Backend Engineer
AltoVita
Who we are
We are a female-founded scale-up, currently made up of around 80 AltoVitians. Our fully-remote team hails from 14 different countries and collectively speaks 18 languages. Most of the time, it is our differences that are celebrated (whether they are in cultures, personalities, preferences or passions). However, despite those differences, there are a few principal attributes that we share which define an AltoVitian. AltoVitians are tenacious, humble, and thoughtful. Being humble is important because it enables us to keep learning every day, and tenacity is necessary because in a high performing environment as fast-paced as AltoVita, taking it slow is simply not an option!
Today is a particularly exciting time to join our team, we closed our Series A financing round in late 2022 and will be starting the Series B rounds in the coming year. This next chapter won’t always be a smooth ride, but it will be filled with innovation, excitement and opportunities, so if you are ready for the challenge (and the fun!) of growing with us, we would love to hear from you.
What we do
AltoVita provides flexible living to employees anywhere in the world.
Most corporations, NGOs and government agencies do not typically endorse the use of (other) property platforms by their employees, because they do not deem them sufficiently safe for staff in their care. Therefore, companies have to resort to a highly fragmented property distribution system and as a result employees experience a slower, less transparent and more expensive journey to finding temporary accommodation for professional travel.
This is where we come in. Our founders experienced the frustrations of temporary corporate accommodation firsthand and decided that safety shouldn’t be a sacrifice. Today, the AltoVita platform boasts over 7 million properties in 36,000+ locations and 165 countries, with a key difference: every property is vetted and Duty of Care compliant, and our customer service team is on hand 24/7 to assist should any issue arise. This is why more and more organisations want us to take care of their employees’ stays away from home, and why employees all over the world will know who we are by 2025.
About the role
We are seeking a highly motivated and passionate Backend Engineer (API) to spearhead the enhancement of our technology framework and drive change. The ideal candidate will possess a strong foundation in API architecture with proficiency in both PHP and JavaScript/TypeScript.
This role is crucial for driving our technology strategy forward, focusing on system evaluation, architectural enhancement, and integration of new technologies with existing systems. This role offers the opportunity to come into a growing business and have immediate impact. Reviewing, architecting and driving forward the backend platform with the aim of leading teams in the future.
In this role you should be an excellent communicator who is able to translate complex requirements into functional architecture. You will have hands-on experience on software development and be able to manage and understand our current applications and architecture, challenging the status quo and having a strong vision for the future of our technology stack. We’re looking for a team member who will be committed to the cause, flexible, reliable and responsible. Keeping the team informed, being an active listener and always at hand to support and respect others.
Responsibilities
- Technology Evaluation and Enhancement: Conduct thorough assessments of our current PHP & NodeJS based backend applications and infrastructure to pinpoint improvement opportunities. Challenge and evolve our platform technologies to enhance system performance and scalability. Set the standards high for the level of quality we deliver, the quality we build and our performance metrics.
- Code Development and Integration: Maintain and enhance existing codebases while also developing new features for our next-generation platforms. Ensure high compatibility and seamless integration across systems. Peer reviewing other backend engineers code to help build the highest quality solution.
- Lead, contribute and develop coding and technological standards.
- Testing and Quality Assurance: Design and implement comprehensive testing frameworks, including unit, contract, and end-to-end tests, to ensure functionality, reliability, and quality of backend applications.
- Collaboration and Leadership: Work closely with product teams, front-end developers, DevOps, and QA engineers to align technologies with business objectives, improve user experiences, and bolster development capabilities.
- DevSecOps Practices: Follow Agile Methodologies and Enhance CI/CD pipelines and embed security practices throughout the development lifecycle to optimise deployments and bolster system security.
- Performance Optimisation: Focus on optimising application performance through strategic database and application architecture enhancements, prioritising user experience, scalability, and speed.
- Leading and Mentoring junior and mid level engineers in the future.
Requirements
Required Skills
- Backend Development: 5+ years of experience in backend development, ideally with expertise in both PHP and JavaScript (Node.js/TypeScript).
- API Design: Demonstrable experience in designing and managing scalable and secure APIs.
- Strong communication to technical and non-technical team members.
- Automated Testing: Extensive experience with automated testing practices.
- Database Management: Strong understanding of MySQL and NoSQL databases.
- CI/CD: Proven ability in utilising automated pipelines for fast build, deployment, security checks, and quality assurance.
Desirable Skills
- DevOps and Security: Experience with AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, and secure coding practices. Familiarity with modern security protocols and measures.
- Creating APIs from Scratch: Experiencing taking requirements or already developed applications and migrating or building new services from idea to production.
Ways of Working
AltoVita is a fully remote team. Although we have regular touch-points throughout the week, organise off-sites in several locations, trust is essential for us to work effectively as a team. Our founders empower us to make decisions autonomously, and in turn expect that we also empower our direct reports.
Join our Team
AltoVita is the sum of every member of the team. We know that a strong team is a diverse team, and are therefore committed to being an equal opportunity employer, so please bring all of yourself to the interviews and most importantly to our team.
Becoming an AltoVitian means you will benefit from:
- A team that will always put you first
- Incredible opportunities for growth and career advancement
- A fully-remote working environment
- Wellness benefits and a wellness budget, which can be spent on a range of options including gym memberships, home meal delivery services, mindfulness applications, and many more
- A work-from-home allowance to get your home-office set up
- A generous vacation package so you can recharge or explore