TD Bank: AVP, Software Engineering

TD Bank Financial Group is looking for an AVP,  Software Engineering:

Reporting to the VP, Engineering the successful candidate will oversee an annual plan of approximately $50mm and a team of 143 FTEs spread across five campuses: Scarborough, Mississauga, London, Toronto and Lewiston, Maine.

The role is accountable for leading the teams in Security, Directory, Software Engineering and Database and ensures this North American team is aligned with ITS strategic initiatives.

The Good
TD Bank is a big, well-known financial institution.  Assistant Vice-President for a bank is a pretty senior role, and the size of the budget and team is significant.

The Bad
The usual dearth of information.  What’s the compensation like for an AVP at TD Bank?  Is the location the TD HQ downtown, or something else?  What are the travel expectations, given the distributed team?

YMMV
Your mileage may vary when it comes to working in a financial institution, even in Canada, in the wake of sub-prime.  It’s also likely to be a very corporate environment.

There isn’t going to be very much actual technology.  At this level, you’re mostly about managing people and contracts and budgets, and not so much about the technology.  Sure, it’s important to have some understanding about the technology that you can get a sense of strategic direction and do an effective job of managing the people who’re going to have to work more closely with the technology, but you’re not that likely to fire up an IDE, even to review someone else’s code.

But then, if you were looking for that sort of thing, you probably stopped reading after “TD Bank: AVP,” because what else would you expect?

In Conclusion
To be honest, anyone who thinks they have have a shot at the job and is at all interested should probably look into it in more detail.  Positions this senior at this big a company don’t come around every hour, so it’s worth a quick look to see if there’s a fit.

Morbid Curiosity: Endur / AVS

If you’re even remotely tempted to move to Atlanta to help Endur by developing in AVS (”proprietary C like language”) and helping them migrate to Java at some point in the future, I invite you to consider that working for Endur might not be that different from coming down with the MUMPS.

Unspecified: Manager, Application Development

This posting reminds me of one I’ve seen before and linked to CPNI, although CPNI’s current job listings don’t seem to support that theory.  That said, sometimes these things happen when you get into exclusivity clauses with recruiters, so it may still be valid.

Ultimately, I think there’s too much detail missing to give a full review, but if you’re interested in a senior role in a company that does payment processing with what sounds like a Microsoft/Java technology mix, it may be worth trying to learn a little more.  And when I say a little more, I really mean the basics, like “Who are you?  Where are you located?  What does this job pay?”

ONESTOP Media Group: Java Developer

ONESTOP Media Group is looking for a Java Developer:

Onestop Media Group is looking for a creative, problem solving developer. This position requires an individual with experience taking a significant role in several past projects. You will be expected to design, build, document and test your solutions in a team environment. The company wants your input on software development processes and system design.

The Good
Actually, the primary thing that attracts me to this posting is humor, the visible human nature behind it.  This isn’t the HR-sanitized posting, or the carefully phrased list of role and requirements of a big company, it’s a simple posting with a little humor:

Please apply with a cover letter describing why you would fit into our company. They are read, and it’s a good way to differentiate your application from the dozens of bots who will also apply for this job.

The dual-head workstation and coffee sound good, too.  The location’s a good one, down by Metro Hall, pretty central and pretty lively.

The Bad
They don’t sound like they’re looking for a terrifically senior candidate.  The mix of PHP and Java would not be surprising in a professional services environment, but it’s a little less obvious in what looks like a kind of product company.  But the biggest flaw is the pervasive one: there’s not very much information to go on.  We don’t know much about the work, the process, the compensation, and so forth.  Just because you’ve got a simple posting doesn’t mean you have to leave quite so much stuff out.  So, as usual, if you’re interested, you’ll have to talk to them.

YMMV
Because they haven’t specified, I can only make assumptions about the compensation, but based on the experience they’re looking for and the overall tone of the posting, I’m assuming they want someone with decent skills and ambition, but not a great deal of experience, and are going to pay accordingly.  Maybe a $60k job, for instance?

In Summary
If you like what they’re doing, or you think what they’re looking for sounds like you, this might be worth further investigation.

Autodesk: Software Development Manager, Industrial Design

Autodesk is looking for a Development Manager: Industrial Design to lead “a top-notch, global engineering team engaged in the development of next generation software solutions for Industrial Design” by:

• Project Task Estimating and Scheduling.
• Manage cross functional relationships.
• Software Implementation.
• Team Management and Team Building.
• Communication.
• Organizational Savvy.
• Staff and Career Development.
• Global Engineering Team.

The Good
Generally, Autodesk does a decent job with their postings.  The role is laid out, there’s a decent, if not detailed, sense of the work.  Autodesk itself is well-known, and so are a number of their products.  Their financials have been pretty stable, with a little movement around revenue prediction adjustments, but nothing that leads to the sense of instability.

The Bad
There’s basically no description of the compensation (other than ‘exceptional’) and process.

YMMV
The way ‘organizational savvy’ is described makes me consider if the role is in a politicized, charged environment.  If so, then that’s something that some candidates would see as an interesting challenge, while others might avoid.

The location seems to be in the King and Sherbourne area, which is quiet, and moderately central, but neither exciting nor close to the subway lines.  Certainly better suited to someone who is vehicle-commuting or in the central or east end.  The nearby George Brown campus would allow for all sorts of extra-curricular learning, I guess.

The underlying technology, which is less important for this role, I imagine, is C++.  Since Toronto’s mostly a business-programming town in Java and .NET, this may be a problem for some of you.

The global engineering team aspect is hard to read.  Autodesk is a big company, and a bit of distributed teams is probably to be expected, but it’s possible this masks a development model that might not work well, so you’d want to inquire.  The desire to have someone with experience working with software engineers in China may play into that.  That said, Toronto has a sizeable portion of Chinese developers, so if you’ve got a Chinese background, this might be a strength you can leverage.

In Summary
Basically, Autodesk is a big company making recognizable products, so if the rest of the position fits, it may be worth learning a little more about the work and the compensation.

Fiver Media: Technical Team Lead

So far, no WWDC announcements of new mac-book pros, so I may have to choose between the great high-res screen of the large 17″ MBP and the less-great, but less-expensive screen on the reasonably-sized 15″ MBP.  Once that happens, posting rates should uptick again.

Fiver Media is looking for a Technical Team Lead:

Design, develop, and manage all technical aspects of the project, including:

• Development and review of technical requirements
• High-level design and architecture
• Assignment of work to team
• Coach and mentor other developers
• Conduct performance reviews
• Represent team in management meetings
• Code reviews as well as doing some coding yourself

Fiver Media seems anxious to portray themselves as fun:

There was a small team that tried “dress-up Thursdays” and that only lasted a few weeks!  The last thing we want is a working environment where eight bosses are asking for “TPS” reports, like yesterday. Fiver is professional, but never corporate. In fact we don’t even like saying that word. It’s evil. We laugh and play hard, but always work harder

The Good
Companies that work hard to be fun are often, in fact, fun places to work.  I’ve worked at a few, and I enjoyed many aspects of that environment.

There’s not a lot of information on the technology, but this employee testimonial from their website implies they might be doing some interesting things:

“I find myself working with things I had only read about and never expected to use, like massively virtual environments and extreme density blades.”

Then again, the only hit on ‘extreme density blades’ is their website, so perhaps that testimonial doesn’t go as far as I’d like, even if blade density is something that vendors talk about.

They’re located over by Wellington/Simcoe, which is both pretty central and yet still in a nice area for shopping, food, etc.  They’re on the 16th floor, so they may have nice views.

The Bad
The thing that stands out right away is that their website is directed to the potential employee.  They don’t talk about their clients, and they don’t talk about the work.  That’s often indicative of an industry that not everyone wants to work in (e.g. gambling, porn).  I don’t know what Fiver Media does, but I’m suspicious of anyone who isn’t busy trying to tell me what they do.  Looks like it’s a gaming shop, affiliated with bodog with all that entails.

There’s not much information.  The role is reasonably well described, the work, the compensation are barely mentioned, and the process, while it does rate a mention, doesn’t get much more than that.

YMMV
Your mileage will definitely vary when it comes to working for a gaming company.  I know people who are dead-set against it, and others who don’t really know what they think.  I’ve heard my share of war stories from a colleague who used to work for a company that did online poker.

Some companies work hard to be fun because they’ve elected to use that, rather than cash, as a motivating factor.  As a result, some of those companies don’t pay very well compared to their corporate brethren.  Other companies work so hard to be fun that they’re willing to continue to employ people who aren’t getting the job done, which can be frustrating.  I don’t know that Fiver Media is or isn’t like that, but those are some areas where your mileage may vary.

Ultimately, as a gaming shop, my first instinct is that they pay reasonably well and are a reasonably fun place to work in an industry that’s a little sketchy and not to everyone’s taste.

In Summary
If working for a company involved in online gambling doesn’t bother you, Fiver Media might be your thing.  They’ve got a nice location, and they imply that they’re a fun place to work.  There’s not a lot of detail, but if that much sounds good, you could certainly inquire about the rest.

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.

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?

Oxford Properties Group: Manager, Application Development

Oxford Properties Group is looking for a Manager, Application Development:

The posting is too short to cover in much detail.  There’s a bit about the role here, but the posting doesn’t talk about the company itself, although the website does:

• “global real estate platform that participates in the market as an investor, owner, asset manager, developer and real estate manager”
• “employs more than 1,400 individuals”

So, they’re obviously into real estate, but I don’t really have any sense what applications they might be developing, how many, size of the team being managed, whether or not this role is about lots of new greenfield work or legacy maintenance and support, the technologies employed herein, what the compensation is like, and so on.  So, basically, if you’d like to be an AppDev manager in real estate, you could try and pry more information out of the Oxford Properties Group and see what happens.

Mostly, this is interesting because it’s a senior role in a less-common industry vertical, and probably centrally-located.

N/S: Java Team Lead

Some unspecified “boutique consulting firm with blue-chip clients” is looking for a Java Team Lead:

• Work with stakeholders to define, design, and implement software technology
• Participate in the software development process from design to release
• Investigate, review and integrate third party technologies
• Provide assistance to other developers on and off-site
• Provide assistance to customer support, documentation and quality assurance as needed

The Good
It’s a pretty simple description of a job, not overflowing with unnecessary technical skills, stuffed with process terminology.  And there are some key phrases in here that I’d consider green flags.  In particular, the desire to do what’s best for the customer (not a part of every consulting organization), simple technology lists that don’t overemphasize vendor solutions.  No reference to overblown processes.

I guess the posting reads like it was written by someone who wants to hire someone to get some work done and get it done well, rather than someone who wants a buzzword-heavy, white-paper friendly person who can talk about total cost of ownership ’til the cows come home, but has trouble writing and deploying code.

The Bad
The description doesn’t say much about the company, the process, the technology, the compensation, the location or the work.  Mostly, it talks a little about the role.  What’s there sounds pretty decent, but what isn’t there is quite a bit, so you’d have to fill in the blanks by talking to them.

The security and financial checks sound onerous to me.  While I imagine most of you would be able to pass these checks, some of you might not want to work for an employer where these kinds of restrictions are necessary.

YMMV
Travel - up to 25%.  The posting isn’t clear if that’s a theoretical maximum, where most weeks won’t involve any travel, or if that’s a regular expectation of travel.  Regardless, some people would find 25% travel (one week in four, or 2.5 days every two weeks, for instance) to be pretty taxing.

In Summary
I’m not sure how to conclude.  What’s there sounds pretty decent, but there’s so much missing that it’s hard to form much of an opinion.  I guess if this sounds interesting to you, you’ll want to talk to them, and beyond that, I can’t add much.