Rewind: Logitech: Senior Manager, Software Program Management

Apparently Logitech hasn’t found the Senior Manager, Software Program Management they were looking for.  The position has re-appeared on dice.com, and in addition to the previous information, has compensation listed at $120k, which seems reasonable for the role.  Unfortunately, my best guess still puts this in Mississauga and doing .NET.

Switching Jobs at a Loss?

An article on eWeek implies that some software developers are having to take lower salaries than they used to, particularly those fresh out of school.  The Toronto job market still seems pretty hot to me, but with sub-prime and the cascading effect on the economy, it wouldn’t surprise me if this has an impact, either now or in the months to come.

That might imply that this is either a good time to hold on to your hat and wait out the rain, or to make a switch to something ’stable’ now before things get worse.  Of course, if it were that easy to pick stable companies, everybody would be doing it.

Workplace Experiments: 37Signals and Atlassian

It’s interesting to see both 37signals and Atlassian taking up workplace experiments.  It’s nice to see companies that are willing to go that extra mile to find out what works well for them and their employees.

I’m not aware of any Toronto software companies taking similar steps.

“Web 2.0 Shop”: Java/Ruby Developer

A company who describes themselves as a “Web 2.0 Shop” is looking for a Java / Ruby developer:

You will be developing web 2.0 type applications for the web and mobile handsets using Java/J2EE/J2ME and Ruby on Rails primarily in an Agile (paired-programming, test-driven development) environment. You will also be using other new technologies such as AJAX in order to deliver the richest user experience possible.

The posting describes the company as follows:

a small, growing Web 2.0 development shop that also has a venture fund component to their business. They are investing in, and helping clients/partners rapidly bring products to market

The Good
What’s actually there sounds reasonable. A startup environment, Java/Ruby technology. Venture-funding might imply there’s backing finance.

The Bad
There’s not a lot of information here. Agile rates a mention, but it doesn’t go much deeper than that. The posting seems to have been written by someone who’s aware of a variety of technologies, but it’s not clear how GWT and Ruby on Rails would be assembled into a single application in a useful way (it can be done, but I’m not entirely sure it’s a good idea). There’s literally no clear reference to the company, the compensation or the work.

YMMV
Not everyone wants a startup, and not everyone’s fond of J2ME. Those are areas you’ll want to ponder. There’s also a mention of 25% travel, which could be quite a bit (e.g. a week a month, or a day or two per week).

In Summary
If you’ve got Java and Ruby expertise and want to exercise it for a “Web 2.0″ startup, I guess you might want more information. If that sounds like you, contact the original poster. For the rest of you, there’s just not enough there to give this a strong recommendation.

Telus: Software Specialist

Telus is looking for a Software Specialist with both Ruby and Java experience:

a Web Application Developer to design, develop, implement, test and document a enhancements and bug fixes for the Assurent Vulnerability Research Portal (VR Portal). The VR Portal is a key component of the VR service delivery infrastructure and is accessed by our global customer base which includes leading security product vendors, software and high-tech manufacturers, telecommunications providers, and large enterprise customers.

The Good
There aren’t a lot of big companies that are posting opportunities to work on both Java and Rails, and here’s an opportunity where experience in both is a positive.

The Bad
Despite the fact that Telus is looking for someone with some leadership experience, they use the roles “web developer” and “specialist” and are only looking for five years experience, all of which tend to be cues that they don’t intend to pay a lot of money. If you’ve got a fair amount of experience, you might find this doesn’t have the compensation you’re used to, so talk to Telus about the compensation before you waste too much time.

There isn’t much information on the role and there’s basically nothing on the compensation, location, process.

YMMV
Some of you would probably love to work for a big company like Telus, others amongst you were probably ready to move on to the next listing as soon as you saw the name. I don’t know anyone who works for Telus, but not everyone wants to work for a big company.

They mention Altova. Every time I have to use an Altova tool, I break out in hives, although some of my past colleagues seemed enamoured by XML Spy in ways that I don’t entirely understand.

In Summary
If you’d like a job with a big company, but still be able to do development in both Java and Ruby, Telus may be the company for you. Talk to them about Salary before you get too deep.

Apptastics: Ruby on Rails Developer

Apptastics is looking for a Ruby on Rails developer in Philadelphia, PA, San Francisco, CA, or remote:

We’re currently operating in stealth mode. We are looking for 1-3 full-time developers who are well versed in ROR who want to immerse themselves completely into our apps and help lead the development.

Ideally you should have strong experience developing with Rails, have successfully deployed a publicly accessible rails based website, have expertise in relational database design and optimization, experience with deploying and scaling production Rails applications, a detailed approach in design, coding and testing, familiarity with a broad range of web technologies including ajax, javascript, CSS, XML, open APIs.

Experience with social networking app implementations is a bonus.

Their idea of remote might be still be in the United States of America. Canada might be more remote than they have in mind. That said, if this sounds like your opportunity, there’s no harm in asking, right?

CBC’s Senior Applications Manager Details

CBC is still looking for their Senior Applications Manager, and this nexstaf posting provides some details that weren’t visible elsewhere, notably the 90k maximum salary and a little bit about the technology environment:

This is a multi technology platform environment including: UNIX/Oracle, Windows, .Net, JAVA, etc.

nCircle: Principal Software Engineer

nCircle is looking for a Principal Software Engineer:

• Technical lead for software design and development projects
• Work closely with Product Management to understand customer requirements
• Create designs, develop software and write tests
• Assume responsibility for the quality and timeliness of assigned software development efforts
• Active participation as a member of a world class software team

The skill-set they’re looking for sounds pretty serious, at least compared to much of what’s out there these days:

• Strong experience with at least one Unix-derived operating system, including kernel and system utilities
• Experience specifying hardware systems for enterprise appliances, diagnosing hardware-related problems (eg, intermittent RAID failures), porting operating systems to new hardware, porting applications to new operating systems and new compilers. Experience designing appliances for reliability, scalability, and supportability.
• Experience porting between versions of Unix and Linux

The Good
The work that you might get to do for nCircle sounds both interesting and rare (e.g. “porting operating systems to new hardware”).  If this is the sort of work you like to do, then there aren’t a lot of companies doing this kind of work in Toronto, as far as I’ve seen.  And, for once, there’s some sense of what you might be working on, with the mention of IP360.

The Bad
There’s not a lot of detail on other fronts — the process, the compensation.  The posting itself doesn’t contain much information about the location, company and work, but they leave enough information that the interested can track down that kind of information in more detail.

YMMV
nCircle only talks in detail about the bay-area office, so I can’t say for certain that this is Toronto-based, but since they do have a Toronto office, it seems likely.  Then again, perhaps a bay-area move is just what you’re looking for?

In Summary
If porting operating systems and diagnosing intermittent RAID failures sounds like heaven, then you’re probably already responding to this posting.  Since most of you are probably used to building Web Applications in Java, this might not be your thing.

“International Investment Firm”: Development Manager / Architect

Pencom is helping a ‘Major International Investment Firm’ look for someone that they can call a ‘senior software development manager / architect‘:

• Build, maintain, retain and grow a strong development team
• Set technical architecture direction and vision for the development team
• Partner with IT Mgmt and Business to deliver eCommerce projects on-scope, on-time and on-budget and contributes to evolve an effective strategy
• Lead development of technology solutions to automate and support critical business processes and strategic plans

The title’s quite a mouthful, but the posting is reasonable, although I’ve seen this one before in other forms. In addition to the technical skills, they’re clearly looking for someone with a background in fixed-income securities (aka bonds) and messaging:

• Experience with electronic trading aspects of the Global Fixed Income business, such as current and emerging new markets, connectivity, auto-quoting, distribution, etc.
• Experience with full trade lifecycle events, and it’s technical and operational support

The Good
The salary is listed as ‘open’, which might be good. Investment banking is supposed to be an industry where there’s money to be made, although I’m not sure if that’s true for the development manager / architect types.

Certainly, there’s something appealing about the firm logic of financial markets and software development. They seem well-suited for each other, and because investment banks are a rarer bird than retail banking, the work might be more exciting.

The Bad
They don’t seem especially familiar with the adage, “on time, on budget, on quality: pick two.” That may simply be using industry boiler-plate for “looking for someone who won’t screw up our plans”, or they may be have-their-cake-and-eat-it types who refuse to acknowledge that software development is difficult to predict.

Those I’ve met who do work for retail banking are either very bored or very well paid, sometimes both. If investment banking isn’t more exciting, then you could be in for a dull ride.

Ultimately, the biggest problem here is the usual: lack of information. Who’s the investment firm, and are they on the verge of topping over in the sub-prime mess? What exactly is the work? Where is (or will be) the office? What are the details fo the technology? What’s the compensation, other than ‘open’? Are you building a team and a product from scratch, or working with an existing team and product? And so on.

YMMV
Your mileage may vary with respect to the aforementioned ‘open’ salary. Does that mean it’s well-paid, or simply that they’re not sure how much they’re willing to pay you until they meet you?

In Summary
If you’re looking to make a move and a development manager / architect role in investment banking sounds like fun to you, this might be an interesting opportunity, but the only way to find out is to respond.

McAfee: Software Developer

This is far afield from the usual listings, but caught my eye.  If you’re in and/or around the Waterloo area, there are a fair number of software development shops to choose from, and some may be more appealing than this.  That said, McAfee is a well-known company, and they won a “Best Employer” award recently, so it may not be a bad choice.

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of detail in the listing, other than doing C++/Windows development in Waterloo.  If that sounds like it’d be of interest to you, then you’ll need to get more information from them on just about every category.