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Dominic Samphier
VP of Engineering
What I do at Pinpoint
As VP of Engineering at Pinpoint, I am the CTO's strategic, operational and technical partner, and together we lead our engineering team.
My job is to make sure we ship high-quality software, move at a pace that meets our organisation's expectations, and create an environment where engineers can do their best work.
I also work closely with Product, Design and the rest of the business to turn real customer problems into thoughtful, well designed solutions.
A big part of my role is growing the team: hiring great people, helping them develop, and building a culture that values ownership, clarity and collaboration. I'm especially interested in how technology can make hiring fairer, more human, and more effective for everyone involved!
My job is to make sure we ship high-quality software, move at a pace that meets our organisation's expectations, and create an environment where engineers can do their best work.
I also work closely with Product, Design and the rest of the business to turn real customer problems into thoughtful, well designed solutions.
A big part of my role is growing the team: hiring great people, helping them develop, and building a culture that values ownership, clarity and collaboration. I'm especially interested in how technology can make hiring fairer, more human, and more effective for everyone involved!
Who am I?
I'm a self-taught software developer who didn't take a traditional route into tech. I studied history at university (because it interested me!), and ended up in software development through trying new things in the early years of my career.
I started learning to write software because I wanted to automate things that felt tedious in previous jobs. As well, i've always enjoyed making things, I love learning and I'm fascinated by how things work. Software development was, and remains, a perfect match.
More recently, the advance of "AI" technologies has felt like a genuine turning point. I've never felt more productive, or more able to learn and explore new areas quickly. Used well, it feels like a superpower - not just for writing code faster, but for thinking more clearly, experimenting more freely, and building better products.
Outside of work I try to spend as much time as possible outdoors, travel whenever I get the chance, and read widely. Those things keep me curious, grounded and happy.
I started learning to write software because I wanted to automate things that felt tedious in previous jobs. As well, i've always enjoyed making things, I love learning and I'm fascinated by how things work. Software development was, and remains, a perfect match.
More recently, the advance of "AI" technologies has felt like a genuine turning point. I've never felt more productive, or more able to learn and explore new areas quickly. Used well, it feels like a superpower - not just for writing code faster, but for thinking more clearly, experimenting more freely, and building better products.
Outside of work I try to spend as much time as possible outdoors, travel whenever I get the chance, and read widely. Those things keep me curious, grounded and happy.
Advice for prospective candidates
- Think like a product engineer: we're looking for engineers who care about the why as much as the how - people who constantly think about users, workflows, edge cases, and outcomes, not just implementations.
- Optimise for clarity over cleverness: we value readable, maintainable code and clear communication. Being able to explain why you made a decision matters more than showing off complex solutions.
- Balance pragmatism with quality: we move quickly, but not recklessly. Demonstrating judgement about when to ship, when to refactor, and when "good enough" is actually good enough goes a long way.
- Use AI as a tool, not a crutch: we're very positive and enthusiastic about engineers using AI to explore ideas, learn faster and increase leverage. Just make sure you can explain and stand behind the decisions you make.