Avid Life Media: iPhone, Sr. Web Developer

Avid Life Media, whom I’ve mentioned before, is looking for an iPhone Developer and a Senior Web Developer.  Last I heard, they were using agile methods and some fun technology, and paying reasonably well, all of which sounded great.  On the other hand, I know a couple people who’ve talked to them in detail and opted not to continue because they weren’t totally enthused about the big projects that Avid Life media owns; that’s a decision you’d have to make for yourself.  Since Avid Life doesn’t go into detail about what they do, I won’t spoil it for them, athough they do give away the fact that they’re in the dating business, among other things.

In any case, if you’re interested, I suggest you give them a call to get more details; from the limited contact I’ve had, they seem like nice people.

Update: Syncapse

It looks from this posting like Syncapse might still be hiring.  They were looking for a Social Network Software Developer before, sounds pretty similar to me, so perhaps previous comments will help you.

Astral Media: Developer, Interactive

Astral Media is looking for a Developer, Interactive for an 8-month contract tow ork on their TV-oriented websites: Family, TMN, HBO Canada, MPix, Viewer’s Choice, etc.  There’s some AJAX and PHP in there, but it sounds like there’d be a fair amount of HTML, graphics-cutting, and so forth.  

There’s not really enough there to latch on to, but if this sounds like something you’d be interested in, then it might be worth inquiring further.

They’ve got enough properties that it could be interesting work, but it just doesn’t feel like they put enough effort into their web properties to make it really challenging.  There are interesting avenues to explore like social elements, syndication feeds, and so on.  Then again, if you don’t join, you can’t convince them to fulfill their unrealized potential.

They’re also looking for some roles that are outside of my normal coverage: Bilingual Communications Assistant, Programming Co-ordinator, Supervising Editor.

New Mediatrix: Drupal Developer

New Mediatrix is looking for a developer with Drupal experience:

The client, a not-for-profit organization, has an existing website. They would like to have a sub-site that allows them to keep track of their volunteer database. The front-end allows the volunteers to sign up, log in, edit info, apply for training, apply for volunteer positions, and participate in a discussion board. The back end is a CMS system in Drupal which allows the client to update all content on the sub-site, track volunteers, their training, upload files for download, moderate the discussion board, and send out emails to volunteers. The design of the front end has been designed by New Mediatrix and is completely based on the existing so layout and code is available from the client. Photoshop screens are also available. The back end will be designed this month as it si developed. The project is already in production but there is no developer at this time and development begins this week.

The Good
The project’s already lined up. It might be for a good cause. Given that this has already been quoted and budgeted, there’s a possibility that all the ducks are already in a row, and all you have to do is execute. It starts right away. If you’ve got the time and experience, you could get cracking.

The Bad
It’s just a possibility. These aren’t your ducks, your requirements and your budgets and schedules. Historically, it’s the projects that seem to be starting out well-organized that go the farthest off the rails, so this is a good time to make sure you’re not painting yourself into a corner that you’re going to have to walk away from (presumably getting paint all over your feet in the process).

What’s Missing?
They don’t talk about rates, presumably because you’re supposed to do that, although it’d be a shame to put together a quote and discover you’re way off the mark, particularly since they imply there’s already a budget in place. Then again, that’s a pretty common freelance dilemma.

Any serious quote is also going to need to know a lot more about the business requirements they’re referring to, or put up a wall of assumptions strong enough to deter the inevitable change requests. ‘A full schedule is available on acceptance of quote’ has a pretty ominous sound to it, so I might want to probe a little more about what’s likely to be in said schedule.

YMMV
Your mileage may vary about using the phrase In Production to refer to a project in progress. Depending on the work environments you’re used to, this might be applied to projects that are live, in a production environment rather than a staging or development environment.

Your mileage may also vary on quoting on this level of detail — personally, I’d want to know more.

In Summary
If you’ve got some time on your hands and some experience with Drupal, this could be a good contract to pick up, particularly if you’re willing to ask a few questions to get on the right footing. On the other hand, if you’ve got Pligg experience, I’ve got someone else who wants to talk to you, so drop me a line.

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.

FutureBrand: Director of Technology

ROSS is helping FutureBrand look for a Director of Technology:

The Director of Technology is in charge of leading the technology team and ensuring that The company remains on top of the current technology trends in regards to the products it delivers and the tools it uses. You will be expected to provide and support the staff with an infrastructure to do their job effectively. A major purpose of the role includes the strategic planning of all tools and web development through the envisioning of rich feature-sets in each of the Software Platform, Tools, and all web site development.

 

• Supervise and critique the technology team to deliver innovative solutions with expertise.
• Be proactive and collaborative in the relationship with the account team.
• Continually communicate with managers on updates and status.
• Assist and give input during complicated presentation preparation.
• Coordinate the project schedule by working closely with the technology team to prioritize the workload and team utilization.
• Produce strategic roadmap and plans for tools and web development that meet the business goals
• Continually communicate with managers on updates and status.
• Lead brainstorming sessions.
• Continually analyze and improve the overall development process.
• Leading software development and the entire lifecycle of development
• Supervise the IT infrastructure for internal and external solutions
• Mentor, coach and train senior and entry levels software developers and interns.

 

The Good
Sounds like a senior role with a reasonable role definition, and if a lot of their work comes from Dubai, then it’s possible that FutureBrand is more recession-resistant than many.  The technology stack seems reasonable for the most part.

Their location (at least, according to the futurebrand website) is both good and bad.  Queen’s Quay Terminal is a great building, on the water, with decent food and coffee, easy access to the highways, and not too far from Union.  On the other hand, it’s still a bit of a walk from Union and it’s pretty isolated from the city at large, so if you find yourself wanting something that isn’t right there, you’re going to find that it takes a while to get anywhere else.  If you’re taking transit, you’d end up wanting to take the Streetcar in the winter, and I’m not sure how frequently that runs.

The Bad
The listed salary is not quite as high as I’d expect for this kind of position; it may be true that the kind of work that FutureBrand undertakes is uncomplicated and so they’re looking to pay accordingly.  Alternately, they may have adjusted their expectations based on the downturn, with the assumption that they can “get a better deal,” which might be true. 

Also, inquiries when FutureBrand posted this job directly were met with silence, which is unfortunate.

What’s Missing
A sense of the work — what a technology team at FutureBrand is actually likely to do?  What kind of work does FutureBrand typically do?  What kind of solutions do they pitch?  

Are you building small agency sites, or something more significant?  What would the composition of the team likely to be — they say 8-12 individuals, but they also mention front-end technologies, so perhaps you’ll be managing a team of HTML and CSS.  Is the team already in place, or is this something for which you’d be likely to be doing a lot of hiring?  A stronger sense of the process that would be employed here.

Of course, this is predicated on the fact that this posting is, indeed, FutureBrand.  Otherwise, there are even more questions about the location, the company, and so forth.

YMMV
Your mileage may vary when it comes to Windows Server — it wouldn’t be my choice for a server environment, although it sounds like it might be theirs.  Your mileage may also vary when it comes to travel, although the listed percentage of ‘no more than 20%’ doesn’t seem to onerous for most people.   There’s also a mix of Java and PHP mentioned in the technology stack, and not everyone experienced with one is fond of the other.

In Summary
If being a director of technology in a marketing/agency environment appeals to you and the salary doesn’t seem objectionable, could be worth further investigation.

FollowUp: FreshBooks Web Developer

FreshBooks is still looking for a web developer, or possibly looking for another web developer.  Although I don’t love their location, I still think this is one of the more interesting startups in Toronto in terms of product, attitude, and so forth.  Worth a look if you’ve got a background in dynamic languages and willing to work in PHP.

In the interests of full disclosure, I received a bounty from FreshBooks for a previous posting.  Although that doesn’t directly motivate subsequent postings or this follow-up, there may well be a subconscious effect, so it’s worth mentioning.

Domainer: Software/Web Developer(s)

Domainer is looking for more than one Software / Web Developer:

Domainer is currently looking for the best developers in Toronto. What do we mean by the best developers? Well, you should know know your stuff in a profound way. What stuff do you need to know? At a minimum you should know the *nix command line and a how to configure a secure web server. You should also possess a mighty knowledge of mysql and its various quirks. Next you need to know a server side web friendly programming language such as Java, Groovy, PHP, Python or Ruby. Front end language development expertise is also appreciated.

We are doing cool things with new technologies. You will be exposed to an array of technologies such as Groovy, Grails, Java, PHP, jQuery, python, Gradle, Gant, Ant, Subversion, Eclipse, NetBeans, Ubuntu, plus a few that are for you to discover.

The Good
They claim good compensation, but is that just good compensation for those commonly called “web developers” in this city, who are chronically underpaid compared to the rest of the development crowd, or is Domainer really serious about hiring the best, which, IMO, means paying a lot more – probably over $90k in salary alone.  (There may be great people in this city who get paid less, of course, but most of the better people I’ve worked with make significantly more than this).

If this work were done well, it could be an interesting combination of interesting technology (RSS, mashups, social media, rapid-development web techniques), internal productization and good profit margins.  A lot like agency work, but with much more control – your clients simply want to make money, they don’t care what you build their site in, or really, what it does, as long as the output in terms of cash is good.

The tech sounds reasonable for what they’re doing, the process, as much as they talk about it, sounds reasonably agile.  The video helps you get an initial feel for what your employers/bosses might be like.

The Bad
If this is done poorly, you’re going to be doing the same things over and over to deliver bad content and advertising to the unsuspecting, never get to do a build-out the way you want to, no productization, cheapest-solution-always-wins.  Again, a lot like agency work can be, come to think of it.

There’s some information gaps, although the video helps.  How big’s the team?  How serious is Domainer about actually delivering value in these sites?  What are some examples of sites they’re running?  How much is good compensation?  What’re the specifics of their location?

That said, the amount of information in the posting is higher than many. 

YMMV
Your mileage may vary with respect to the ‘ethics’ of the kind of work that Domainer does.  There is often a kind of opportunistic/exploitative streak in this kind of “leverage a domain name” work, from what I’ve seen.  I can’t speak for Domainer in particular, but these sites often seek to get money through advertising with the minimal required effort — offering very little value, but profiting from search engine placement and so forth.   You’ll have to decide how you feel about that and learn a little more about Domainer’s approach.

In Summary
If you want the opportunity to flex your web skills at building sites quickly and cost-effectively in relatively new rapid-development technologies, this might be your thing.  I’d suggest coming to terms on compensation.

MindBlossom: Junior Developer

I don’t often run Junior Developer positions, but this one’s an interesting, and it was passed on directly by MindBlossom’s VP Technology, so that makes it interesting as well.  So, as you may already have learned, MindBlossom is looking for a Junior Developer (monster, craigslist):

We are looking for enthusiastic and talented developers to join our development team. You will develop and maintain interactive applications for external clients. You will work closely with a team of roughly 12 extremely talented developers. You will have the opportunity learn and work with new and emerging development tools. You will also have the opportunity to work with big brands and produce applications that will be used and seen by millions of people.

You will work with a structured management team who is focused on retaining and developing talent. We strive to be as agile as possible in the delivery of our work and are constantly looking for ways to make our development process lighter and more efficient.

Successful candidates must be able to perform in a fast paced environment.  You will be required to think on your feet and learn quickly. Those who are able will be rewarded with exciting work using cutting edge technologies.

Most of our applications are developed using Groovy/Grails, Flex and Flash (Action Script 3). From time to time you will be required to work with PHP, J2EE and SPRING.  We work using Ubuntu, Mac OSX and Windows. We prefer MySQL unless specified by our clients.

• Solid understanding of Java or .NET programming principles.
• Understanding of Grails or Ruby on Rails a bonus.
• Highly motivated and willing to learn the most important of all. 

There may well come a time when I’m inundated with requests, but for now, the personal touch of dropping me a line counts for something.

The Good
Grails is interesting technology, and here’s a company that not only uses it but is willing to help you get up to speed.  It’s also good experience, as a junior dev, because Grails positions you to either move into Java or Dynamic Languages as you choose and/or the market dictates.  

It’s been a long time since I looked at salaries on jobs labelled ‘Junior’, but 40-55k seems pretty reasonable for that role.  There’s not a lot of detail on benefits/bonus, but at least they have both.

There are good things about small companies, and good things about big ones; a small company/division backed by a bigger one sometimes has the best of both worlds.  I can’t speak for MindBlossom here, but it’s often a nice mix.  The client list looks pretty solid at a glance, and their past work seems viable.

They aim for agility.  The team size is clear.  The Richmond/Spadina location is not dead-centre but it’s a nice area.

The Bad
Well, it’s not a very senior role — and I’m not entirely sure how many self-described Junior Developers have taken the initiative to start reading something like Toronto Tech Jobs, but I guess we’ll find out.  

Actually, they hit most of the areas I like to look for pretty well, so I don’t have that much to complain about.  There’s not much on the process, although what’s there sounds good.  Maybe a little more about the team composition (how many people on a project, what’s the mix of people there already)?  There’s not a ton about the work, but in this kind of environment, that’s always changing.

Now, granted, if I knew I were sending my position off to Toronto Technology Jobs, I’d try and cover these points as well, but it’s still pretty rare to have so little for me to complain about.  Good work.

YMMV
Your mileage may vary when it comes to building marketing sites, which seems to be their emphasis. 

Not everyone will want to work at Richmond and Spadina, although it’s reasonably accessible by car (traffic’s a pain) transit (spadina car’s slow, subway’s a ten-minute walk) and so forth, so this isn’t a deal-breaker for many.

In Summary
If you’re a junior developer and you’re already reading TTJ to get jobs, good work.   Otherwise, if you know someone, and they’d be interested in doing some Grails work, this seems worth further investigation.

Follow-Up: Uptime

Uptime, still looking for a Java Developer with a little PHP thrown in.  I gather they could conceivably be hiring more than one.  Richmond/Bathurst location, agile, product shop — could be interesting.