Engineering Director

About Tin Can

Tin Can is building a safer, simpler way for kids to connect — without smartphones. We're creating screen-free, delightful devices and services that let families call the people who matter most, free from the noise of today's digital world.

We're building a bold, authentic, nostalgic, and kinda quirky brand that resonates with folks who want something simpler and better for their kids than the tech-infused lives we're currently living. We're scaling to tens of thousands of families, and the engineering foundation we build this year is what makes everything else possible — stability that earns trust, and capacity to keep shipping what families actually need.

The Role

We've built something families love and we're growing fast. We're outgrowing our early infrastructure, and the platform that got us here needs to be hardened for what's next — more devices, more families, higher stakes. We need someone who can stabilize what we have, streamline how we ship, and build the engineering foundation for what's next.

We're looking for a Director of Engineering to own that. Not just the team or the technical direction, but the full picture: delivery, architecture, stability, and the culture that makes a small team consistently punch above its weight. You'll report directly to the Head of Product, which at Tin Can means you're at the center of every consequential decision. Product and Engineering are peers here, and we want someone who thrives in that dynamic.

We want engineers who think like product people and product people who think like engineers; you’ll set the tone for that. Everything we build is in service of a great experience for kids and families. That's the only metric that matters.

What You'll Do

• Build a stable, resilient platform that creates capacity for new features and new products

• Build the engineering infrastructure we're missing: CI/CD, proper environments, and deployment processes that let the team ship with confidence

• Own the engineering org: technical direction, delivery, and the culture that lets us scale

• Drive work to completion without being asked — unblock people, manage competing priorities, and keep things moving

• Build a team where people do the best work of their careers

• Use AI to reach outcomes that wouldn't have been possible otherwise

• Be close enough to the work to make good calls and earn your team's respect; this is a roll-up-your-sleeves culture and we hire leaders who get their hands dirty

What We're Looking For

• Experience at both a startup and an established company; you know the difference and can adapt

• A track record of scaling an engineering team: hiring, growing, and retaining the best

• Deep enough in the code to be credible, opinionated about architecture, and close to the work

• Experience coordinating across specialized external partners — you can hold vendors accountable to quality and timelines without being the deepest expert in the room

• Consumer hardware or consumer product experience: you've shipped things real people use and love

• You've led a team to work differently with AI and expanded what your team could achieve

• Deep empathy for customers and your team; both show up in your decision-making

• You care about the business as much as the product and the team — you understand the connection between what you ship and how Tin Can grows

• Low ego, high standards; you think like a product person and expect your team to as well

Why Join Tin Can

• We're building tech that protects childhood: We're on a quest to give kids a more analog childhood — one with real conversations, real connection, and way less screen time. No doomscrolling, data mining, or dopamine traps — just a simpler, better way for kids to stay in touch. This is a rare opportunity to build something that truly matters: technology that protects what's most precious.

• You'll have real ownership, not just responsibility: You'll have both the autonomy and the responsibility to shape Tin Can's engineering vision, team, and culture as we scale — with the full backing of the founding team.

• Small, high trust team: Every company says "team," but at Tin Can it means something different. We're a small, mission-driven group that genuinely has each other's backs — professionally and personally. You'll be joining a tight-knit crew where your ideas and instincts matter from day one.

• Room to explore, not just execute: You'll have the space to explore new ideas, challenge assumptions, and build systems that reflect our values of trust, simplicity, and care.