HandyMetrics: Technical Lead

HandyMetrics is looking for a Technical Lead:

• The Technical Lead has primary responsibility for overseeing all development activities related to the products and will provide guidance for members of the development team. In addition, this individual needs to be a talented developer who can take initiative and spearhead challenging projects. Working with the other members on the development team, this individual will help to ensure all software deployed meets a high standard, delivering on business and reliability requirements. Ultimately we are looking for someone who is passionate about making a difference with the skills and experience to contribute to the company’s development, while growing professionally themselves.
• Our systems are currently implemented using Rails 2.3, with plans to move to Rails 3+. Using Sencha Touch 1 mobile application framework with plans to move to Sencha 2+.

The Good
The technology mix sounds reasonable to me: Ruby on Rails, Sencha Touch, AWS. They claim to use agile methods. Their product seems to be meeting with some acceptance: “Our products are already in over 100 hospital sites and we are expanding internationally.”

They have apparently been nominated as “Startup of the Year” for 2012 by York Technology Alliance. That doesn’t mean a lot to me, but it’s probably better than no-one noticing you.

You can dig into the background of some of the people already involved.

YMMV
Your mileage may vary when it comes to being part of a startup within the University Health Network (UHN), it might  feel like a startup with a big brother to lean on, or it might feel like a cash-strapped enterprise. It seems like they’re looking for a jack of all trades — unix server administration, development, leadership, information visualization, front-end HTML5/CSS work

It sounds like they’re a very small group — that could either be a great opportunity or be something you’re not into.

The Location
It’s hard to say, but it looks like they’re on hospital row, which means there isn’t a ton of stuff right there at your fingertips, but you’re also not very far from Dundas, where you can go east to lots of restaurants and shopping, or west to Chinatown, Baldwin and Kensington.  There’s lots around if you’re willing to go a little farther afield. They’re easy to reach by TTC, but would be a pain by car and require a subway trip from Union.

What Should You Ask?
What’s it like to be part of a small group within the University Health Network (UHN). Does it feel like a startup, or part of a large organization?

What’s the compensation like — and given that this is a startup, what’s the salary/equity formula?

In Summary
If you’re looking for a lead role on a Rails project, or you’re  looking for an organization where you value the work, this seems like it might be an interesting opportunity for you.

Geosoft: Software Development Manager

Geosoft is looking for a Software Development Manager:

• Day to day management of the Software Development and Project Management teams (both in Canada and the US.)  This includes accountability for team performance, goals, metrics and best practices.
• Anticipate, change, implement, and continually evolve industry leading software development processes to meet future business, technology and customer needs.  The successful candidate will be responsible for Geosoft’s transformation into agile (including change management).
• Contribute as a senior R&D team member to define and achieve on group goals, metrics and plans to support business priorities.
• Accountable for the planning and successful completion of all software development projects to ensure timely and successful product releases, working closely with the Product Management team and customer facing personnel to ensure that standards and processes are continuously aligned with customer requirements.

It looks like Geosoft has been around for a while. They seem to be privately held, so I don’t know much about the company’s financial situation.

The Good
It’s a relatively clear and posting. It’s not vague, there are lots of honest details there that some companies would have obscured because they think job postings shouldn’t have those kinds of details. Those people are wrong. That’s what makes this job posting interesting.

It’s also a reasonably senior position.  There’s some travel opportunity, but not so much as to be irritating.  You can get a look at their software products from their website.  They were apparently “recognized in 2009 as one of the 10 Best Workplaces in Canada by the Great Place to Work® Institute”.

They’re interested in moving towards agile development.

The Bad
They may not already be doing any agile development. This isn’t the nineties anymore, or the aughts for that matter. What’s their current process like?

YMMV
Your mileage may vary when it comes to the team size. Some people looking for a managerial position are going to feel like they’ll be under-utilized managing eight direct reports. Others will probably prefer the sound of a small team, as long as the team members are sharp. I probably lean towards the latter, but the devil’s in the details.

I get the sense that their business is more in the desktop software side than the web side, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Then again, I could just as easily write the reverse.

What Should You Ask?
You’re going to want to get a good read on the team. After all, you’re supposed to manage them, and the difference between managing a small crack team and a small team of code monkeys is vast.

What’s their process like? Are the team members pushing for agile or being pushed into it? What’s their knowledge of agile and what’s the executive support for it? They’re saying they want to move, but what’s the drive here, and how important is it to them?

Where are the two remote team members? Why do they have remote team members, and is it working well?

How’s the company doing? Why do they need to hire a software development manager now? What’s the compensation like?

What’s their mix of software and technology like? Is it mostly desktop, is there a lot of web / integration work? It’s hard to get a sense of that from their website and posting.  Is it all C/C++, or .NET, or something else entirely?

The Location
GeoSoft seems to be located in Queen’s Quay Terminal. It’s a nice place, picturesque, not tremendously far from Union station, so reasonably accessible by TTC, not hard to drive to (although parking options aren’t great). There’s a few nice restaurants and shops in the area, although it’s not overflowing with either. If you live on the waterfront or near the gardiner/lakeshore, this is probably an appealing location. For the rest of you, it’s probably neither fantastic nor terrible.  If you do take the job, I recommend visiting the Harbourfront Pearl for dim sum regularly to get both a decent view and a decent meal. And while you’re at it, invite me, because I like that restaurant.

In Summary
It’s a reasonably senior position with a moderate team size, so it’s probably a good fit for someone who’s got just enough experience for the role, or for someone who really likes the smaller teams rather than a veteran used to and expecting something larger.

Garner: Sr. Software Developer

Garner (website, linkedin) is looking for a Sr. Software Developer:

You are proficient in at least Java, JavaScript and SQL. You have several years of experience developing server side business logic and web-based GUI components. You are familiar with Agile planning and XP engineering practices, especially TDD, refactoring, mock objects, pair programming and continuous integration. You have a mastery of design principles and the object-oriented paradigm of software development. You know the basics of shell scripting, jQuery, AJAX, HTML, CSS and HTTP.

You are curious and always striving to get better at your profession. You know that you will work in a totally different way 10 years from now and you are not scared by it. You like to experiment with new languages, tools, and libraries, applying your new knowledge to your everyday work.

Garner makes a platform called exdocs, and they used to direct people to exdocs.com; you’ll still find links pointing there. The new Garner website is still relatively young, I gather, so it’s a little lean on content, but it’s not hard to find out more about their product and company with a web search. You’ll even turn up ancilliary sites like specializedbid.com and their old exdocs.com site (which redirects now to the Garner site).

The Good
First and foremost, this is a posting written by (or at least heavily influenced by) someone who understands technology and what developers care about. It’s written with care, and this makes it stand out over the vast majority of job postings.

As a result of that, you can get a much stronger vibe for their development culture than you can for most postings on areas like software quality and agility. The passion for software comes through. I like that the posting mentions technologies but isn’t pedantic about them.

This posting was given to me directly, rather than something I found on my own, by someone who I’ve known for a while. He’s looking for strong candidates and I hope that my posting this will help him find them. If we’re lucky, he’ll be able to respond to some of my points here to help clarify anything.

Garner’s industry focus on Oil, Gas, Mining and Pipelines mean that their market is an important one in Canada and one that has been doing pretty well over the last few years. Some of their older pages talk more generally about logistics, freight, land management and other sectors, so I suspect these growth sectors are becoming (or have become) their primary focus.

I’ve been curious about Continuous Delivery techniques for a while, but haven’t had much experience with them. I don’t get a strong sense from the posting of what they’re doing with continuous delivery, but the fact that it  gets mentioned at all is appealing to me.

The Location
Their Toronto office is near Queen and Spadina. It’s a nice area, and not terribly difficult to get to by TTC, GO or road vehicles. Lots of tech companies there, so many of their potential candidates will already be working in the area — if that’s you, then getting yourself into their office for an interview should be pretty easy.

Basically, this is one of the more common areas for tech work, and you probably already know the tradeoffs of this area well enough that I needn’t bother speculating on your behalf.

What’s Missing
Garner is privately held, so I don’t know much about how the business is doing, growth, finances.

The redirection of the website and refocusing on growth industries seem like normal business changes, but it’s hard to really assess those kinds of changes from the outside — you’d have to be really immersed in the company to understand the impact. Is this a recent and significant change or just gradual business evolution. Are people inside the company happy with these changes?

What’s the size and composition of the team? What would you be working on? What’s the compensation like?

What are they doing with continuous delivery?

How do they manage the mix of user experience design and agile approaches?

YMMV
Your mileage may vary when it comes to working on a platform for capital projects in the oil, gas, mining and pipelines sectors. It won’t be everyone’s perfect job. If you’re looking for a consumer-focused startup, this isn’t it.

I know people who’d never take another Java job at this point. Even for many dedicated Java developers, the bloom is off the rose. The technologies they talk about sound like solid ones, but you might not be hyper-excited about the technologies themselves.

In Summary
If you’re experienced with Java and the Web and you’re looking for a new position, I’d guess this is likely to be interesting.

UPDATES
I’ve made some minor edits based on minor changes since I started writing, or things that I learned after posting. I don’t think they affect the content in a way that’s worth describing in detail.

Syncapse: Social Network Software Developer

Syncapse is looking for a Social Network Software Developer (a teaser posting which preceded this one):

Syncapse Corp. is seeking software developers capable of developing projects, managing priorities, and interacting with clients in a fun startup environment.

• This is a full time position at a small, growing company
• This is a technical position developing software for social networks like Facebook, Open Social, and Google Friend Connect 

• Preparation of technical specifications and feature outlines
• Develop modular PHP applications
• Work with 3rd party web services APIs like Facebook, Open Social, Youtube, etc.
• Test applications, write bug reports, and fix problems
• work in a team environment

The Good
It sounds like Syncapse is well-positioned and with good clients in a relatively new market, although I can’t easily verify that.  Although social networks are certainly out of the initial hype, I don’t think the social elements of the web are going anywhere either, so this is an opportunity to focus on the social web, which is probably experience you can leverage in the future.   Getting to interact directly with clients doesn’t always happen at this experience level.

The location seems to be Yonge and Dundas, which is a good place to work — there’s a lot of good food around, and having the Eaton Centre at your feet has its perks.  It’s also relatively central and relatively convenient for anyone who’d consider working in the core to begin with.

The Bad
They’re not looking for a ton of experience, so they may be expecting to pay accordingly.  If you’ve got experience, you’d want to level-set before you get too far into the conversation. 

What’s Missing
What kind of social network work will you be doing, and for whom?  What’s the compensation?  Will you be working on a team?  What kind of process does Syncapse use, and what are some good examples of the kinds of work they’ve done before?  Are you likely to use some of the other mentioned technologies, or are those just mentioned in terms of applicable experience?  

YMMV
Some of you are probably happy to see a development job with a lot of dynamic languages, some not.  But even those of you who love dynamic languages, your mileage may vary when it comes to PHP, which seems to be the focus. 

Although I’m near-certain that “social” isn’t going anywhere, Facebook feels like it’s waning to me, so your mileage may vary when it comes to a Facebook focus.

In Summary
This is most interesting for someone who’s a fan of dynamic languages and social networks, and not afraid of a little PHP.

RBC: Lead Architect

The Royal Bank of Canada is looking for a Lead Architect:

Assist the Lead Architect in developing the strategy, vision and architectural direction for Information Security.
Provides direct support to the Lead Architect and may be called upon to perform the duties of the Lead Architect as events warrant.

This position will contribute to the development and refinement of Enterprise Security Architecture and communicate Enterprise Security Architecture Strategy to business and technical project stakeholders. Project level security architecture consulting will ensure enterprise security architecture strategy is delivered consistently and is in line with current and future enterprise security architecture strategy.

The Good
It’s a pretty senior role in a pretty big company with a 60B market cap.  If you’re even slightly interested in security, this seems like a role where you could really dig in and learn/apply security concepts, which could be an interesting technical challenge.

The location’s very central – as is true for many of the bank jobs in Toronto.  It’s not a bad area to work in, and it’s moderately convenient for just about everyone.

The Bad
The title is Lead Architect, and yet it reads like Assistant to the Lead Architect or Architect would be more fitting, since the job description makes regular reference to assisting the lead architect.  It’s not clear how you’re supposed to read into that. 

What’s Missing
Well, a link to the job posting would be a good start — it’s not hard to follow another RBC posting to the source and then put in the reference number to get the actual posting, but that requires a lot more work than simply clicking on the link that should be in the posting.

What’s the compensation like?  What would be the localized organization structure in which you’d be working: who would you be reporting to, working with; would anyone be reporting to you?  Would there be much need to travel?  What kind of mix would there be between the various things you’d be working on?

YMMV
Your mileage may vary when it comes to working in finance right now, even though the Canadian retail banking sector seems to be weathering the storm for the most part. 

It’s not clear how hands-on this role would be; some might find that problematic.

In Summary
This is probably most interesting to people already in some kind of architectural role with either a background in security of an interest in it.

Decisioning Solutions: Development Manager

Decisioning Solutions is looking for a Java / J2EE Development Manager:

As a key team member, the Java / J2EE Development Manager is responsible for managing and facilitating day-to-day operations within the Development team as well as the interactions of the Development team with other areas.  The individual must exhibit extremely broad knowledge of relevant software, hardware, and processes and demonstrate outstanding problem-solving abilities.  The candidate must also have proven experience in an equivalent position with lauded organizational and managerial abilities. Exceptional communication and interpersonal relation skills are a must.

Responsibilities:

• Managing the Java Developer team
• Overlooking the System Administration team
• Assistance in IT Hiring and Resource Review / Development
• Reviewing and approving major designs of the Solution Architect
• Monitoring IT resource allocation to the projects and PMO
• Representing the technology within the Sales process
• Providing technical advice and answers to the senior management
• Managing the Research (SRED) tax claims
• Escalation point for all things technical (design, systems, support, etc)
• Continuously improving and policing processes (intra and inter team)
• Managing and monitoring security policies and practices
• Managing and monitoring SLA adherence

The Good
The location’s a good one; the 21st and 22nd floors of the HBC tower at Yonge and Bloor is both central and appealing, with good shops and restaurants nearby.  An ‘industry-leading compensation package’ sounds good, although you’d have to talk to them to find out if you agree with their characterization.  It sounds like the work itself could be challenging.

The Bad
Some companies are good at distilling what they do in a very accessible way.  Decisioning Solutions’ site reminds me a little of Exchange Solutions’, in that while they provide a lot of detail about what they do, it doesn’t seem very accessible to the uninitiated. 

What’s Missing
What’s the industry-leading nature of the compensation package.  What process do they employ?  What’s the size and composition of the team(s) you’d be managing.  What goals would you have?  What’s the organizational structure look like, and where do you fit?

YMMV
Your mileage may vary when it comes to spending your days ‘maximizing customer value’, ‘maximizing customer acquisition efficiency’ or the other things that Decisioning Solutions does.  Some people are looking for something more like a consumer web 2.0 product or a health-care solution that could help save lives.  Then again, Decisioning Solutions seems to be a growing company in a market that might do well even in a downturn, so for some, this may be just what you’re looking for.

In Summary
If you’ve got experience as a development manager and you’d like to maximize customer value at Yonge and Bloor for industry-leading compensation, you might consider talking to Decisioning Solutions to see if it’s a good fit.

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.

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.

Little Bites: Domainer, GAP Adventures, Scotia Algorithmic Trading, Microsoft Security, Informiam/Genesys

Domainer’s looking for a “web developer“. Without a listed compensation range, my first instinct is that “web developer” often means “cheap developer” in the Toronto job market, particularly for startups. G.A.P Adventures looks more interesting but suffers from the same problem.

Personally, I think algorithmic trading systems sound like an interesting domain, but I haven’t explored the space in enough detail to argue the point. The technology mix of C++ and Java both is an interesting and unusual one.

Microsoft Canada wants someone to change the country’s perception about their security? Sounds like a dangerous mission for only the bravest of soldiers.

Informiam, bought by Genesys, is still looking for some creative developers up at Yonge and Finch. If you’re already up north, this seems like it could be an interesting place to work.