Software Engineer, Whatnot
Ads, UK
Live stream platform & marketplace
Job no longer available
Live stream platform & marketplace
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
1001+ employees
Company mission
To enable anyone to turn their passion into a business and bring people together through commerce.
Role
Who you are
- As our next Senior Software Engineer you should have 5+ years of software engineering experience, ideally with some industry experience in one of the following areas: ads infra, ads delivery or systems, news/home feed ranking systems infra, recommendation/ranking systems, search engines and/or search infra
- Are capable of building scalable systems (we primarily use Python, Elixir, JavaScript)
- Have product instincts. You first think about users rather than the best technical solution
- Have built systems that scale at a high growth company before, and can do it again with minimal guidance
- Can ship products and features lightning-fast without sacrificing quality
- Are an excellent problem solver and don’t need to be told exactly what to do
- Are comfortable working across the stack (backend and frontend)
- Have the ability to pick up on new technologies very quickly
- Have a proven track record of delivering features
What the job involves
- Ads is a growing engineering team at Whatnot that is dedicated to building systems & features to help Sellers grow their business
- As a software engineer on the Ads team, the most important qualities you'll need are making sound product decisions, navigating new domains seamlessly, taking extreme ownership, and shipping high-quality products fast
- We always prioritize the highest impact features and ship them quickly
- The software team has a lot of individual responsibility and many more freedoms, so we need to hire people we can trust
- Your ability to put customers first, make good trade-offs and deliver impact is essential to us
- Build ads products by working across the full ads stack including bidding & targeting, ranking/auction, serving, campaign management, and seller tooling
- Build highly scalable Ads system that handles all aspects of running an online advertising system and helps sellers differentiate themselves on Whatnot
- Understand our buyer and seller experiences and become an expert in helping them effectively scale their business through ads & monetization products
Salary benchmarks
Our take
Live shopping is changing the way people engage with eCommerce and Whatnot is one of the key platforms driving this shift. The company operates across the US, UK, and Europe, where millions of people connect each day to buy, sell, and build communities around shared interests.
Founded in 2019, Whatnot allows real-time auctions where buyers can watch sellers showcase products and share their expertise, creating a more interactive and personal shopper experience. Sellers include individual creators and small businesses who use live shows to reach audiences and grow their online presence.
As of 2025, the company reports over $6B in sales, with sellers earning significantly more on average than other major marketplaces. And with a range of investor support, Whatnot is committed to developing new ways to make online shopping more social and community-driven.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
54% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 8 rounds)
Oct 2025
$225m
SERIES F
Jan 2025
$265m
SERIES E
Total funding: $974.2m
Company benefits
- Wellness: Health, dental, vision, and life insurance plans. We also cover some of the cost for your dependents as well.
- Compensation: Generous compensation, including a competitive base salary and equity. Whatnot offers monthly reimbursement for internet and phone costs, along with a one-time home office set-up allowance. Whatnot offers a pension plan and matches employee contributions of up to 4% of the employee’s base salary.
- Recharge: Whatnot gives you the freedom to take time off as you see fit. And, we take company-wide Winter and Summer breaks so we can recharge. Whatnot provides a monthly allowance for wellness expenses. We know that to take care of our customers, we have to take care of ourselves. Supplemental health and life insurance coverage comes standard at Whatnot. 16 weeks of paid parental leave, and an additional one-month gradual return-to-work period.* Plus an additional childcare allowance, and a lifetime allowance for family planning, including adoption and fertility expenses. *The leave allowances provided by Whatnot may be dictated / informed by your country’s legal requirements,
- Flexibility: As a remote co-located team, we’re inspired by innovation and anchored in our values. With hubs in the US, UK, Germany, Ireland, and Poland, we’re building the future of online marketplaces –together.
Company values
- Always listen to customers
- Move uncomfortably fast
- Prioritize impact ruthlessly
- Own everything and nothing
- Set crazy goals
- Provide extreme transparency
- Optimize for the upside
- Team over ego
- Figure it out
- Deeply understand why
- Have fun & be kind
Company HQ
Venice, Los Angeles, CA
Articles
Leadership
Grant LaFontaine
(Co-Founder & CEO)Former Product Marketing Manager at Google, Project Manager at Facebook. Also co-founded Kit.
Logan Head
(Co-Founder & CTO)Experience in Engineering, including at Maker's Row, Factr, and Flight Club. Former Senior Product Manager at GOAT.
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