Building the Magic of Human Connection: Tinder’s CTO on Why Teamwork Matters Most

As CTO, I’m proud of the collaborative culture we have at Tinder. Our engineers are all about helping one another, asking questions, and growing together. It’s also great to see how much impact each engineer is able to make. It’s a testament to the caliber of talent we have at Tinder and how focused we are on building features that are truly valuable for our members. 

Tinder Engineering has three traits that make it a really special place to work. First, everyone building our product is working on a mission with a great deal of meaning: keeping the magic of human connection alive. Second, each person at Tinder has the opportunity to have an enormous impact. We’ve been very thoughtful in how we’ve scaled, so the member-to-engineer ratio is quite high. Finally, we strive to create and maintain a collaborative culture; you need a clear vision of the whole team’s goals, bets, blockers, and problems to succeed. 

There’s a tremendous wealth of knowledge here. I always recommend that new hires take a little while to get to know the members of their team—and members of other teams, as well. Orienting yourself within the group helps to better align on what work is most important and why.

Everyone feels ownership of our projects. We’re always thinking about how to accomplish an objective, whether or not it’s directly in the scope of our work. When you care about what you’re trying to achieve as much as we do, you’re naturally proactive about problem-solving, and you’re driven to create progress and implement the solutions you’ve helped your colleagues find.

Our future is bright. Tinder does an amazing job of helping people find and connect with others, and there is so much potential to create great experiences that go beyond our signature linear experience. Right now we’re expanding Explore, building on the success of features like Swipe Night, Hot Takes, and Vibes. All of that innovation is powered by the incredible talent of our engineers. They’re bringing these complicated global projects to life.

Curious about a role with Tinder Engineering? Find your ideal role on our careers site!

NOTE: This article was adapted from an interview with Tom on Tinder’s engineering blog. You can read the full interview here.