Full-Stack Senior Ruby Engineer (Contract)

Full-Stack Senior Ruby Engineer (Contract)

Description

We're growing here at Initforthe and we're looking for some great people to come and join us on our mission to build software that helps people be their best selves at work.

In simple terms, we’re looking for a self-sufficient senior engineer, capable of working in Rails, Javascript and CSS to work on our client projects.

You will work directly with our clients, sometimes solo (but with support from the broader team), so great non-technical communication skills are imperative; experience in client work is a major plus.

Initforthe builds line-of-business software; you might not be building the next Twitter or Uber, but the code you write will be used every day by real people, usually as a core part of their daily lives. A strong focus on the user experience, and frequent collaboration with the people using our software, are both key to our success.

This is a fully remote role, but is only (sorry!) open to those based in the UK at present.

What you’ll do

• Work directly with clients & users (not necessarily the same people!) to build great software.
• Understand the underlying user need behind a feature request. Solve that user need -- don’t just “tick a feature box”. If you’re not sure, ask! The client is part of the team.
• Break down larger “projects” into user stories.
• Keep the client in the loop; frequent demos and status updates make sure we’re solving the right problem in the right way, and not burning time unnecessarily.
• Write high quality, appropriately-tested, maintainable code in Ruby and Javascript.
  • We use Rails, Hotwire and Tailwind as our core stack.
  • We strive for enough, appropriate test coverage; knowledge of testing frameworks such as RSpec and Jasmine is a must.
  • We ask for senior engineers because we grant a lot of latitude; in general, we will trust you to own the codebase you’re working within, know your tools, practices and patterns, and get on with delivering value for our clients.
• Review (& get reviewed!) pull requests as needed on more complex features.

What is it like to work here?

As Managing Director, my role is so different from the day to day that I asked my team to put it in their own words:

Working with the team at Initforthe is like a breath of fresh air;  my previous engagement was with a large multi-national organisation and I was simply treated as a number.  We, as engineers were kept at arms length from the end users and this soon became tedious.  However since joining Tomislav and the team I now feel a sense of value in my work, I can see the results first-hand and I speak directly with the users of the software.

The client I'm currently working with is very engaged and knows what he wants but not necessarily how to achieve it, that's where we come in; we are part of their team and we're treated like it. Being included in strategic conversations beyond the scope of our project is part of what we do; not only because it helps our clients achieve but it also allows us to understand their medium to long-term aspirations, therefore we can (if required) cater for these earlier on. We're not afraid to ask questions.

Our workload is ultimately defined by the client. We will work together to define the tickets required to complete a piece of work, then I'll go in and add in the acceptance criteria and relevant time estimate. From then it's down to the client when this is done as they're partly responsible for the priority of tasks.

As tickets are completed and reviewed with the client, they're merged in and deployed to live immediately which allows us to cater for clients needs both quickly and efficiently.

We're a small but dedicated team who take pride in our work; trust, honestly and flexibility are a given.

— Paul Durbin, Senior Ruby Engineer

What skills do you need?

• 4+ years as a ruby engineer, across multiple engagements or employments.
• Experience working on the frontend in at least one Javascript framework, and basic CSS knowledge.
• In general, ask yourself “Do I have the technical skills necessary to build a well-architected, well tested order processing system from scratch?”
  • This type of system is the closest match to the types of “business system” that Initforthe focuses on building.
  • Further reading: https://www.shopify.co.uk/enterprise/order-management-system-oms 
• Prior experience owning a project from start to finish.
  • This could be a large feature in a large application, or an entire application, or an open source project.
  • You might have been leading a team or working solo.
  • What we’re looking for is the ability to take something unspecified and complex, and break it down into a set of specific, achievable technical tasks, by working withpeople.
• Prior experience working with non-technical stakeholders.
  • This may be the same project as discussed above.
• Great verbal and written communication skills.
  • We know this is in every job description, but when working with users directly this is a must.
  • Can you describe what you’re going to build, and how it is going to work, in a way that a non-technical person can understand?
  • Can you interpret what other people say, and turn that into a clear technical plan of action?
  • Without the ability to communicate clearly and effectively, you can’t be sure you’re building the right thing.

What does the interview process look like?

1. We’ll have a quick initial chat for about 30 minutes about your skills and experience.
2. We will ask you to complete a technical assessment, in Ruby on Rails and Javascript. We’d expect this to take no longer than about 2 hours. If you have any open-source projects in Ruby or Ruby on Rails, you can send those to us instead.
3. We’ll have a longer conversation with you (about 90 minutes), where we’ll discuss your technical assessment (or open source projects!), and have a longer chat about your experience.

This will include about 45 minutes pairing on either an enhancement to the technical test, or a small self-contained ruby task, depending on what you sent us in step 2.

How much are we paying?

We're looking for people to stay with us for the longer term. We have two options:

1. 12 month contract with option to renew: £350-450 per day
2. Permanent full-time position: £70,000-90,000 per year

If you're looking for flexibility, this is available too, so please let us know when you're applying what you're looking for in that regard.

What are the "perks"?

• The standard 28 days holiday (not a perk), plus bank holidays, plus a 2 week shutdown over Christmas (the bank holidays and Christmas don't count towards the 28 days)*
• A computer (Windows, Linux, macOS) - Macbook Pro or equivalent*
• 35-hour week
• Calm, stress-free environment to work in. We don't do pressure-cooker development
• Completely flexible working arrangements - if you need to pick your kids up or want to take your dog for a walk, or spend a few hours in the middle of the day doing something different, that's fine!
• Honest, open, friendly culture where discussions and opinions are encouraged. We're not a family, but we are a great team
• Remote. Permanently.

* permanent positions only

How do you apply?

Send your CV and covering letter explaining clearly why you believe we are a good fit to jobs@initforthe.com.

PS. If you're a recruiter, we don't need help filling this, so please don't get in contact.