Job description
We’re looking for a well-rounded, seasoned Principal Developer to join Coconut! Reporting to our CTO, Principal Developers at Coconut will work together with Engineering, Product, and Security to identify and test strategic, horizontal opportunities for differentiation across roadmaps. Principal Developers should become subject matter experts in multiple domains relevant to Coconut and our industry. You will represent senior technical leadership within our organization. You should have the desire to solve problems, mentor, and elevate engineering teams.
This role asks that you develop a deep understanding of our product, and not only rely on your advanced technical skills, but also on the ability to collaborate effectively across multiple teams. A Principal Developer focuses on solving our current technical issues, having the instinct to anticipate needs and ensure our solutions fit into the future technical vision of the product. A Principal Developer also reaches beyond immediate technical needs, looking for ways to have a broader impact. The successful candidate for this role will have a strong understanding of software development practices, especially architecture, stay up to date with the latest best practices in software development, and possess the ability to identify technical and delivery dysfunctions and champion solutions to address them.
We don’t need you to be an expert in PHP or React but you must be willing to learn as you go and you’ll have our full support on this journey.
- We innovate on top of a modern solution stack consisting of web technologies (such as React and Laravel) utilizing a RESTful architecture, and backed by relational DBs (MySQL and PostgreSQL) and deployed using Docker and Kubernetes in an AWS environment.
- We don’t follow rigid Scrum, but we do work in an agile, iterative way, and continuously improve and implement what works for us
- Blameless culture and a continuous improvement mindset
YOU’RE FIRED UP TO
Demonstrate Technical Ownership
- Assist in sculpting the architectural vision for significant parts of our stack to allow for rapid iteration and long term stability.
- Contribute to and guide overall software architecture and its implementation; aligning teams on necessary activities needed to drive adoption.
- Provide design documents and documentation to ensure efficient maintenance, knowledge transfer and code reuse
- Identify areas of opportunity for new/repurposed technology affording new ways we can serve our customers and their users
- Validate those opportunities via experiments, measurement, and critical feedback
- Develop prototypes of those opportunities, as well as the ideas of your peers
- Contribute to determining the functionality, performance, scalability, and reliability of our products
- Lead the research, scoping, design, and planning of technical initiatives with realistic implementation schedules
- Participate in the development and testing of functionality in collaboration with team members, while providing technical advice and guidance
- Articulate status/dependencies/blockers proactively and effectively, while subscribing to a customer-first approach to software development
- Deep dive and uncover or foresee technology and organizational needs
- Troubleshoot and solve technical problems of the highest scope, complexity, and ambiguity for your department
- Where possible, become the center for innovative ideas and opportunities between several teams, with a willingness to experiment and confront large and complex problems
- Analyze engineering challenges and develop solutions to resolve issues
Be a Nomad
- Much of this role is about communication both internally and externally, so you should have experience at writing and speaking.
- Ideas and prototypes will be much of what you do, but that is all for nothing if it can’t make it to production. So, you should have experience documenting, collaborating, and transitioning prototypes to future states of maturity.
- Collaborate and make recommendations across several teams, and help the team make evidence-based decisions in alignment with our strategic plans
- Work with engineering managers to understand areas of concern and help identify and align on solutions
Be a Leader
- Lead by example - act in accordance with our CHEERS values
- Mentor, coach, and elevate the members of the organization
- Guide members to remove blockers and encourage collaboration
- Demonstrate and set technical standards and best practices, as if creating a center of excellence within the engineering department
- Have the desire to constantly improve your own technical and product knowledge, and empower your peers to do the same
- Contribute to the hiring, onboarding, and development of new team members
- Provide technical expertise and guidance to the engineering team improving quality of deliverables
WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TEAM
- 15+ years proven experience in shipping multiple products, preferably within multiple roles - full-stack development, deployment, and testing across multiple web platforms
- Proposes initial technical implementation which supports architectural changes that solve scaling and performance problems
- Adept at simplifying complex codebases with concern toward maintainability
- Mastery at ramping up quickly in new languages and frameworks
- Experience in automating development, understanding when best to implement
- Extensive knowledge of multiple programming paradigms and software development methodologies, understanding when best to apply different approaches (TDD, DD, etc.)
- Strong understanding of GIT and associated workflows (pull requests, code reviews)
- Experience writing / working with REST and associated technologies (JWT, JWE, etc)
- Experience with javascript (React, Redux) and CSS, PHP 7+, Laravel or Symfony, MariaDB / MySQL is preferred but not required
- Exceptional communication skills - be able to convey your thoughts, ideas, and projects effectively across the organization; even to non technical audiences
- Ability to create thorough technical documentation and articulate design decisions driving alignment throughout the department and company (as needed)
- Ability to connect the dots between systems and problems and communicate the impacts and recommendations to the team
- The desire to be a large proponent of an organization’s engineering culture and influence the adoption of better practices
- Proven leadership skills - having mentored, coached, or unblocked members on a team, as well as encourage them to strive for best practices
- You’ve used AI tooling for work or personal use. You explore new tools, workflows, and ideas to make things more efficient, and are eager to deepen your understanding of AI and use it regularly
- Experience in or knowledge of the Financial Industry would be a bonus
Our Investment in You:
- “Cabana Days” - our version of a flexible work week!
T o enable our employees to do their best work, offering flexibility to prioritize what is important and to take time needed for rest and rejuvenation when possible based on business and operational needs.
- Ability to do your job in a supported, but still flexible environment
- Supported professional development, learning & career opportunities - be supported in your growth journey!
- Regular 1:1 coaching with your leader and regular connection to a passionate executive team
- Work in a team big enough for growth but lean enough to make a real impact
A full range of benefits to keep you happy & healthy;
Competitive Salaries - we pay fairly based on experience and expertise, not your ability to negotiate!
Health & Dental Benefits, Virtual Care, & Disability top up - all starting from day 1!
Virtual mental health and EAP platform
WealthSimple GRSP & Matching
Annual Wellness Benefit ($1000 per year)
Opportunity to work remote - anywhere in Canada!
Employee Options - everyone shares in our success!
Internet Subsidy on each paycheck
Tiki Bucks Incentive Program - everyone is entitled to earn bonuses!
A People First Company - 4.4 rating on Glassdoor
Recently named ”Most Admired Corporate Cultures” and ranked #6 in “Best Workplaces in Canada” in company size category
Who we are, and what we do:
Mission Match customers with the right expert, at the right time, so no opportunity is lost.
Values C ollaboration. H onesty. E mpathy. E levate. R esilience. S ervice Excellence.
Coconut Software makes it effortless for customers to connect with their bank or credit union. Our appointment scheduling, queue management, and video banking solutions are used by leading financial institutions across North America, including RBC, Arvest Bank, Vancity, and Rogue Credit Union. Organizations that use Coconut benefit from a seamless customer experience that improves NPS, reduces wait times, and increases conversion rates.
To date we have raised close to 40M and have been doubling revenue year after year. The team at Coconut has ambitious growth plans to continue to scale the business to new heights by owning the North American market and delivering innovative solutions to our customers.
Coconut has a company culture that is best in class. We foster a community that is unconditionally inclusive, and in return ask that our people contribute their differing perspectives, ideas and experiences for one common purpose: to advance the way people live and work in an environment of diversity, equity and inclusion and workplace belonging.
Some recent awards we’re proud of include:
Coconut Software is committed to treating all people in a way that allows them to maintain their dignity and independence. We believe in integration and equal opportunity. We are committed to meeting the needs of people with disabilities in a timely manner, and will do so by preventing and removing barriers to accessibility and meeting accessibility requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005.
