Remote Mid-Level Ruby on Rails Developer

Before our clients hire us, they've often already invested a lot of time, energy, and money into having custom web applications developed to help them solve some business challenges. They come to us looking for a team to provide dependable support and maintenance of their existing Ruby on Rails (and a handful of React) projects. We do this in the form of recurring retainers where we take care of small feature updates, bug fixes, performance improvements, chipping away at their technical debt, and helping them experiment as they navigate forward as a business.

This model means we rarely spin up brand new web applications for clients. It also means we get to build lasting partnerships and influence how companies plan for the life of their web applications.

So, if you're the type of developer that really enjoys building shiny new things or pitching entire app rewrites, this probably isn't the position for you. However, if you're the type of developer that enjoys jumping into the deep end of complex projects, helping iterate and improve software, taking responsibility, and being given opportunities to help lead projects, we should talk.

Requirements

This position is full time and fully remote. We are currently only considering US-based candidates.

As a Mid-Level Ruby on Rails Developer at Planet Argon, you will work on critical bug fixes and challenging feature enhancements, improve app documentation, write and improve automated tests, collaborate with and educate clients, review pull requests, and provide mentorship to more junior developers. Currently, you have a good grasp of Rails conventions and best practices and are confident explaining your work to other developers. You break down large issues into smaller tasks and can accurately estimate the effort required to complete those tasks. You are an advocate for comprehensive test coverage and are comfortable deploying applications and helping your teammates do the same.

We are looking for someone with 2-5 years of industry experience, which can include:

• Education
• Internships
• Contribution to open-source projects
• Support engineer, QA, and other dev-adjacent industry roles
• Junior and mid-level developer roles

Our ideal candidate will also have some of the following experience:

• Writing and improving automated tests
• Identifying and fixing critical bugs
• Evaluating and integrating third-party tools
• Explaining technical concepts to a non-technical client or stakeholder
• Following documented steps to run deployments
• Using git commands to fix branching and merging errors

Most importantly, we're looking for developers that embody our core values:

• PROACTIVE - We actively seek opportunities to improve our client's products, our processes, and our abilities.
• CURIOUS - A natural curiosity for the undiscovered results in remarkable work for our clients - and stronger connections for our team. We ask questions, learn, and aren't afraid to fail.
• DEPENDABLE - We are invested in our work. We manage expectations. We support our clients and teammates. We hold ourselves, our teammates, and our clients accountable.
• VERSATILE - We readily adapt to change and encourage innovation because our team and work are transparent and flexible.
• DELIGHTFUL - We choose to set a mindful, positive tone that allows everyone to flourish.

As a Mid-Level Ruby on Rails Developer at Planet Argon, you will regularly do the following things:

• Document the solutions to mistakes you've made so future developers can avoid and learn from your experiences
• Consistently plan and document your proposed technical approach to an issue in a Jira issue or as pseudo code in the code base, getting sign-off from a senior developer for more complicated tasks
• Decide which open source gems to use in or add to a project and create a roll-back plan before adding them
• Demonstrate competency within most of the following Rails areas: MVC, REST, ORM, User management, Rails CLI, and ActionMailer
• Describe changes in Rails versions to project stakeholders and explain how those changes might affect current Rails apps running older versions (e.g., gem compatibility)
• Track down bugs within the infrastructure (i.e., DNS, server level issues, 3rd-party integrations, data integrity problems, etc.) and explain how those bugs are causing the reported issue
• Set up deployments for projects and manage access for team members
• Provide specific, useful feedback on PRs
• Regularly pair program with other developers on their and your own project work
• Participate in technical interviews with junior and mid-level candidates
• Regularly introduce or improve documentation in our internal knowledge base

Timeline

Interviews for this position will begin Tuesday, Jan. 17. We are aiming to fill the position by end of Q1 2023.

Benefits

The salary range for this position is $80,000 - $110,000.

• Medical, dental and vision insurance (Planet Argon pays 80% of premium)
• Paid vacation time that increases with your length of employment (15 days accrued the first year, 20 days after the first year, and 25 days after three years)
• 5 days of sick time each calendar year
• 7 paid company holidays each calendar year
• Health & Wellness Program
• Home office and internet connection stipend
• Periodic bonuses dependent upon company and employee performance
• Participation in our flexible work time policies
• Creative, relaxed, professional work environment
• After 90 days of employment:
  • SIMPLE IRA with 3% of employee salary match

We will perform background checks and request professional references from finalist candidates.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.