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Head of Web, Unsplash
Head of Front-End Engineering (player-coach role)
About the Initiative
At Unsplash, we empower everyone to create by making visuals effortlessly accessible to creators of all scales. Our work:
- Powers unsplash.com, the Unsplash iOS app, and the Unsplash API, serving over 10,000+ applications (including Medium, BuzzFeed, Facebook, Google, Trello, and Square).
- Supports both the free Unsplash library and Unsplash+ (our premium subscription service for contributors).
- Drives impact by ensuring access to high-quality imagery for anyone—from students to professionals—and fostering a culture of transparency, quality, and collaboration.
We build with intentionality, efficiency, and care, prioritising deliverables over process in a fast-moving, creative environment.
The Role
You’ll lead an ambitious team of engineers in elevating our front-end platform, shaping Unsplash’s digital experience, and embedding engineering excellence within our two visual libraries.
Key Responsibilities
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Leadership & Growth:
- Guide a small team to deliver front-end features for unplash.com, balancing speed, scalability, and impact.
- Collaborate cross-functionally (with Web, API, Design, Data, and Product teams) to prioritise work and drive alignment around user needs and business goals.
- Foster a high-trust, high-impact culture by elevating standards, encouraging ownership, and championing transparent communication.
- Mentor your team, supporting their professional development and career growth while ensuring accountability and execution.
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Product Strategy & Execution:
- Develop and advocate for product ideas that add measurable value for our users and business.
- Translate feedback from team members and stakeholders into actionable product roadmaps.
- Engage with business leadership to align engineering priorities with growth and innovation goals.
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Technical Leadership & Delivery:
- Maintain and **scale our modern front-end stack, ensuring high availability, performance, and developer efficiency.
- Champion best practices in type safety, modularity, and sustainable architectures (e.g., React, Next.js, TypeScript).
- Monitor and optimise user-facing systems for speed, reliability, and frictionless development (e.g., bundling, caching, CDN integration).
- Lead data-driven decision-making, using analytics to refine priorities and measure impact.
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- Organisational Impact:
- Represent Unsplash at cross-functional and community forums to gather insights and advocate for our platform within Getty Images Holdings.
- Drive knowledge-sharing by mentoring other teams and contributing to company-wide engineering standards and conventions.
What You’ll Bring
Non-Negotiable
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Engineering Guides & Hands-on Leadership:
- Since-the-start mindset: You hit the ground running and drive results as both a player and coach.
- Collaborative leadership: Comfortable leading peers, 1:1s, and influencing senior stakeholders.
- TypeScript, React, and Next.js expertise: Deep experience building scalable, performant front-end systems (FCP < 1s is ideal).
- Functional programming fluency: Familiarity with composition, pure functions, and effect systems (Redux, Zustand).
- Bridging gaps: Understand product, design, and backend needs to drive cohesive outcome.
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** Technical Depth**:
- Hands-on experience architecting modern web applications with:
- Node/TS (isse, NestJS, or Next.js front-end integration)
- GraphQL or RESTful APIs (performance considerations for Image CDNs)
- Rendering optimisations (SWR, Next.js's data routes,-edge middleware)
- Testing & observability (cypress, Lighthouse, rollbar, datadog)
- Cloud platforms (AWS/GCP or Vercel infrastructure)
- Hands-on experience architecting modern web applications with:
-
Data olmak:
- Use user analytics (Mixpanel, Google Analytics, custom eventing) to influence design and optimise workflows.
Bonus
- E-commerce industries someone cutting:
- Experience shipping we search, SEO-rich platforms, or user-generated content marketplaces.
- Community-driven brilliance:
- Gratification of enabling amid-scaled creators and shaping platforms where narrative matters (visual storytelling perspective appreciated).
- Perf babe:
- Optimised image delivery piping systems, adaptive qualitysville serveles (AVIF, WebP, progressive responses) and LCP<-2.5s for 95% users.
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What’s in It for You (Getty Images Benefits)
"There’s a story in every picture; a career in every opportunity at Getty."
We’re re-imagining work so you can create, innovate, and thrive—from where and whenever you choose.
Why Work Here?
✅ Authentic Leadership: Ranked among Best Workplaces globally (greatpress) and Best for Asian Lesbian Professionals (workingmother). A place where transparency, trust, and courage flourish. ✅ Grow with Goals: Hybrid or full-remote (depending on role) flexibility, fusing digital collaboration with local gathers. Anticipate Town Halls, mentorship, and mind development (including exchange programs, internal training & conference access). ✅ Engineering Goalposts: Evolve your skills working at scale—multi-brand studios (Unsplash, Getty, iStock)—with a tech stackthat combines stage-recognition ML with accessibility as your front-end complements. ✅ Ambition Compensation: Salary, 4.6% profit-sharing bonus + opportunities via 15% discount public stock purchase plan when Getty Images or Unsplash teams penetrate new frontiers.
Our Commitment
Getty Images, a public company (listed as "GETY"), champions radical inclusion (backed by a global DEI manifesto) and experiential well-being (6 weeks parental leave, flexible PTO, paid holidays to explore, and stipends for follow-the-play). In September 2024, we seen “the Business” in inviting diversity: rigorous recruitment practices, extensive leadership alignment training—like industria-wide Head of Inclusion, D & I Ops.
Ready to move the world with pixels you make possible? Unsplash is a black square for creativity and innovation. Tag #-close-brown-pen-down-and-apply → Getty Jobs | Unsplash Engineering.
”The eye is a window to the world. Your contribution will too."
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