Product Engineer

As a Product Engineer at Span, you'll be involved in crafting innovative solutions that enhance engineering productivity. This includes developing products that address common engineering challenges, such as understanding KTLO (Keeping The Lights On) work and reducing time spent on distracting tasks. Your role will also involve collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure the software tools cater to the needs of engineers, ultimately improving the overall efficiency of the organization.

To be considered for the Product Engineer position at Span, candidates should have experience as a founder, seed-stage engineering hire, or have successfully launched their own projects. An essential requirement is a strong product sense evidenced by past work, along with familiarity with large language models (LLMs) and agentic workflows. Ideal candidates will thrive in fast-paced, high agency environments where creativity and innovation are paramount.

At Span, we utilize a modern tech stack including TypeScript, NestJS, React, PostgreSQL, and Redis, alongside tools like Airbyte and Dagster. As a Product Engineer, you’ll be expected to use these technologies to build projects that not only simplify the engineering workflow but also implement automation to reduce the mental load on your team. Your insights will guide the direction of our product development to ensure that our tools effectively clarify engineering tasks.

A Product Engineer's projects at Span are diverse and impactful. You might work on a product that analyzes and recommends solutions for prevalent KTLO tasks or create a software catalog that engineers genuinely enjoy using. Your focus will be on alleviating distractions through AI-based solutions and improving engineering outcomes, making your role crucial in shaping the future of our internal tools.

At Span, the work culture is collaborative and empowering. We emphasize small teams that promote creative autonomy. As a Product Engineer, you’ll work in a high agency environment where your input is valued, and your ideas can flourish. You’ll collaborate with passionate peers and leaders backed by industry veterans, providing a unique opportunity to grow while collectively solving significant engineering challenges.

When asked about your experience with developing software products, be prepared to discuss specific projects you’ve worked on. Highlight your role, the technologies utilized, and the outcomes achieved. Emphasize your problem-solving skills and how your contributions led to product improvements or increased team efficiency.

In response to prioritizing features, explain your process, such as user feedback analysis, understanding market needs, and collaborating with team members. Discuss any frameworks you’ve employed, like the MoSCoW method or prioritization matrices, and share specific examples that demonstrate your reasoning behind prioritization.

Be honest about the challenges you’ve encountered but frame your responses positively. Discuss how you addressed and overcame these challenges, emphasizing your resilience and adaptability. Employers appreciate candidates who can handle difficulties while still contributing to team goals.

Discuss the methods you use to keep up-to-date with industry trends, such as attending conferences, participating in webinars, reading industry publications, or being part of professional online communities. Mention specific resources or influencers you follow that are relevant to product engineering.

Prepare to share a specific example of a feature you’ve innovated, detailing the problem it addressed, your thought process, and any data that supports its success. Explain the impact it had on user satisfaction or team efficiency and how you collaborated with others to implement it.

Explain the importance of collaboration in product engineering. Share examples of collaboration with cross-functional teams, including how you’ve integrated feedback from stakeholders into your development processes. Emphasize how teamwork enhances product quality and accelerates delivery.

Discuss your approach to managing tight deadlines, such as prioritization, effective planning, and communication with your team. Provide examples of how you've successfully met deadlines while maintaining product quality, illustrating your time management skills and ability to perform under pressure.

Share the strategies you implement for gathering user feedback, such as surveys, user interviews, or beta testing programs. Highlight an instance where user feedback directly influenced product development and improved user satisfaction, illustrating the value of listening to the audience.

In your response, outline your experience with AI technologies and how you have incorporated them into your previous projects. Provide specific examples of workflows that you've enhanced through AI, detailing the impact on efficiency or decision-making in engineering.

When answering this question, express your genuine enthusiasm for Span's vision and values. Discuss how your skills and experiences align with their mission to improve engineering productivity and how you aspire to contribute to the team's goals, emphasizing the collaborative culture you wish to be part of.