Qualcomm: WebKit Rendering Lead

Qualcomm is looking for a WebKit Rendering Lead:

Our Web Technologies team is looking for candidates who have a passion for enhancing the web experience with rich multimedia and graphics. Extend your experience in audio, video, imaging, and graphics technologies as you accelerate the web with HTML5, Javascript, browser plugins (Flash) and CSS. We are preferably looking for ‘webkit committer’ or ‘webkit reviewer’ who can take a lead role optimizing WebKit eye candy.

As a member of the Web Technologies team you will be involved in creating the next generation mobile web experience by leading an engineering team to design and optimize the WebKit rendering engine for power and performance. Build open web standards (W3C) into the Webkit engine using open multimedia and graphics standards such as Khronos OpenMax IL, OpenVG, and OpenGL ES. Realize your innovations by collaboratively integrating the solution with product, systems and integration teams

The Good
WebKit has been a leading browser engine for some time now — it’s the engine at the core of Chrome, Safari, iPhone and Android.  HTML is increasingly moving into supporting more rich experiences, and it sounds like you’d be working on the leading edge of that.  If you’re already a committer or reviewer, it sounds like you’d have a big leg up, and this would be a chance to get paid to do something you might currently be doing as hobby.  This is also the kind of work that is pretty difficult to find in Toronto, in my experience.

The Bad
Although a job doing WebKit work is pretty  exciting, if that’s your goal, you might prefer doing Android/WebKit in Waterloo, Safari/iPhone WebKit in Cupertino, or Chrome/WebKit in Mountain View(?).  While you’ll be working on a leading browser engine and a leading area of that browser engine, you won’t be working for one of the most exciting companies in that area.  Qualcomm’s interest in this is probably LiMo, although you’d have to talk to them to get a better sense of what they’re doing and why.  Still, that isn’t a massive downside.

What’s Missing?
Almost everything other than the work.  What does Qualcomm get out of WebKit dev, is this to power LiMo, or for some other reason?  What’s the compensation like?  Who would you be working with at Qualcomm, on what team, in what division, and how many of the other people are in Toronto?  Where’s this office located?

YMMV
Your mileage might vary when it comes to the location, or to some of the specifics that Qualcomm has thoughtfully left out of the posting, but if this is the kind of work you want to do, you’ll probably be talking to Qualcomm anyway.

The Location
It looks to be at Qualcomm’s office up by Buttonville Airport / Markham / 404 & Hwy 7.  This is a common tech area, but it’s definitely “out of the way” for people who aren’t already up north of the city, or highway-commuting from the east end.

In Summary
There are probably two categories of people who would read this posting.  Those who have the interest and experience to find this a really interesting opportunity and those who don’t.  In the former case, you’re probably going to want to lwarn more no matter what I say. In the latter case, you might find the posting interesting, but you probably can’t get the job even if you wanted it, so it’s only interesting in passing, and you’ve already moved on.

Scali / Platform Computing: Open Cluster 1st Line Support

Scali, or Platform Computing, is looking for someone to fill a role they call Open Cluster Solution, 1st Line Support:

Troubleshooting Linux, and cluster related technologies
Strong technical knowledge of major Linux operating systems, including administration and networking
Experience with Python and Shell programming
Knowledge of HPC cluster benchmarking (Linpack) and network like Infiniband. 
Experience working with parallel programming environments (MPICH, Intel MPI, OpenMPI, LAMMPI)
Ability to setup and administer a High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster
Ability to document in an accurate fashion, including procedures, processes
Establishing, nurturing relationships with end customers
Good communication (written, verbal) and customer management skills

The Good
High-performance cluster computing in Linux is definitely an interesting sector; this kind of system has essentially replaced mainframes, so experience in this area is a valuable skill for jobs that require serious computing power.

Although this is listed as support, it’s important to distinguish that it’s not support in the “Let me check the knowledgebase” sort of way, it’s support that involves actively working through problems, as evidenced by the required skills.  This kind of support has a significant operational role and is probably more appealing.

The Bad
They’re looking for people who already have some experience with high-performance computing and ideally distributed computing already.  I’m thinking that cuts down the applicant pool heavily, so that may be enough to reduce your interest. 

What’s Missing
I’ve worked out the location from the website, but that still leaves quite a bit.  What’s the compensation for this kind of role?  What’s a typical day like in this role — there’s a mix of responsibilities and it would be interesting to understand how they break down.    What’s the process like?  Is there a whole team of support at Scali that you’d be part of, and if so, what’s the size and composition of the team, and where would you fit in relative to the rest of the team?  Are there growth opportunities in this role that you might want to consider?

YMMV
Your mileage may vary when it comes to a support role, even one with a strong operational side.  

It might also vary when it comes to working in Markham at Warden/407. , which basically means you already live nearby or you’re ok with commuting by car.

In Summary
This is most interesting if:

• You’ve already got some experience with high-performance computing, and you’re interested to get more.
• You’re ok with a support role even with a strong operational side.
• You’re willing to work in Markham.

Genesys: Eclipse Software Developer

Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories is looking for an Eclipse Software Developer:

This position is for a highly talented software developer, with Eclipse Plug-in development experience to help build the next generation of our development IDEs. The ideal candidate will contribute significantly to leading edge IDE products, looking at ways to ease the complexity of application development and to reduce the time to market for software design engineers.  

The Good
Alcatel-Lucent is a big company, and this is a job getting to do Eclipse plugin development for ‘em.  They claim to have pretty good benefits, although you’d want to take a look at the overall compensation package in order to assess that well. 

The Bad
It’s hard to get a vibe for whether or not you’re going to be a cog in the wheel with this one.  The phrasing and language implies “big enterprise”, but there are a few elements that imply that you might occasionally get to step out of your assigned box a little.  (e.g. “Issues may encompass any area of engineering.” )

It doesn’t seem like they’re looking for someone with a ton of experience (“At least three years (preferably more) commercial experience of Java programming”) so it may not be terribly well-paid.

Ultimately the usual problems surface in terms of information gaps.  Why does Genesys need eclipse development done — what will you actually be working on?  Will you be part of a team?  What size of team?  What will your role be within that team?  Where will you be working, other than ‘Markham’?  What’s the compensation like?  What’s the process like?

YMMV
Your mileage may vary when it comes to working for the kind of company that can say things like “Performs tasks to ensure product is successfully implemented” without snickering.  And if you don’t already live in Markham, your mileage (or kilometerage) will vary on a twice-daily basis.

In Summary
There aren’t a lot of Eclipse opportunities in Toronto, and most of them are in Markham (Hello, IBM).  That said, if this is your bag and you’re not opposed to working in Markham, it seems worth giving Genesys a call, although I’d urge you to try and get a sense for how enterprisey it is, and whether or not you’re ok with that.