after the new year begins.
Conventional wisdom isn’t always right.
Companies that are really growing don’t stop hiring just because people have started thinking about Thanksgiving. Instead, they kick recruiting into overdrive to ensure that the right people are in place to start Q1. Take, for example, the following 11 companies. Continue reading to learn more about what these business do, the recent news they’ve made and some of the roles and teams they’re recruiting for.
What they do: Running an advertising campaign requires a lot of strategic work, and Viant has created technology to make the process that much easier. With Adelphic, its cloud-based platform, advertisers can automate the planning, buying and measurement of their campaigns.
No doubts about Docker: The tech industry has been buzzing about Docker for the past few years, but as it turns out, Viant’s tech team has been bullish on the containerization tool since before it was cool. Glenn Bailey, director of site reliability engineering, recently spoke with Built In about the advantages the tool offers Viant’s tech team.
“Docker is 100 percent ingrained into our current tech stack and has been for a couple of years now,” Bailey told Built In. “Our favorite thing about Docker is the removal of dependency management across our deployments. With Docker, the only thing needed on the instance or server is Docker. Then the artifact is a Docker container, which for us has greatly simplified the lifecycle of a deployment.”
Taking it to the street: Wall Street investors were able to get a piece of Viant after the company went public in early 2021. Investor demand was strong according to various media reports, with Viant’s IPO generating $250 million off of 10 million shares. The company was valued at $2.5 billion when it hit the market, according to Reuters and outlets.
What they do: Sure is an insurtech company thats technology enables insurance companies to launch new digital offerings. Sure’s cloud-based platform offers turnkey solutions for issuing policies, customer support, claims and more.
Practicing what they preach: Sure has committed itself to being a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace and has a diversity manifesto, documented equal pay policy and offers unconscious bias training. Jico Baligod, VP of engineering, spoke with Built In this past summer about how he practices inclusive leadership and shared how the company works to eliminate affinity bias in its hiring.
“We mitigate this bias by focusing on skills as objectively as possible, on culture ‘add’ instead of ‘fit,’ and on their alignment with our company values,” Baligod told Built In. “We also have several team members meet with the candidate and then discuss hiring decisions as a group.”
All-in on insurance: Sure offers its employees more than 20 customizable insurance plans, including 13 different dental plan options and 17 different types of health insurance coverage. Along with the traditional benefits, all employees receive a free subscription to the meditation and sleep app Calm.
What they do: Golden Hippo works with doctors and industry experts to create new consumer brands and products in the health, beauty and pet care sectors. The company’s products include pet food, skincare solutions, vitamins and supplements.
First day, first week: Golden Hippo takes onboarding seriously. The company has laid out a complete process that gets new hires up and running and makes them feel welcomed. Bridget Acosta, senior talent acquisition and development coordinator, said this involves pairing all new employees with a buddy who regularly meets with new hires to help them acclimate to the team, along with a thorough orientation program.
“Once they have completed their new employee paperwork, then they begin learning about the company and our systems and processes through their online orientation,” Acosta said. “Leaders from each department at Golden Hippo speak to everyone about what their team works on, which gives new employees a great glimpse of who they’ll be working with and a deeper understanding of how Golden Hippo runs as a whole.”
Marketers needed: Golden Hippo currently has 11 open marketing roles, which include positions in social media, copywriting and media buying. These roles also span from entry-level positions to like associate copywriter to leadership roles such as brand director, health and wellness.
What they do: Route is an e-commerce company thats app enables users to track all of their online purchases in one place. Along with providing a bird’s eye view of shipping statuses, users can also do their online shopping on the app from brands curated by the company.
NBA official: The NBA’s Utah Jazz announced a partnership with Route earlier this year. Fans who download the Route app can receive 10 percent off of purchases made at the physical team store. Morgan Evans, VP of retail operations for the Jazz, said in a team statement that Route’s “cutting-edge technology gives our guests peace of mind in this new age of e-commerce and has already made a positive impact in our customer service efforts.”
Engineering jobs aplenty: Route currently has 20 engineering team openings on Built In LA. Open roles include senior Android software engineer, senior full-stack engineer and engineering leader. Its data team is currently seeking a senior data engineer, machine learning engineer and a data engineer.
What they do: Ranker is a content site that gives readers the power to shape its content by voting, or ranking, the items in an article. Along with content, Ranker recently released Watchworthy, a TV recommendation app that pulls recommendations from more than 200 streaming services.
Top-ranked team: Ranker came in at number five on Fast Company’s 2021 list of the 10 Most Innovative Companies in Data Science. The company was honored for Watchworthy, its streaming TV recommendation app.
“Born of Ranker’s voting platform and fueled by Ranker Insights, our TV recommendation app Watchworthy pushes the envelope on what our first-party data can accomplish, further proving the tenacity of the streaming wars and the competitive innovation of our dream-team data scientists,” CEO Clark Benson said in a statement.
Lead or join that top-ranked team: Ranker is currently hiring for a head of data science, a leadership role that involves building the company’s existing products and building new tools. Along with a new leader, the company is also looking for a senior analyst/analytics manager and data scientist.
What they do: Community has built a text messaging-based platform that enables brands, business owners, celebrities, and more to communicate directly with customers and fans. The platform features targeting functions that enable users to send more personalized messages to certain segments of their audience, whether it’s new parents, people living near a major city or skateboarders who really dig sneakers.
Salesforce’s co-sign: Community landed $40 million in funding this past spring, which came courtesy of Salesforce Ventures. In a press release, Sarah Franklin, president and CMO of Salesforce, praised the company for its ability to foster community around brands.
“Community lives at the intersection of trust, technology and culture, and is a powerful example of how organizations of any size can foster human connection to build meaningful relationships and drive growth,” Franklin said.
Work from wherever: Community currently has 22 open roles on Built In LA, including a handful of director roles. While the company is headquartered in Santa Monica, all of its openings are available to remote workers.
What they do: Who What Wear is in the business of fashion. The company operates fashion news sites in the United States and the United Kingdom focused on trends and celebrity styles and also runs its own clothing and accessories line.
Marketing leader wanted: Who What Wear is currently hiring for a VP of marketing who can lead brand strategy, revenue growth, retention and PR for its new e-commerce brand, the Who What Wear Collection. Who What Wear is seeking candidates who understand both the importance of return on ad spend and storytelling, along with people who are up to the challenge of setting the strategy and vision for a newly launched consumer brand.
Speaking of that new brand: The Who What Wear Collection, which launched over summer, was created by the company’s fashion editors and, according to a blog post, is designed to be high quality, trend-forward and intentionally priced. The collection contains fabrics that are locally made, plant-derived and organic, too. Current offerings from the collection include boots, dresses and cardigans.
What they do: Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are behind Hello Bello, an e-commerce and consumer goods company that sells all-natural and plant-based baby products. Hello Bello’s offerings include plant-based baby wipes, organic baby powder and hypoallergenic diapers.
Office perks: Hello Bello’s office is located in Pacific Palisades — steps from the beach — and features a fully stocked kitchen, a bar and a room full of products for employees. While working remote, employees have access to an equipment stipend that makes it easier to upgrade their home office setup.
Experienced wanted: Hello Bello has four open roles on Built In LA right now, all of which are for senior positions. The product team has an opening for two senior e-commerce product managers while the marketing team is hiring two lifecycle marketing managers.
What they do: Businesses use EZ Texting’s SMS marketing platform to run promotional campaigns, conduct customer service and for internal communication. According to the company, since launching in 2004, more than 4 billion messages have been sent on its platform, with some of those coming from the likes of Ikea, Crunch Fitness and The Container Store.
Employee-sourced values: EZ Texting has five core values: ready to roll, the real deal, texting is a team sport, taking care of business and in focus. In a recent Built In story on the company’s culture, Rob Thrasher, accounts manager, detailed the inclusive process that led to the creation of these five core values.
“Last year we all met in smaller focus groups to decide what our core values were going to be moving forward,” Thrasher told Built In. “It was the employees who decided these core values, not just the senior leadership team.”
Sold on Spotify: Wojciech Szela, director of engineering, detailed the setup of his teams in a May 2021 interview with Built In, one which is modeled after the streaming music giant Spotify.
“Our teams are organized in the so-called ‘Spotify model,’” Szela told Built In. “Each team owns a specific part of the product and the system, is given a wide range of autonomy, and drives their own goals. Working in such a way requires a high level of collaboration, diversity of thought and mutual support.”
What they do: VectorUSA is an IT service provider thats offerings include cloud migration, voice and video networks, and cybersecurity solutions. The company works across a wide variety of industries, from shipping ports to school districts and healthcare providers.
Creating a more inclusive workplace: In an interview with Built In earlier this year, Gloria Gonzalez, HR manager, detailed how the company takes a “lead by example” approach when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion.
“Showing genuine interest in people’s values, beliefs and backgrounds,” Gonzalez told Built In. “Being active and intentional in your efforts to promote DEI. Individuals will have a sense of belonging even with simple conversations that make people feel engaged. As an individual contributor, you can promote DEI leading by example.”
School safety: VectorUSA and the Long Beach Unified School District recently launched a pilot program to test electronic locks at four schools. According to a company blog post, the locks enable schools to lock down in seconds in the event of a threat and are controlled by an online system that enables staff to lock and unlock individual doors remotely.
What they do: TeleSign is a mobile identity solutions provider thats tech is designed to keep companies and their customers safe. In addition to two-factor authentication and its account scoring solutions, which are designed to discern whether new users are up to no good, TeleSign also offers a messaging API that allows companies to communicate with customers at scale.
Paid to do good: Time off to volunteer is a common tech industry perk, but TeleSign goes above and beyond in enabling employees to give back. The company offers a whopping 40 hours of paid volunteer time per year to give back to their favorite causes.
Huge hire: TeleSign welcomed new CEO Joseph Burton earlier this year. Burton has previously held C-level positions at Cisco and Plantronics, now known as Poly, including CTO, CEO and chief commercial officer. Guillaume Boutin, CEO of Proximus and chairman of the board at TeleSign, detailed why the board chose Burton to lead the company in a statement.
“His leadership, transformation experience working with enterprise organizations and his expertise in software and hardware product development, make him an outstanding choice to lead TeleSign’s growth and continued success for our customers, partners and employees,” Boutin said.
