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New Team Member Onboarding 🚀

Welcome to Ultralytics! This guide will help you navigate your first 90 days and set you up for success.

Before Your First Day 📋

Pre-Start Timeline

Expect to receive your onboarding materials 5-7 business days before your start date. Contact HR immediately if you haven't received everything by this time.

Pre-Start Checklist

  • Documents

    Employment contract and required paperwork

  • Equipment

    Hardware specs and delivery details

  • Access

    Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub credentials

  • Reading

    Introduction and Mission & Values

What to Prepare

Item Purpose When Needed
Government-issued ID Background check verification Day 1
Bank details Payroll setup First week
Emergency contact Update in Rippling Day 1
Questions list Reference during onboarding Day 1

First Day 🎉

Morning Session (9:00 AM - 12:00 PM)

With your manager:

  • Office tour (onsite at our dog-friendly office 🐶) or virtual workspace overview
  • Team introductions
  • First week schedule review

Getting your workspace ready:

  • Unbox and configure hardware
  • Install Rippling MDM on all devices
  • Set up Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub
  • Configure email signature (automated)

Contact helpdesk@ultralytics.com or #it-support on Slack if you need help.

Administrative setup:

  • Complete Rippling profile
  • Review benefits and PTO policy
  • Sign any remaining documents
  • Set up direct deposit

Afternoon Session (1:00 PM - 5:00 PM)

Onsite: Join team at local restaurant or office kitchen Remote: Virtual coffee chat

Required Compliance

Must be completed on Day 1

For engineering roles:

# Clone repositories
git clone https://github.com/ultralytics/ultralytics.git
cd ultralytics

# Install dependencies
pip install -e .

# Verify installation
yolo checks

Quick win:

  • Small starter task or documentation review
  • Submit your first PR (even a typo fix counts!)

First Week 📚

Key Objectives

  • Understand the company: Mission, values, products, and market position
  • Meet the team: Schedule 30-min coffee chats with key collaborators
  • Learn the tech stack: Read documentation, explore codebase
  • Complete required training: All compliance modules in Vanta
  • Ship your first contribution: Submit a small PR (documentation fix, test addition, or bug fix)

Daily Schedule

Monday - Friday:

  • Morning standup (15 min): Team sync on progress and blockers
  • Focus time (4-6 hours): Deep work on your first project
  • Lunch break: Join team or explore office area
  • 1:1 with manager (Friday, 30 min): Review first week, answer questions, plan next week

Week 1 Checklist

  • Complete all compliance training in Vanta
  • Read handbook: Introduction, Mission & Values, Hardware/Software policies, Development workflow
  • Set up development environment and run tests successfully
  • Meet your immediate team (5-10 people)
  • Join key Slack channels: #general, #it-support, #your-team
  • Submit first PR (even if just fixing a typo in docs)
  • Schedule coffee chats with 3-5 people from other teams

First Month 🎯

Key Objectives

  • Contribute meaningfully: Ship features or fixes that provide real value
  • Build relationships: Know most people on your direct team and key collaborators
  • Understand workflows: Git, CI/CD, PR reviews, deployment process
  • Take ownership: Own a small project or feature area
  • Provide feedback: Share onboarding improvement ideas

Month 1 Milestones

Week 2:

  • Ship your first significant PR (feature, optimization, or meaningful fix)
  • Present in engineering standup or demo session
  • Attend company all-hands meeting
  • Complete coffee chats with 5+ team members across different functions

Week 3:

  • Take on project ownership with defined scope and timeline
  • Participate in code reviews for teammates
  • Attend product planning or sprint planning session
  • Read Product Development guide

Week 4:

  • Ship project or major milestone
  • Present work in team demo or all-hands
  • Provide onboarding feedback to manager
  • Set 90-day goals with manager

Learning Resources

Technical:

Company & Culture:

  • Company Goals - Strategic priorities
  • OKRs Guide - Goal-setting framework
  • Previous all-hands presentations
  • Blog - Company updates and tutorials

First 90 Days 🚀

Key Objectives

  • Own Your Domain

    Be the go-to person for your area of expertise

  • Drive Independently

    Lead features from design to deployment

  • Mentor Others

    Help onboard the next new team member

  • Shape Direction

    Contribute ideas to roadmap and planning

  • Celebrate Wins

    Ship meaningful improvements users notice

90-Day Goals Framework

Work with your manager to define specific, measurable goals:

  • Ship X features or Y bug fixes
  • Improve performance metric by Z%
  • Complete certification or learning objective
  • Contribute to open-source beyond assigned work
  • Present at team meeting or external event
  • Mentor junior team member or new hire
  • Lead cross-functional project
  • Contribute to documentation or tooling improvements
  • Identify development areas and create learning plan
  • Seek feedback from peers and manager
  • Participate in hiring (interview candidates)
  • Propose process or workflow improvements

End of 90 Days

  • Quarterly performance review in Rippling with manager (60 min)
    • Review accomplishments against 90-day goals
    • Discuss what's working well and areas for growth
    • Set next quarter goals and development plan
    • Review career progression framework and level expectations
    • Address any concerns or questions
  • Celebrate: You're now a full-fledged Ultralytics team member! 🎉

Role-Specific Onboarding

Engineering Roles

  • Week 1-2: Ship first PR, understand CI/CD pipeline, complete test suite
  • Week 3-4: Own small feature, participate in design reviews
  • Month 2: Lead feature development, mentor on code reviews
  • Month 3: Drive architecture decisions, contribute to technical roadmap

Product/Design Roles

  • Week 1-2: Shadow customer calls, review product analytics, understand user personas
  • Week 3-4: Contribute to roadmap planning, create first design/spec
  • Month 2: Own feature from concept to launch
  • Month 3: Lead product initiative, influence quarterly planning

Operations/Business Roles

  • Week 1-2: Shadow processes, understand workflows, meet key stakeholders
  • Week 3-4: Take ownership of specific processes or accounts
  • Month 2: Drive process improvements, automate workflows
  • Month 3: Lead cross-functional initiative, influence strategy

Onboarding Resources

Tools & Access

  • Rippling: HR, PTO, equipment, compliance training
  • Google Workspace: Email, calendar, drive, docs
  • Slack: Team communication and collaboration
  • GitHub: Code repositories and issues
  • Notion or Linear: Project management and documentation
  • Vanta: Security and compliance training

Key Slack Channels

  • #general: Company-wide announcements and updates
  • #it-support: Technical issues and hardware requests
  • #compliance: Security and legal questions
  • #engineering or #your-team: Your team's channel
  • #random: Casual conversation and team building

Who to Contact

Tips for Success 💡

First 30 Days

No question is too small - everyone was new once. Use Slack, schedule 1:1s, and ask during meetings.

Document processes, shortcuts, and learnings. Create a personal wiki or notebook.

Don't wait to be told what to do - suggest ideas and volunteer for tasks.

Bias toward action and rapid iteration. Perfect is the enemy of done.

Coffee chats are high-value. Schedule 3-5 per week in your first month.

Ask manager and peers how you're doing weekly. Make adjustments quickly.

Long-Term Success

Principle Practice
Own Outcomes Focus on impact, not just activity
Communicate Clearly Over-communicate early, especially async
Embrace Feedback View critiques as growth opportunities
Stay Curious Always be learning and experimenting
Help Others Best way to learn is teaching
Have Fun We're building the future of AI - enjoy the journey!

Feedback & Questions

Have onboarding feedback or questions?

  • Slack DM your manager: For immediate questions or concerns
  • Submit PR to handbook: Help us improve onboarding for future team members
  • Email HR: For sensitive or personal matters

We're constantly improving onboarding based on new team member feedback. Your input makes the next person's experience better!

Welcome to the team! We're excited to have you here. Let's build something amazing together! 🚀



📅 Created 3 days ago ✏️ Updated 3 days ago
glenn-jocher