Technical Lead
Bluespark
Bluespark, LLC is looking for a Technical Lead to work with our Digital Strategists, Project Managers, and UX Designers to help define technical requirements for big, complicated websites that involve a variety of technologies, including content management, ecommerce (Big Commerce, Drupal Commerce), back office integrations (usually via RESTful APIs), site search (usually Solr), DAMs, CRMs, complex data sets, decoupled front-ends (GraphQL, React, Vue, etc.).We do not expect you to be an expert in all of these technologies. Rather, you should have a strong grasp of best practices so that you know how and when a technology might be applicable. That being said, you must be an expert in Drupal. While we do work with a variety of technologies, Drupal is often (not always) a core component of the technical stack.
You will have a leadership role within the company, but you will not have direct reports.You will also oversee the development of these projects, mentoring and guiding our mid-level and senior developers. Our development process has a heavy Agile-influence: we work in sprints, review work with the client regularly, and are informed (not railroaded) by the designs and requirements that were created earlier in the process.We are a cross-disciplinary team, working together to deliver the best result. As the Tech Leads on a project, you will have opportunity to influence business requirements and inform the UX and creative designs.Sample Work
- https://together.emory.edu
- https://www.stickergiant.com
- https://obermeyer.com
- https://picturingucla.library.ucla.edu
- https://libraries.indiana.edu
Important notes
- Full-time (Preferred) or Contract
- This is a client-facing position
- Occasional travel will be required (you know, once this whole COVID situation gets resolved)
- Canada or US only
- You will report to our CTO
Accountabilities
- Providing technical insight in the early stages of a project.
- Advising clients and others on technical implementation details of a project.
- Scaling the client's vision to their budget.
- Looking for new, useful opportunities for clients to expand their website.
- Scoping projects during the sales cycle.
- Presenting recommendations to clients.
- Research. Technical Planning. Architecture.
- Coaching team on methodologies, documentation, ticket creation and refinement, etc.
- Conducting code reviews.
- Contributing to open source projects.
- BONUS: Presenting ideas and solutions to clients in clear, concise, non-technical language (well, as non-technical as you can get)
Competencies
- Perpetually curious, always learning
- Grit
- Excellent communication habits
- Well-spoken, critical thinker
- Opinionated, but open to being wrong
- Superior client service skills
- Professional and disciplined remote collaboration
- An excellent sense of humor
- Contributes to open source, with high-quality examples
- BONUS: Interested in writing blog posts and books; interest in speaking at conferences
Desired Experience
- Latest Drupal APIs and modules
- JavaScript frameworks
- HTML, CSS
- Front-end frameworks, and api endpoint integrations
- Decoupled solutions such as React, Vue, GraphQL
- Drupal site building techniques
- Responsive design and development
- Solr
- MySQL
- Site and systems audits
- Troubleshooting
- Remote Work
- BONUS: iOS and Android application development
- BONUS: PHP OOP / Symfony
(If you think you fit the bill, but don't have all of the experience listed above, please apply anyway.)
Compensation & Benefits
- Salary commensurate with location, role, and experience.
- Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance. We cover 100% of your health insurance and 25% of your family insurance.
- Work from anywhere. Travel around the world or work from the comfort of your home. You just need a stable Internet connection.
- Flexible schedule. Our schedules are pretty flexible. Need to run an errand in the middle of the day? Totally cool. We have people who put in their eight hours in a single shot. Others who break it up throughout the day.
- Reasonable schedules. It’s sad that we even need to list this as a benefit. But we don’t expect more than 40 hours of work in a week. We don’t do “crunch times” during projects.
- Autonomy. A big part of working at Bluespark is being part of a community of expert practitioners. People who actually enjoy what they're doing. Because of that, we actively nurture a culture of connected autonomy—that is, you are the expert and we trust your expertise. We have systems, methods, processes, and best practices, but these are there to help you do your job better—not be yoke that hold you back from doing great work. As such, break the rules, go off script—and tell us what you learned and what we, as a company, can do to improve.
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