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?”

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.

Logitech: Sr. Manager, Software Program Management

Logitech is looking for a Senior Manager, Software Program Management, and apparently feels strongly about Scrum:

He/She will be responsible for building a high performance, agile project management and engineering services organization. This senior role is a member of the Customer and Platform Services group building leading edge internet-based customer services for the Logitech Harmony Remote product lines.

The Good
It’s a chance to work closely with a large company on a successful product line. It sounds like a serious and transformative role where you may get the opportunity to really drive Scrum at Logitech, or at least at this location. Assuming you do so successfully, this seems like a good resume-builder.

The Bad
As far as I can tell, you’d have to work in an industrial park in Mississauga. I’ve worked in that area before, and it’s a bit of a wasteland. You’d have to be a vehicle-commuter, and you’d probably want to be coming from the west or northwest.

If you’re willing to work out there, you might also want to ask yourself if you’d rather work for Wishabi, or RIM.

Then there’s the usual lack of detailed information. The role, process and technology have some definition, although not tons. The work, compensation and location are almost completely undefined, although I’ve obviously guessed about the location.

YMMV
There’s a .NET reference in there. Some of you might be enthused about .NET, some not.

If you’re coming from the west or northwest, possibly even the north, this might be a convenient, if dull, location. For the rest of us this location is both very inconvenient and dull.

I don’t imagine there’s much hands-on development in this role. For some, that might be a concern.

In Summary
If you believe strongly in agile processes, know a bit about Scrum and .NET and live in the west, north or northwest, this may be just the thing for you.

Little Bites: CBC, Heenan, Microsoft/Ireland, Devlin

CBC is clearly still looking for their Senior Applications Manager (15-Feb-2008, 30-Jan-2008): Craigslist/Modis, Craigslist. I’m still skeptical about the compensation, and the one person I know who has worked for the CBC doesn’t have overly-inspiring words of encouragement, but there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the posting, and I think the CBC is an interesting organization.

Heenan would like you to qualify for the “hidden job market” by putting your information in their databank. While I agree the ‘hidden job market’ exists, I don’t believe the jobs that recruiters hold are usually in that category. If a recruiter is retained, why would they not do their best to attract additional candidates? That said, if you’re willing to trust ‘em … maybe there’s an interesting job in it for you.

Microsoft still (20-Feb) wants You to move to Ireland. Ireland’s a nice place, if you’re willing to move. Well, it seemed nice in the two weeks I was there, anyway, which I suppose isn’t the same thing. Still, interesting opportunity for the mobile and Microsoft-oriented.

Devlin’s still (22-Feb-2008) looking for that tech lead / architect.

Little Bites: .NET/Java Technical Lead, Intelliware Architect, Java Developer

Robert Half is looking for a Technical Lead with good experience in both .NET and Java, with decent listed compensation. There’s not a lot of details there, and the technology stack leans toward .NET, but if that’s your bent and you’d like to consider getting paid $90-115k, I’m sure Robert Half would like to hear from you.

Looks like Bevertec is trying to help Intelliware find that architect.

This posting seems to be casting the net pretty wide.  A Java developer looking for a fun working environment with some basic technology requirements.  If anyone responds to this, do let me know what it is, I’m morbidly curious.

CIHI: Technical Lead

Canadian Institutes for Health Information is looking for two technical leads, each of whom:

leads/coordinates all applications development activities. Activities include, but are not limited to, participation in requirements identification and feasibility analysis, generation of technical solutions and design, coding, testing, quality assurance, implementation and all supporting project artefacts and documentation.

CIHI says, about themselves:

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides essential data and analysis on Canada’s health system and the health of Canadians.

They seem to be looking for people with both .NET and Java expertise.

The Good
This is mostly interesting because it’s a moderately senior role in a not-for-profit organization dealing with something positive (health), which isn’t always that easy to come by. The role and responsibilities sound reasonable, if you can stomach the kind of working environment that makes reference to PMP documentation.

The Bad
There’s no information about the work, the compensation, and limited information about the company.

Although I understand that CIHI collects health information, and may well use software to do so, the posting says almost nothing about the nature of the work with which the candidate will be involved.

The location is unknown; it may be the Toronto office at 90 Eglinton Avenue East, or could be somewhere else. There’s not much information about the working environment or the compensation. Given that most of their funding comes from the government, I’m not sure if their compensation can afford to be above-average at least in salary, although the inclusion of a pension plan might be interesting for some. Since an application development services manager makes under $80k, my hopes for a good salary are not high.

Conclusion
If you’re not too hung up on salary, and working for a not-for-profit health organization with a good pension plan sounds like your cup of tea, this might be just the place you’re looking for.

On the other hand, if you’ve got fair experience and you’ve gotten used to private sector pay, I have the feeling you’re going to find the salary disappointing, so you’d want to make sure the rest of the benefits and compensation plan make up for it sufficiently.

Deloitte: Senior Manager J2EE/.Net Consulting

Deloitte is looking for a Senior Manager J2EE/.Net Consulting:

As a Senior Manager, the successful candidate will hold a key leadership position within our practice, responsible for leading large-scale technology projects. Our client’s technology environments are complex, therefore the candidate will need to bring experience in similarly complex environments and understand how to coordinate across many applications and teams as part of a single effort.

The Good
It’s a pretty senior role. I’m given to understand that Deloitte tends to be a decent employer, although that’s third-hand information at best.

They are certainly a large employer, with “6,800 talented people in 51 offices dedicated to helping our clients.” That might strike you as good or as bad, depending on your background and preference.

The Bad
It’s not clear to me how close Deloitte imagines a Senior Manager being to the implementation efforts. It’s difficult to manage a technology project if you’re disconnected from the implementation, unless you’ve already established a great working relationship with people who are part of the implementation effort, so depending on Deloitte’s culture around this, you could be getting set up for failure. That said, this is something you could ask them during the interview process, and change, if need be.

The travel requirements are unclear; it rates a mention, but no specifics. It’d be good to know more about the compensation. The reference to offshore development doesn’t score many points with me either.

Sidebar
It’s amusing to me to see paragraphs like this one:

Due to the ever-expanding inventory of IT systems within most large organizations, clients are increasingly looking for ways to leverage and expand existing systems while avoiding duplicate or “throw-away” solutions. Current vendor offerings are rising to this challenge by supporting functionality re-use through “Service Oriented” architectures (SOA) and technology standards.

You could replace ‘Service Oriented’ with ‘Object Oriented’ here and turn back the clock ten years and it’d be like you never left. Practically speaking, developing large systems is hard work, and the code isn’t always re-usable. Architecture can aid in this area, but ultimately, nothing as vague as a grand architectural style like OO or SOA will, in and of itself, promote re-use, and many of the people spending lots of money retooling their systems with SOA are simply repeating the same mistakes they made when they rebuilt their systems in object-oriented code.

But, hey, I know I’m in the minority here; vendors are good at making new things sound important in order to sell you the latest technology stack, and business gets up in arms, and of course, consulting organizations respond to that. It’s not Deloitte’s fault, they’re just filling a market need.

Conclusions
If you’re in, or would like to be in, a pure management role in a large organization, this could be an interesting opportunity.  If you’re looking to do some coding, or find a niche in a small company this clearly isn’t your bag.  Those of you in the middle might want to talk to Deloitte and see whether you feel there’s a fit.

Ventus Funds: Sr. Software Developer

Well, post volume may slow slightly; I’ve got a new baby to deal with, and that’s really eating into my reading time. That said, I still managed to see this:

This role comes with significant responsibilities for software architecture and a corresponding significant equity stake in the company. You will work closely both with faculty at the University of Waterloo and commercial partners to translate research prototypes into robust products.

Basically sounds like an opportunity to work in an entrepreneurial environment, yet still bring home decent compensation. Sounds like the location is flexible: “Waterloo/Mississauga/Toronto (Toronto, Canada Area)”

I’m a little confused by the mix of Windows Mobile and “Java on the BlackBerry”, but perhaps those are technologies from two different projects.

Little Bites: Rock Star, L2EE

Although I imagine that prospective candidates find if flattering to imagine themselves as a “rock star” programmer in a field that is really low on rock-star glamour and street-cred, I have to say that I’d rather have slightly less flattery and slight more information on the role, project, company and compensation.  The phrase “knows C#Net, and has extensively written Windows Threaded Services and has written serial port communication software” is not really a lot to go on.

Although it’s possible that this job posting meant to refer to something real when it makes reference to ‘L2EE’, like this paper on Lightweight Process Coordination and J2EE, but … I think they just made a mistake, and then repeated it.

Autodesk: UI Research

Autodesk is looking for a developer for UI research with C#/C++ experience.  In addition to being a well-known company, this sounds like an opportunity to do some interesting work:

This position is an opportunity to be a key contributor to a project that introduces new innovative user interaction techniques into Autodesk products. As part of a team of researchers and designers you will contribute to the implementation and evaluation of prototypes for strategic research projects.