Ruby on Rails Job : Building Playgrounds with Rails

Building Playgrounds with Rails

We are a DC-based non-profit with a simple vision: A great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. We provide strong benefits, a fun work atmosphere, and the chance to make a difference in children's lives.

We're looking for a Ruby on Rails wizard who'll help us build a small team of skilled Web developers. Unlike most non-profits, we are committed to using in-house talent to write world-class software. Right now we're working on three projects with high visibility -- Michelle Obama is a fan.

We have some resource constraints, but who doesn't? We believe that, by pooling their wits and their raw skill, a few great software engineers can help us to change the world.

Our next Web developer will have three primary responsibilities; the exact mix will depend on the experience you bring.

- Technology leadership -- Help to determine the technical framework for Web projects. Depending on your experience, you may have some management responsibility.
- Product development -- Write code to implement or upgrade Web applications. Depending on your experience, you may own the product strategy.
- Operations management -- Ensure that all technical aspects of the site run smoothly; respond to issues as they arise.

Day-to-day responsibilities will include:
- Collaborate on strategy for specific Web products
- Plan and implement features and upgrades for these products, making sure they'll be fast, reliable, and relevant for years to come. Implement with discipline - run unit tests against new and existing code
- Monitor live applications; address bugs and performance issues
- Juggle a stream of ad-hoc requests; deal with occasional management nonsense
- Envision new and exciting products; push the limits of what was thought possible
- Handle fast-changing requirements with a minimum of frustration
- At all times, be the user's champion

Our ideal candidate has all of the following qualifications and qualities; our eventual hire will have most of them:
- Formal software development training
- A track record of delivering polished software
- Mastery of Ruby, MVC, SQL, and library-free JavaScript
- Fluency in SVN, CSS, Web standards, browser quirks, bash, and basic Linux administration
- Experience with PHP and Drupal
- Comfort explaining technical concepts to people with a wide range of technical understanding

Apply for this Job

Thanks for your interest. Please fill out the information below to apply for this position. We pride ourselves in our responsiveness to candidates; you will hear from us within 1 business day. To speak with us immediately, please call 415.230.0617.