Let us introduce you to them 👋
Lauren, Platform Engineer
A lot of reasons drove me to Notion, however the things that stood out to me the most are the:
- Company Growth Potential: When I joined Notion, there were less than 15 engineers and less than 40 people at the company, total. We’re 10x that size now! It’s incredible how much we’ve grown since then, but there’s still so much room for more! I think almost everyone could be a potential Notion user - not many companies have a market that big.
- Opportunities for Ownership: I was so impressed with how much the company had done with so few people. It was clear that engineers had a ton of ownership and had strong instincts about the product. I wanted to contribute to shaping the culture and owning the features I build in this same way.
- Personal Growth Potential: Given the caliber of people I met in my interview process coupled with the types of things I could be building, I knew I had a lot to learn here. It’s been cool to see my growth as an engineer coincide with the growth of the company.
- Incredible Product: It’s important to me to work on a product I believe in, but also get to use daily! “Eating your own dogfood” has been my favorite way to develop, as both a personal and team user.
I started using Notion about two years ago and was immediately drawn to its combination of flexible features and aesthetic design. About a year later I saw that the company was hiring and decided to apply because I liked the product so much. Throughout the hiring process, I really liked all the people I talked to and that solidified my decision to join.
Alex, Infrastructure Engineer
Mohini, Engineering Manager
I was drawn by so many factors! Below are some of my top reasons:
- Vision & Mission: As part of my interview process I met Ivan and he shared internal docs of the vision, mission and next 5 year strategy. At that point, I knew this is the place to be. The vision was ambitious yet well thought through with lots of competitive research, customer input and data insights. I was also blown away by Ivan’s transparency and passion for the business.
- Company size & culture: I wanted to work with a smaller group of talented individuals that want to move fast. I care a lot about user and business impact and prefer to not have role boundaries be hindrance to it. Notion felt like a company that focusses on optimizing globally.
- Growth Opportunity: Notion is so early in its overall journey and there is so much room to grow. I felt this is a place where I can feel challenged, learn a lot and advance my skills.
I was a Notion user and liked the product, and I was particularly impressed by what the team was able to accomplish with so few people. I also liked how expansive Notion’s product is — it does so much and it can do so much more, and I was drawn by the potential and the amount of opportunities here.
Penny, Workspaces Engineer
Shir, Engineering Manager
One of my first exposures to technology was creating a website with Geocities in the early 2000s and my mind was blown. I thought it was so cool that you could build things so quickly. Fast forward two decades later after working as a software engineer across different AI spaces, I wanted to go back to that first love: being able to quickly create something out of nothing, which is exactly what Notion is all about.
Notion’s engineers are not unlike Notion’s users— constantly tinkering and and iterating on their work. While I’ve only been at Notion a short time (only 6 months!) it’s been an honor to watch as an engineering team we are constantly evolving, learning from our users, learning from our own mistakes, and learning from each other. It’s been really cool being on a team with so much humility and hunger for learning.
Shir, Engineering Manager
Lauren, Platform Engineer
*We’re always striving for a good balance between shipping quickly, but also shipping high quality features. Success in this area involves thinking a good bit about your proposed changes and features with Product Requirement Documents and Technical Specs (in Notion, of course). Working at Notion has made me a more rigorous and thoughtful engineer and technical writer.
We’d also prefer to delay shipping something if we don’t think it meets the quality bar. Engineers have a great deal of ownership over evaluating trade-offs for their project with any stakeholders. It’s important to ask and re-visit, “What problem is this solving? Can I solve it in a more holistic way?”.
Notion engineering is also probably one of the most serious but silly places I’ve ever worked. People here are both kind and helpful, but also love a little silly chaos. During bug bash earlier this year, I was able to introduce a virtual air horn to hype up my team during demos. I think it went over well? Someone requested it again this fall.*
Notion’s Engineering culture is collaborative, kind, and direct. I’ve worked on a few big projects where I needed help from multiple teams, and everyone has been so sincere and generous with their time, no matter what team they are on. I’ve also learned to have kind and direct conversations at Notion — we’re not afraid to challenge each other in product and engineering conversations, but we do it kindly, and the ideas that come out on the other side are better for it.