Senior Director, Engineering – AI Renovation

Why Hover wants you

Hover is entering a new phase where AI-driven experiences move from visualization to decision-making at scale. We’re looking for a senior engineering leader who can operate as a true partner to Product and GTM — someone who combines deep technical judgment with strong product instincts and business orientation. This role exists to turn our decade-long advantage in property data and 3D reconstruction into confident, end-to-end renovation outcomes for homeowners and professionals, while building the platform, systems, and teams that allow Hover to move faster without sacrificing reliability. If you’re energized by owning complex, cross-functional problems and shaping both the product and the organization that delivers it, this role is for you.

You will contribute by

Three Mission-Critical Areas

• Design & Inspiration Product Areas – Build an AI powered experience that helps homeowners and pros visualize renovation options and turn designs into confident decisions.
• GM-Level Vertical Leadership – Act as a GM-level co-owner with Product and GTM to drive the strategy and outcomes of a business-critical construction vertical. You will coordinate across multiple internal teams to ensure cohesion across the full Hover platform.
• Systems Area – Lead our horizontal platform team responsible for infrastructure, developer productivity, security, and money movement.

Product & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Serve as the primary engineering partner to Product and Design, translating intent into pragmatic, cross-platform delivery plans and reliable releases.
• Define and uphold the cross-functional operating model across web and mobile: planning, PRDs, design sign-off, scope change, and release readiness.
• Raise the bar on requirements and discovery quality with crisp acceptance criteria, robust user flows, edge-case coverage, and early risk identification.
• Represent engineering in leadership forums, ensuring technical tradeoffs, risks, and dependencies are visible and well understood.

Execution & Operational Excellence

• Create and enforce operational guardrails that make launches predictable — clear owners, decision discipline, and simple handoff rules.
• Lead large, cross-functional programs that span multiple personas and surfaces; surface blockers early and maintain a high bias for action.
• Bring clarity and momentum to ambiguous areas, raising program judgment, delivery rigor, and collaboration across teams.
• Steward the platform’s architecture, reliability, and performance — balancing innovation with continuity for existing customers.

People & Organizational Leadership

• Lead and grow high-performing engineering teams across product and platform; directly manage senior leaders (Principal Engineers, Senior EMs).
• Coach leaders to delegate effectively, prioritize well, and become force multipliers while maintaining a high bar for performance.
• Foster a culture of excellence, inclusion, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Your background includes

• 12+ years in software engineering, including 5+ years managing managers and senior/principal ICs in high-growth product organizations (B2B SaaS or similar).
• Proven success launching 0->1 products, ideally involving AI/ML, computer vision, or interactive visualization.
• Deep experience partnering with Product and Design to set joint outcomes, clarify roles, and resolve misalignment quickly.
• Strong product instincts and business orientation — comfortable debating user journeys, guardrail metrics, UX vs. workflow tradeoffs, and customer value.
• A track record of leading complex, cross-functional platform initiatives that span multiple surfaces and user personas.
• Technical depth to challenge designs and architectures and make tradeoffs clear and actionable.
• A process-design mindset — building simple, durable mechanisms (ownership maps, decision logs, review cadences) that teams actually use.
• Exceptional communication skills — crisp, structured, and able to synthesize complexity and drive alignment without volume.
• A passion for developing senior talent and scaling organizations grounded in excellence, clarity, and collaboration.

Note: While this role is scoped at Senior Director, we are open to Director or VP-level candidates based on experience and fit.

Benefits

• Compensation - Competitive salary and meaningful equity in a fast-growing company
• Healthcare - Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and dependents
• Paid Time Off - Unlimited and flexible vacation policy 
• Paid Family Leave - We support work/life balance and offer generous paid parental and new child bonding leave 
• Mandatory Self-Care Days - A day set aside each month to allow employees to recharge 
• Remote Wellbeing Resources - We provide recurring fitness classes, meditation/ mindfulness tools, virtual therapy, and family planning assistance 
• Learning - We encourage continued education and will help cover the cost of management training, conferences, workshops, or certifications

Hybrid roles at Hover

Hover has Hubs in San Francisco and New York City, where we expect that all employees living within a 50-mile radius of our offices will come into their local Hover office at least three times a week to build rapport and foster organic connection. At this time, Hover is not considering fully remote roles.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $289,000 - $357,000 annually. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all applicable US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

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