Ivy Rivero has secured 20-plus roles for HouseCanary as a talent sourcer for the real estate tech company, a notable figure considering that she didn’t start her career there on the recruiting team.
But thanks to her proactive efforts — like on-the-job shadowing — and the support of her team, she was to transition to a talent acquisition capacity with the company.
According to Rivero, her pivot is not an uncommon tale at the firm.
“I’m not the only one with a story like this. We’ve had other other employees express interest in making a switch in their career, and they’ve been able to do so successfully,” she said.
Rivero’s story of tackling something new calls to mind many of the development-centric experiences of team members of a handful of local tech companies. For one strategic account development manager, undertaking new projects has meant architecting a new sales team. For a facilities operations manager, that’s entailed transitioning their company retreat to a virtual format.
From a major food ordering platform to real estate tech disruptors and more, here are eight companies currently looking to bolster their teams.
For Senior Manager of Strategic Account Development Christine Ross, building a new sales team was just one of the professional opportunities she’s tackled this year for the San Francisco-located food delivery platform, which raised approximately $400 million in Series H funding announced in June.
Describing the company culture: Engaged. Every single person here is a true expert in what they do, is highly optimistic about seeing success and has a plan to see it through. Employees have passion and energy toward their work at all times and everyone is encouraged to operate this way, regardless of level. This year, I’ve been thrilled with my next career opportunity: growing out a new sales team, which has meant hiring about ten people, while also building out the new processes and playbooks we'll need to scale.
The team members I’ve hired are all trying to ramp into new roles, but every single one of them has raised their hand to take on multiple projects building our playbook and have created resources to onboard new hires. While they hold aggressive sales goals, they are always looking to put best practices on paper and ensure that those who come after them will have a better onboarding experience than they have. They have brought ideas to the table that I never would have thought of and have created great ways to help the newest teammates onboard and ramp quickly.
Employees have passion and energy toward their work at all times.”
Coolest recent project & professional growth experienced: In May, I was given the opportunity to lead the first sales hires and build the sales process for our new DoorDash Storefront product. While I was already tasked with building a different sales team, I was excited to take this on, as it is an awesome solution for restaurants to own their own online ordering channel and connect with their customers. This project has given me insight into the DoorDash Drive side of the business, an organization that works completely differently and focuses on different goals than the teams I have been on so far. Having insight into two main lines of the business has helped me become a better coach and teacher for my sales reps, as I can help them see the big picture of how each product they sell will help restaurants grow sales and how their sales will impact multiple areas of our business.
A team member for more than three years, Director of Product Security Shamiq Islam’s time at the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency platform has been marked by growth that’s even included a brief stint as acting chief information security officer (CISO).
Describing the company culture: Mission-driven. Security is one of the major reasons why our customers trust us and our product and engineering teams understand that. I’ve lost track of the number of times our internal partners have come to us asking, “How can I do this safely?” rather than, “How can I get around the security requirements here?” We’re aiming for the same goal.
Career growth has been a stated priority for management, and I’m glad to report that the actions support the words.”
Time with company & professional growth experience: In my more than three years here, I’ve watched the company grow from about 130 people to nearly 10-times that number. I was hired as an application security engineer primarily to drive secure software engineering; I spent my first few months doing exactly that.
Around November 2017, I was asked to lead the AppSec team. Since then, my team has grown from two people to 25 people, and our scope has expanded to include all of product security. I’ve had a blast, first learning how to handle the transition to management and continuing to grow in scope as a manager. From the end of June 2020 through late August 2020, I was also given the opportunity to serve as our acting CISO. That brief period was a huge step up in responsibility from my day job and gave me broad visibility into how the rest of security is functioning, as well as how security fits into the overall operations of the company.
It was also very satisfying to have expressed an interest in growing toward a CISO role and being given an opportunity to do exactly that. The experience helped me identify improvement opportunities in my knowledge and skills that I otherwise would never have found.
Coinbase is the first environment where, as soon as I was ready for a new opportunity, one presented itself to me. Each step was rewarding success with additional scope and responsibilities. Career growth has been a stated priority for management, and I’m glad to report that the actions support the words.
Marketing Manager of Gaming Products Tracie explained that adaptability is a key part of the “dynamic” culture of the the Fremont-based gaming equipment and software company.
Describing the company culture: Dynamic. We are constantly changing with the world around us — especially in the gaming and tech industry, where the latest gadgets release weekly. We are able to adapt very quickly and smoothly to these constant changes, especially when launching so many gaming products each year.
We are constantly changing with the world around us.”
Coolest recent project & professional growth experienced: This year, we launched a unique product called iCUE NEXUS, a companion touchscreen for your keyboard. This was a brand-new product line for Corsair, which required creative thinking from myself and the team on how to share this product with the world. Product marketing is more than getting the right taglines and messaging — it also requires a compelling story that helps pique interest and hooks you in to learn more. I’m happy to be part of that creative process.
According to HR Business Partner Taylor Newman, a culture of empathy is at the core of this San Francisco-located organization, whose platform facilitates digital mortgage closings. “Every decision we make has a 360-evaluation process to truly understand the impact internally and to our customers,” Newman said.
Describing the company culture: Empathetic. “Be empathetic” is one of our operating principles. It’s very present in our day-to-day operations. Every decision we make has a 360-evaluation process to truly understand the impact internally and to our customers. We care about our footprint, which leads to a thorough approach in decision-making.
Recently, in our effort to create a more inclusive workplace, the people team partnered with elected employee resource group (ERG) leads to create a safe space for underrepresented groups and allies. We empathize with the ERG leads and recognize that being a founding leader of an ERG is a lot of work in addition to their day-to-day; therefore, the role of an ERG is a paid position. This has shown Snapdocs’ commitment to DEI and the positive impact the program will have here.
We care about our footprint, which leads to a thorough approach in decision-making.”
Coolest recent project & professional growth experienced: I recently worked on a companywide career path through leveling matrices for each role here. This project is complex and has a large impact on employee experience. We want every team member to know that Snapdocs and their manager is invested in their future and display opportunities for them to grow.
This project also sets the foundations for performance management and compensation increases. Working on this project broadened my experience of building all three programs, career pathing, performance management and compensation reviews into one cohesive developed people team process.
First joining the San Francisco health and wellness e-commerce company’s marketing efforts, Srishti Jain moved to the product team — a transition that the product manager said her manager and mentors helped facilitate.
Describing the company culture: Autonomous. Hims & hers has a culture of trusting each team member to get their job done well and in their own way. My team is a great example of this: Each product manager owns their own vertical and is given liberty to grow their product in their own way — but, we also collaborate on a daily basis and learn from each other’s wins.
My time here has been incredible for my professional growth.”
Length of time with company & professional growth experienced: I’ve been here for a little over two years. My time here has been incredible for my professional growth. I started on the marketing team and through encouragement and guidance from my manager and mentors throughout the company, I made the switch to the product team. I feel like so many people in the company are invested in my success. No one hesitates to teach me about their roles or walk me through a new project.
At this San Francisco-helmed health tech company — which aims to reverse type 2 diabetes — core values like “people first” steer the company, said Cheryl Derricotte, whose recent notable projects as senior manager of facilities operations and places included organizing the team’s recent virtual team retreat. “I was honored to receive the task of making a great virtual event for the team,” she said.
Describing the company culture: Friendly. Virtans, as we call ourselves, are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. “People first” tops the list of our company’s core values, and it’s expressed in a culture of friendliness towards our patients and each other.
‘People first’ tops the list of our company’s core values.”
Coolest recent project & professional growth experienced: My role at Virta is to make all of our places reflect our corporate brand and inspire the team to do great work while also being warm and welcoming. I recently worked on our 2020 Virtual Team Retreat. In past years, the team would go off-site for a weekend together. Having only worked at the company since December, I never went to one of these in-person retreats, but I was honored to receive the task of making a great virtual event for the team.
Sales Engineer Anmol Thiara said that he had “little-to-no sales experience” when he interned with the Sunnyvale-based software company, which leverages tech like AI to help companies manage functions including sales, marketing and customer success endeavors. Now? He’s logged two years with the company, having successfully parlayed his internship to a full-time role.
Describing the company culture: Remarkable. Each September, Clari has a companywide offsite where we go “glamping” for one night off the Pacific Coast in California. Teammates fly in from all over the world, and it’s a chance to interact with those who are remote for the majority of the year.
After a full day of hiking, hanging out at the beach and being in the presence of one another, we come together for a bonfire at the campground. During the bonfire, it’s a company tradition to have a talent show. It’s an opportunity to see the remarkable talents across different people, cultures and backgrounds. It’s a time to unplug from work and our busy lives to embrace the present and recharge as an organization. The two-day event exemplifies how remarkable our team and culture here are and that we all strive to better ourselves and each other in the most remarkable way.
After being here for two years, the professional growth I’ve seen within myself far exceeds anything that I could have imagined.”
Time with company & professional growth experienced: After being here for two years, the professional growth I’ve seen within myself far exceeds anything that I could have imagined. When I first started at Clari, I came on as a sales engineering intern with little-to-no sales experience. In three months of being an intern, I went from an individual who didn’t know anything about revenue operations to joining Clari full-time as an associate sales engineer. My role is to help other revenue operation organizations streamline their revenue process to become more connected, efficient and predictable, which seems unbelievable given when I first started. Reminiscing over the last two years, never would I have imagined myself where I am today and that’s all because of Clari.
At this San Francisco-located real estate tech company — which uses data to provide home valuations — it’s all about the team, Rivero said. “If we don’t have the right people working together, the mission simply just doesn’t work.”
Describing the company culture: Teamwork. It’s one of our company values. Our goal is to optimize for “we” instead of just “me” and always keep collaboration top of mind. We can have the best products or the best technology, but if we don’t have the right people working together, the mission simply doesn’t work. I’ve seen firsthand the value of teams coming together and working cross-functionally instead of trying to go at it alone or working in silos. We’re all in it together, especially during these difficult times. That really shows in the way that “Canaries” work with each other.
We’re all in it together, especially during these difficult times.”
Time with company & professional growth experienced: I’ve been here for more than two years. In that short amount of time, I’ve been able to experience a significant amount of professional growth and development. I started here doing something different from talent acquisition, but I expressed interest in moving my career toward recruiting. The team was very supportive and encouraged me to pursue what I was truly passionate about.
To better understand the ins and outs of the role, I began shadowing our recruiter’s calls and helped our talent acquisition team with scheduling and coordination. I also used our $3,000-per-year education reimbursement benefits to receive incredibly helpful supplemental recruiting resources and training. I officially made the transition to the recruiting team more than a year ago; since then, I have sourced and closed more than 20 roles for the company, of which I’m very proud. What I love about HouseCanary is that I’m not the only one with a story like this. Other employees express interest in making a switch in their career and done so successfully because the company is willing to invest in their people and create a path of professional and personal growth.
